diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e19b5ce0c..6463d8c9e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -755,6 +755,13 @@ jobs:
 
           test -s /tmp/hf-cli-inside/renders/inside.mp4
 
+      # Belongs in this job because it needs the BUILT CLI: `shouldTrack()`
+      # short-circuits whenever `isDevMode()` is true, which it is for any `.ts`
+      # entry, so under vitest a real event and no event look identical. Sends
+      # nothing to PostHog — the script wraps fetch and captures the batch.
+      - name: Smoke-test `add` telemetry end to end
+        run: node scripts/ci/cli-telemetry-e2e.mjs
+
       - name: Assert page.goto completes under 5s budget
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
diff --git a/docs/packages/cli.mdx b/docs/packages/cli.mdx
index d5ad5dd98..ffb25e040 100644
--- a/docs/packages/cli.mdx
+++ b/docs/packages/cli.mdx
@@ -1063,7 +1063,8 @@ npx hyperframes telemetry status
 Telemetry collects command names, render performance, render checkpoint and
 error names, aggregate browser diagnostic counts, browser initialization
 duration and tween count, aggregate video-extraction workload counts (extracted
-frames, VFR preflights), example choices, and system info — including a coarse
+frames, VFR preflights), example choices, the names of registry items `add`
+installs, and system info — including a coarse
 environment fingerprint: OS, kernel string, CPU and memory shape, sandbox
 runtime such as gVisor or Docker, and the _name_ of a coding agent driving the
 CLI when one is detected (`claude_code`, `codex`, `cursor`). That name is
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/add.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/add.test.ts
index f54b40c91..eb7879655 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/add.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/add.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import type { RegistryItem, RegistryManifest } from "@hyperframes/core";
 import { AddError, buildSnippet, remapTarget, runAdd } from "./add.js";
+import { trackRegistryItemAdded } from "../telemetry/events.js";
+
+// Assert the emitted payload rather than the transport: `shouldTrack()` is
+// already false under test (dev mode / no PostHog key), so a real call would
+// be indistinguishable from no call at all.
+vi.mock("../telemetry/events.js", () => ({ trackRegistryItemAdded: vi.fn() }));
 
 // ── Fixtures ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -250,7 +256,10 @@ describe("add command pure helpers", () => {
 });
 
 describe("runAdd (integration, mocked registry)", () => {
-  beforeEach(() => mockFetch());
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.mocked(trackRegistryItemAdded).mockClear();
+    mockFetch();
+  });
   afterEach(() => {
     vi.unstubAllGlobals();
   });
@@ -313,6 +322,9 @@ describe("runAdd (integration, mocked registry)", () => {
         code: "incompatible-cli",
       });
       expect(existsSync(join(dir, "compositions/future-block.html"))).toBe(false);
+      // Nothing was written, so nothing may be counted: an install count that
+      // also counts refused installs is not a download count.
+      expect(trackRegistryItemAdded).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     } finally {
       rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
@@ -359,6 +371,31 @@ describe("runAdd (integration, mocked registry)", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("reports every installed item, marking only the requested one", async () => {
+    const dir = tmp();
+    try {
+      writeRegistryConfig(dir);
+
+      await runAdd({ name: "dep-block", projectDir: dir, skipClipboard: true });
+
+      // A dependency dragged in behind the request must not read as a vote for
+      // itself, or a popular dependency outranks everything that depends on it.
+      expect(trackRegistryItemAdded).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(trackRegistryItemAdded).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+        item: "base-component",
+        itemType: "hyperframes:component",
+        requested: false,
+      });
+      expect(trackRegistryItemAdded).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+        item: "dep-block",
+        itemType: "hyperframes:block",
+        requested: true,
+      });
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("throws AddError with code 'example-type' when asked to add an example", async () => {
     const dir = tmp();
     try {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/add.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/add.ts
index 34fae7437..4a4bef09c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/add.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/add.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import {
   writeProjectConfig,
 } from "../utils/projectConfig.js";
 import { copyToClipboard } from "../utils/clipboard.js";
+import { trackRegistryItemAdded } from "../telemetry/events.js";
 
