Configuring Genesys Cloud Post-Interaction Surveys via API with Java

What You Will Build

A Java application that constructs, validates, publishes, and monitors post-interaction surveys with dynamic branching, webhook integration, and a local design simulator.
This tutorial uses the Genesys Cloud CX REST API and the official Java SDK.
The implementation covers Java 17 with the genesyscloud-java-sdk dependency.

Prerequisites

• OAuth Client Credentials flow enabled in Genesys Cloud
• Required scopes: surveys:read, surveys:write, webhooks:write, analytics:read, auditlogs:read
• Genesys Cloud Java SDK version 1.0.0 or higher
• Java 17 runtime
• Maven or Gradle for dependency management
• External dependencies: com.genesiscloud:genesyscloud-java-sdk, com.google.code.gson:gson for payload serialization

Authentication Setup

The Genesys Cloud Java SDK handles token acquisition and caching automatically when configured with client credentials. The following setup initializes the platform client with a token cache to prevent unnecessary refresh calls.

import com.genesiscloud.client.PureCloudPlatformClientV2;
import com.genesiscloud.client.auth.OAuthConfig;
import com.genesiscloud.client.auth.OAuth2Authenticator;
import java.util.Map;

public class SurveyAuthSetup {
    public static PureCloudPlatformClientV2 initializeClient(String baseUrl, String clientId, String clientSecret) {
        PureCloudPlatformClientV2 client = new PureCloudPlatformClientV2();
        client.setBaseUri(baseUrl);
        
        OAuthConfig config = new OAuthConfig();
        config.setClientId(clientId);
        config.setClientSecret(clientSecret);
        config.setGrantType("client_credentials");
        config.setScopes(List.of("surveys:read", "surveys:write", "webhooks:write", "analytics:read", "auditlogs:read"));
        
        OAuth2Authenticator authenticator = new OAuth2Authenticator(config);
        client.setAuthenticator(authenticator);
        
        // Enable token caching to avoid repeated token requests
        client.setTokenCacheEnabled(true);
        
        return client;
    }
}

Required OAuth Scope: surveys:read, surveys:write, webhooks:write, analytics:read, auditlogs:read

Implementation

Step 1: Construct Survey Definition Payload with Branching and Translations

The survey definition requires a structured payload containing questions, scales, distribution channels, and branching conditions. Genesys Cloud validates the schema strictly on creation. The following code builds a survey with a rating question, a conditional follow-up, and translation support.

import com.genesiscloud.model.*;
import java.util.*;

public class SurveyBuilder {
    public static Survey buildSurveyDefinition() {
        Survey survey = new Survey();
        survey.setName("Post-Interaction Customer Feedback");
        survey.setType("CUSTOMER");
        survey.setDistributionChannel("EMAIL");
        survey.setVersion("1");
        
        // Primary rating question
        SurveyQuestion ratingQuestion = new SurveyQuestion();
        ratingQuestion.setId("q1");
        ratingQuestion.setType("RATING");
        ratingQuestion.setText("How would you rate your recent interaction?");
        ratingQuestion.setScaleType("NUMBER");
        ratingQuestion.setMinValue(1);
        ratingQuestion.setMaxValue(5);
        ratingQuestion.setRequired(true);
        
        // Conditional follow-up question
        SurveyQuestion followUpQuestion = new SurveyQuestion();
        followUpQuestion.setId("q2");
        followUpQuestion.setType("TEXT");
        followUpQuestion.setText("Please provide additional details about your experience.");
        followUpQuestion.setRequired(false);
        
        // Branching logic: show q2 only if q1 rating is less than or equal to 2
        SurveyBranchingCondition condition = new SurveyBranchingCondition();
        condition.setQuestionId("q1");
        condition.setOperator("<=");
        condition.setValue(2);
        condition.setTargetQuestionId("q2");
        
        List<SurveyBranchingCondition> branching = new ArrayList<>();
        branching.add(condition);
        followUpQuestion.setBranching(branching);
        
        List<SurveyQuestion> questions = new ArrayList<>();
        questions.add(ratingQuestion);
        questions.add(followUpQuestion);
        survey.setQuestions(questions);
        
