$browser_family

The $browser_family variable, provided by the device-type module, holds the family name of the browser making the request. It is set for each HTTP request processed by NGINX when the module is loaded.

Type

string

Possible values

Chrome
Firefox
Safari

These values represent the main browser families detected by the module. Each value indicates the general category of the browser, which can be useful for tailoring responses based on browser capabilities or characteristics.

Examples

Using `$browser_family` in a `map` for Conditional Logic

You can use $browser_family in a map block to set a variable based on the browser family.

map $browser_family $is_modern_browser {
    default 0;
    Chrome 1;
    Firefox 1;
    Safari 1;
}

server {
    location / {
        if ($is_modern_browser) {
            add_header X-Modern-Browser "true";
        }
    }
}

Adding a Header Based on Browser Family

Add a custom header to responses based on the detected browser family.

server {
    location / {
        add_header X-Browser-Family $browser_family;
        proxy_pass http://backend;
    }
}

Logging Browser Family in Access Logs

Include the browser family in your NGINX access logs for analytics purposes.

log_format custom '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] '
                  '"$request" $status $body_bytes_sent '
                  '"$http_referer" "$http_user_agent" '
                  '"$browser_family"';

access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log custom;