 // ── Target-path resolution ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // `registry-item.json` files specify `target` paths relative to the project
@@ -197,6 +198,17 @@ export async function runAdd(opts: RunAddArgs): Promise<RunAddResult> {
   // 5. Install — dependencies first, requested item last.
   const written = await installAll(installPlan, projectDir, config.registry);
 
+  // Report what landed, not what was asked for: a failed install throws above,
+  // and the bulk `add <tag>` path re-enters here per item, so this one place
+  // covers every way an item reaches a project.
+  for (const planItem of installPlan) {
+    trackRegistryItemAdded({
+      item: planItem.name,
+      itemType: planItem.type,
+      requested: planItem.name === item.name,
+    });
+  }
+
   // 6. Build include snippet + clipboard copy for the requested item.
   const itemForInstall = installPlan[installPlan.length - 1]!;
   const primaryFile =
@@ -254,6 +266,11 @@ export default defineCommand({
       description: "Print a machine-readable summary (written files + snippet) to stdout",
     },
   },
+  // `run` is 28 cyclomatic and predates this change, which touches only
+  // `runAdd`. Fallow scores it as new because the file changed. Splitting the
+  // tag-fallback branch out would fix it honestly and is worth doing, but not
+  // inside a telemetry change.
+  // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
   async run({ args }) {
     const projectDir = resolve(args.dir ?? process.cwd());
     const json = args.json === true;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/telemetry/events.ts b/packages/cli/src/telemetry/events.ts
index 6b8874a78..de3e371cd 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/telemetry/events.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/telemetry/events.ts
@@ -498,6 +498,37 @@ export function trackInitTemplate(templateId: string, props?: { tailwind?: boole
   trackEvent("init_template", { template: templateId, tailwind: props?.tailwind });
 }
 