        // Translation availability for global accessibility
        SurveyTranslation enTranslation = new SurveyTranslation();
        enTranslation.setLocale("en-US");
        enTranslation.setSurveyName("Post-Interaction Customer Feedback");
        List<SurveyTranslation> translations = new ArrayList<>();
        translations.add(enTranslation);
        survey.setTranslations(translations);
        
        return survey;
    }
}

HTTP Request Equivalent:

POST /api/v2/surveys
Authorization: Bearer <access_token>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "Post-Interaction Customer Feedback",
  "type": "CUSTOMER",
  "distributionChannel": "EMAIL",
  "version": "1",
  "questions": [
    {
      "id": "q1",
      "type": "RATING",
      "text": "How would you rate your recent interaction?",
      "scaleType": "NUMBER",
      "minValue": 1,
      "maxValue": 5,
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "q2",
      "type": "TEXT",
      "text": "Please provide additional details about your experience.",
      "required": false,
      "branching": [
        {
          "questionId": "q1",
          "operator": "<=",
          "value": 2,
          "targetQuestionId": "q2"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "locale": "en-US",
      "surveyName": "Post-Interaction Customer Feedback"
    }
  ]
}

Expected Response:

{
  "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
  "name": "Post-Interaction Customer Feedback",
  "type": "CUSTOMER",
  "distributionChannel": "EMAIL",
  "version": "1",
  "status": "DRAFT",
  "selfUri": "/api/v2/surveys/a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
}

Error Handling: The API returns 400 Bad Request if the branching condition references a non-existent question ID or if the scale configuration violates type constraints. Catch ApiException and inspect the response body for field-level validation messages.

Step 2: Validate Schema Constraints and Handle Capacity Limits

Genesys Cloud enforces respondent capacity limits based on your organization tier. The API returns 409 Conflict if the survey exceeds active version limits or if translation locales are not provisioned. The following method validates the payload before submission and handles capacity constraints.

import com.genesiscloud.api.SurveysApi;
import com.genesiscloud.client.ApiException;
import java.util.List;

public class SurveyValidator {
    public static void validateSurveyConstraints(SurveysApi surveysApi, Survey survey) throws ApiException {
        // Check translation locale availability
        List<SurveyTranslation> translations = survey.getTranslations();
        if (translations != null && !translations.isEmpty()) {
            for (SurveyTranslation t : translations) {
                if (!t.getLocale().startsWith("en-") && !t.getLocale().startsWith("es-") && !t.getLocale().startsWith("fr-")) {
                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Locale " + t.getLocale() + " is not provisioned for survey translations.");
                }
            }
        }
        
        // Check branching consistency
        Map<String, SurveyQuestion> questionMap = new HashMap<>();
        for (SurveyQuestion q : survey.getQuestions()) {
            questionMap.put(q.getId(), q);
        }
        
        for (SurveyQuestion q : survey.getQuestions()) {
            if (q.getBranching() != null) {
                for (SurveyBranchingCondition bc : q.getBranching()) {
                    if (!questionMap.containsKey(bc.getQuestionId())) {
                        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Branching condition references missing question: " + bc.getQuestionId());
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        
        // Attempt creation to validate against server-side capacity constraints
        try {
            surveysApi.postSurveys(survey);
        } catch (ApiException e) {
            if (e.getCode() == 409) {
                throw new RuntimeException("Survey capacity limit reached or conflicting version exists. Response: " + e.getMessage());
            }
            throw e;
        }
    }
}

Required OAuth Scope: surveys:write

Step 3: Asynchronous Publication with Version Control and Polling

Survey publication is asynchronous. The API returns a version object that transitions from PUBLISHING to ACTIVE. The following implementation polls the version status with exponential backoff and handles 429 Too Many Requests rate limits.

import com.genesiscloud.api.SurveysApi;
import com.genesiscloud.model.SurveyVersion;
import com.genesiscloud.client.ApiException;
import java.time.Duration;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class SurveyPublisher {
    private static final int MAX_RETRIES = 5;
    private static final long INITIAL_BACKOFF_MS = 1000;

    public static SurveyVersion publishAndPoll(SurveysApi surveysApi, String surveyId, String versionId) throws Exception {
        surveysApi.postSurveysIdVersionsVersionIdPublish(surveyId, versionId);
        
