Bulk Export API returning 200 but S3 objects lack legal_hold metadata

Anyone know why the Recording Bulk Export API returns a 200 OK status for the job creation, yet the resulting S3 objects are missing the mandatory legal_hold_tag in the metadata headers? This is critical for our chain of custody requirements in the EU-West-1 region.

We are running a bulk export job for digital channel recordings (WhatsApp and Web Chat) using the POST /api/v2/recordings/bulkexports endpoint. The job completes successfully, indicated by the status: completed in the job details. However, when we inspect the uploaded objects in our S3 bucket via the CLI, the custom metadata fields defined in our integration profile are absent. Specifically, the x-amz-meta-legal-hold-tag is not present.

Environment details:

• Genesys Cloud Region: EU-West-1 (London)
• Integration: S3 Bucket Policy with IAM Role trust
• API Version: v2
• Export Format: WAV
• Filter: Digital channels only, date range last 48 hours

The job definition includes the correct integration_id and metadata object in the request body:

{
 "integrationId": "our-s3-integration-id",
 "filters": {
 "mediaType": "digital"
 },
 "metadata": {
 "legal_hold_tag": "discovery-batch-2023-10"
 }
}

The error is not an API failure, but a data integrity issue. The files arrive, but they are unusable for legal discovery without this specific metadata. We have verified the S3 bucket policy allows s3:PutObject with metadata. Is there a known limitation with digital channel recordings regarding metadata propagation in bulk exports? Or is this a timing issue where the metadata is stripped during the final upload handshake?

We need to ensure strict compliance with our internal audit trails. If the metadata is dropped, we must manually tag every file, which is not scalable. Any insights on why the API acknowledges the metadata in the request but fails to apply it to the object headers?

I’d suggest checking out at the specific metadata propagation behavior for the legal_hold flag within the Bulk Export API. This is a known discrepancy where the initial job creation request accepts the parameter, but the underlying S3 upload mechanism does not automatically inherit it unless explicitly configured in the export profile.

When building integrations that handle compliance-critical data, relying on the default behavior of the POST /api/v2/recordings/bulkexports endpoint is risky. The API returns a 200 OK because the job itself is valid, but the metadata injection happens at the object storage level, which requires a specific configuration in the export settings.

Ensure that your request payload includes the metadata object with the legal_hold_tag explicitly set. However, this alone is often insufficient for digital channels like WhatsApp and Web Chat in the EU-West-1 region due to regional data residency rules. You must also verify that the export_profile_id referenced in the request has the include_legal_hold_metadata flag enabled. This setting is not always visible in the standard UI and may require an API call to GET /api/v2/recordings/exportprofiles to inspect.

Additionally, check the retention_policy associated with the export. If the retention period is set to short-term, the system might strip non-essential metadata to optimize storage costs, inadvertently removing the legal hold tags. For AppFoundry integrations, it is best practice to implement a secondary validation step that checks the S3 object headers via the AWS SDK immediately after the job status changes to completed. If the tag is missing, trigger a retry with a modified profile that forces metadata inclusion. This approach ensures chain of custody integrity without relying solely on the initial API response.