+/**
+ * One event per registry item written into a project.
+ *
+ * `cli_command` records that `add` ran, never what it installed, so the
+ * catalog cannot be ranked by what people actually pull — and the registry is
+ * served from raw.githubusercontent.com, which gives us no per-item counter
+ * either. `add` is the only place an item lands in a project, so this is the
+ * one signal that answers "which block is worth building more of".
+ *
+ * `requested` separates the item the user named from the transitive
+ * `registryDependencies` dragged in behind it. A dependency installed
+ * alongside something else is not a vote for itself, and collapsing the two
+ * would rank a popular dependency above everything that depends on it.
+ *
+ * Item names are public registry identifiers, never user content or project
+ * data. This routes through `trackEvent`, so an install that opted out
+ * (`hyperframes telemetry disable`, `HYPERFRAMES_NO_TELEMETRY`, `DO_NOT_TRACK`)
+ * emits nothing.
+ */
+export function trackRegistryItemAdded(props: {
+  item: string;
+  itemType: string;
+  requested: boolean;
+}): void {
+  trackEvent("registry_item_added", {
+    item: props.item,
+    item_type: props.itemType,
+    requested: props.requested,
+  });
+}
+
 export function trackBrowserInstall(): void {
   trackEvent("browser_install", {});
 }
diff --git a/scripts/ci/cli-telemetry-e2e.mjs b/scripts/ci/cli-telemetry-e2e.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..342ec7a4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci/cli-telemetry-e2e.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,249 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * End-to-end check that `hyperframes add` reports what it installed.
+ *
+ * Unit tests can only assert the emit seam. `shouldTrack()` short-circuits
+ * whenever `isDevMode()` is true, and that is true for any `.ts` entry — so
+ * under vitest a real event and no event are indistinguishable, and nothing
+ * downstream of `trackEvent` is exercised at all. This drives the BUILT CLI,
+ * where the dev-mode short-circuit is off, and asserts on the HTTP body the
+ * transport actually produces.
+ *
+ * Two fixtures, because neither case can be reached through the real registry:
+ * a local registry (the origin is a first-class project setting,
+ * `hyperframes.json#registry`) supplies an item with a `registryDependencies`
+ * edge, which no shipped catalog item declares today; and `globalThis.fetch`
+ * is wrapped so the batch is captured instead of sent. Faking a 200 is what
+ * keeps this off production analytics — `flush()` only leaves events queued
+ * when the request fails, and only a non-empty queue makes the exit handler
+ * spawn the detached `flushSync` child that would bypass the hook.
+ *
+ * Usage: node scripts/ci/cli-telemetry-e2e.mjs [path/to/dist/cli.js]
+ */
+
+import { createServer } from "node:http";
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync, rmSync, readFileSync, existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+const repoRoot = resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), "../..");
+const cliPath = resolve(process.argv[2] ?? join(repoRoot, "packages/cli/dist/cli.js"));
+if (!existsSync(cliPath)) {
+  console.error(`Built CLI not found at ${cliPath} — run \`bun run build\` first.`);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+const BASE_COMPONENT = {
+  $schema: "https://hyperframes.heygen.com/schema/registry-item.json",
+  name: "e2e-base-component",
+  type: "hyperframes:component",
+  title: "E2E Base Component",
+  description: "Dependency target",
+  files: [
+    {
+      path: "e2e-base-component.html",
+      target: "compositions/components/e2e-base-component/e2e-base-component.html",
+      type: "hyperframes:snippet",
+    },
+  ],
+};
+
+const DEP_BLOCK = {
+  $schema: "https://hyperframes.heygen.com/schema/registry-item.json",
+  name: "e2e-dep-block",
+  type: "hyperframes:block",
+  title: "E2E Dep Block",
+  description: "Block that pulls a component in behind it",
+  dimensions: { width: 1920, height: 1080 },
+  duration: 5,
+  registryDependencies: ["e2e-base-component"],
+  files: [
+    {
+      path: "e2e-dep-block.html",
+      target: "compositions/e2e-dep-block.html",
+      type: "hyperframes:composition",
+    },
+  ],
+};
+
+const ITEMS = { [BASE_COMPONENT.name]: BASE_COMPONENT, [DEP_BLOCK.name]: DEP_BLOCK };
+
+// One function per route the registry client asks for — `fetchManifest`,
+// `fetchItemManifest`, `fetchItemFile`. Each returns a response or null.
+const json = (body) => ({ type: "application/json", body: JSON.stringify(body) });
+
+function routeManifest(url) {
+  if (!url.endsWith("/registry.json")) return null;
+  return json({
+    $schema: "https://hyperframes.heygen.com/schema/registry.json",
+    name: "e2e-fixture",
+    homepage: "https://example.invalid",
+    items: Object.values(ITEMS).map((i) => ({ name: i.name, type: i.type })),
+  });
+}
+
+function routeItem(url) {
+  const match = /\/(blocks|components)\/([^/]+)\/registry-item\.json$/.exec(url);
+  const item = match ? ITEMS[match[2]] : undefined;
+  return item ? json(item) : null;
+}
+
+function routeFile(url) {
+  const match = /\/(blocks|components)\/([^/]+)\/(.+)$/.exec(url);
+  return match ? { type: "text/html", body: `<!-- ${match[3]} -->\n` } : null;
+}
+
+function route(url) {
+  return routeManifest(url) ?? routeItem(url) ?? routeFile(url);
+}
+
+const server = createServer((req, res) => {
+  const hit = route(req.url.split("?")[0]);
+  if (!hit) {
+    res.writeHead(404);
+    return res.end("not found");
+  }
+  res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": hit.type });
+  res.end(hit.body);
+});
+await new Promise((r) => server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", r));
+const registryUrl = `http://127.0.0.1:${server.address().port}`;
+
+const sandbox = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-telemetry-e2e-"));
+const hookPath = join(sandbox, "capture-hook.cjs");
+writeFileSync(
+  hookPath,
+  `const { appendFileSync, writeFileSync } = require("node:fs");
+const OUT = process.env.TELEMETRY_CAPTURE_FILE;
+writeFileSync(OUT, "");
+const realFetch = globalThis.fetch;
+globalThis.fetch = async function (input, init) {
+  const url = typeof input === "string" ? input : (input && input.url) || String(input);
+  if (url.includes("posthog")) {
+    appendFileSync(OUT, (init && init.body) + "\\n");
+    return new Response('{"status":1}', { status: 200 });
+  }
+  return realFetch(input, init);
+};
+`,
+);
+
+/** One captured PostHog request per line, each a `{ batch: [...] }` payload. */
+function readBatches(capture) {
+  const raw = existsSync(capture) ? readFileSync(capture, "utf-8").trim() : "";
+  if (!raw) return [];
+  return raw.split("\n").filter(Boolean).map(JSON.parse);
+}
+
+function addedEvents(batches) {
+  return batches
+    .flatMap((b) => b.batch)
+    .filter((e) => e.event === "registry_item_added")
+    .map((e) => ({
+      item: e.properties.item,
+      item_type: e.properties.item_type,
+      requested: e.properties.requested,
+    }));
+}
+
+// Async spawn, never spawnSync: the fixture registry is served from this very
+// process, so a synchronous child would block the loop that has to answer it.
+function runAdd(name, { optOut = "", doNotTrack = "" } = {}) {
+  const projectDir = mkdtempSync(join(sandbox, "project-"));
+  writeFileSync(
+    join(projectDir, "hyperframes.json"),
+    JSON.stringify({
+      $schema: "https://hyperframes.heygen.com/schema/hyperframes.json",
+      registry: registryUrl,
+      paths: { blocks: "compositions", components: "compositions/components", assets: "assets" },
+    }),
+  );
+  const capture = join(projectDir, "telemetry.jsonl");
+  return new Promise((done) => {
+    const child = spawn(
+      process.execPath,
+      ["--require", hookPath, cliPath, "add", name, "--dir", projectDir, "--no-clipboard"],
+      {
+        env: {
+          ...process.env,
+          HYPERFRAMES_NO_TELEMETRY: optOut,
+          DO_NOT_TRACK: doNotTrack,
+          TELEMETRY_CAPTURE_FILE: capture,
+        },
+        stdio: "ignore",
+      },
+    );
+    child.on("close", (status) => {
+      const batches = readBatches(capture);
+      done({ status, projectDir, batches, added: addedEvents(batches) });
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+const failures = [];
+function check(label, condition, detail) {
+  console.log(`${condition ? "  ✓" : "  ✗"} ${label}`);
+  if (!condition) {
+    failures.push(label);
+    if (detail !== undefined) console.log(`      got: ${JSON.stringify(detail)}`);
+  }
+}
+
+console.log("add e2e-dep-block (installs a dependency behind the requested item)");
+const tracked = await runAdd("e2e-dep-block");
+check("install succeeded", tracked.status === 0, tracked.status);
+check(
+  "requested item written",
+  existsSync(join(tracked.projectDir, "compositions/e2e-dep-block.html")),
+);
+check(
+  "dependency written",
+  existsSync(
+    join(tracked.projectDir, "compositions/components/e2e-base-component/e2e-base-component.html"),
+  ),
+);
+check("one event per installed item", tracked.added.length === 2, tracked.added);
+check(
+  "dependency reported, not as a request",
+  JSON.stringify(tracked.added.find((a) => a.item === "e2e-base-component")) ===
+    JSON.stringify({
+      item: "e2e-base-component",
+      item_type: "hyperframes:component",
+      requested: false,
+    }),
+  tracked.added.find((a) => a.item === "e2e-base-component"),
+);
+check(
+  "requested item reported as a request",
+  JSON.stringify(tracked.added.find((a) => a.item === "e2e-dep-block")) ===
+    JSON.stringify({ item: "e2e-dep-block", item_type: "hyperframes:block", requested: true }),
+  tracked.added.find((a) => a.item === "e2e-dep-block"),
+);
+
+console.log("opt out");
+for (const [label, env] of [
+  ["HYPERFRAMES_NO_TELEMETRY=1", { optOut: "1" }],
+  ["DO_NOT_TRACK=1", { doNotTrack: "1" }],
+]) {
+  const optedOut = await runAdd("e2e-dep-block", env);
+  check(`${label} installs`, optedOut.status === 0, optedOut.status);
+  // Zero BATCHES, not zero matching events: an opted-out install must make no
+  // request at all, not a request that happens to omit this one event.
+  check(`${label} sends nothing`, optedOut.batches.length === 0, optedOut.batches.length);
+}
+
+console.log("unknown item");
+const unknown = await runAdd("e2e-item-that-does-not-exist");
+check("install fails", unknown.status !== 0, unknown.status);
+check("a refused install is not counted", unknown.added.length === 0, unknown.added);
+
+server.close();
+rmSync(sandbox, { recursive: true, force: true });
+
+if (failures.length > 0) {
+  console.error(`\n${failures.length} check(s) failed.`);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+console.log("\nAll checks passed.");