        SurveyVersion currentVersion = null;
        long backoff = INITIAL_BACKOFF_MS;
        
        for (int attempt = 0; attempt < MAX_RETRIES; attempt++) {
            try {
                currentVersion = surveysApi.getSurveysIdVersionsVersionId(surveyId, versionId);
                String status = currentVersion.getStatus();
                
                if ("ACTIVE".equals(status)) {
                    return currentVersion;
                }
                
                if ("FAILED".equals(status)) {
                    throw new RuntimeException("Survey publication failed. Reason: " + currentVersion.getErrorMessage());
                }
                
                // Polling delay with exponential backoff
                Thread.sleep(backoff);
                backoff *= 2;
                
            } catch (ApiException e) {
                if (e.getCode() == 429) {
                    Thread.sleep(backoff);
                    backoff *= 2;
                    continue;
                }
                throw e;
            }
        }
        
        throw new TimeoutException("Survey publication did not complete within the allowed timeframe.");
    }
}

HTTP Request Equivalent:

POST /api/v2/surveys/a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890/versions/1/publish
Authorization: Bearer <access_token>

Expected Response:

{
  "id": "1",
  "surveyId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
  "status": "PUBLISHING",
  "version": "1",
  "createdDate": "2024-01-15T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Required OAuth Scope: surveys:write

Step 4: Webhooks, Metrics, Audit Logs, and Survey Simulator

This step configures a webhook for real-time response synchronization, queries response metrics with pagination, retrieves audit logs, and exposes a local simulator that processes the survey definition against mock interaction attributes.

import com.genesiscloud.api.WebhooksApi;
import com.genesiscloud.api.SurveysApi;
import com.genesiscloud.model.*;
import com.genesiscloud.client.ApiException;
import java.util.*;

public class SurveyOperations {
    
    // Configure webhook for real-time QM synchronization
    public static void configureResponseWebhook(WebhooksApi webhooksApi, String callbackUrl) throws ApiException {
        Webhook webhook = new Webhook();
        webhook.setName("Survey Response QM Sync");
        webhook.setWebhookType("WEBHOOK");
        webhook.setCallbackUrl(callbackUrl);
        webhook.setEventTypes(List.of("SurveyResponse"));
        webhook.setEnabled(true);
        
        WebhookResponse response = webhooksApi.postWebhooks(webhook);
        System.out.println("Webhook created: " + response.getId());
    }
    
    // Query response rates and completion times with pagination
    public static List<SurveyResponse> fetchResponses(SurveysApi surveysApi, String surveyId) throws ApiException {
        List<SurveyResponse> allResponses = new ArrayList<>();
        String cursor = null;
        int pageSize = 25;
        
        do {
            SurveyResponses responses = surveysApi.getSurveysIdResponses(surveyId, null, null, null, null, pageSize, cursor);
            allResponses.addAll(responses.getEntities());
            cursor = responses.getPagination().getNextPageCursor();
        } while (cursor != null);
        
        return allResponses;
    }
    
    // Retrieve audit logs for compliance tracking
    public static List<AuditLog> fetchAuditLogs(SurveysApi surveysApi, String surveyId) throws ApiException {
        List<AuditLog> logs = new ArrayList<>();
        String cursor = null;
        
        do {
            AuditLogs logResponse = surveysApi.getSurveysIdAuditlogs(surveyId, null, null, 50, cursor);
            logs.addAll(logResponse.getEntities());
            cursor = logResponse.getPagination().getNextPageCursor();
        } while (cursor != null);
        
        return logs;
    }
    
    // Local survey simulator for design testing
    public static List<String> simulateSurvey(Survey survey, Map<String, Object> mockAttributes) {
        List<String> triggeredQuestions = new ArrayList<>();
        Map<String, Object> answers = new HashMap<>();
        
        for (SurveyQuestion q : survey.getQuestions()) {
            boolean showQuestion = true;
            
            if (q.getBranching() != null) {
                showQuestion = false;
                for (SurveyBranchingCondition bc : q.getBranching()) {
                    Object sourceAnswer = answers.get(bc.getQuestionId());
                    if (sourceAnswer != null) {
                        if (evaluateCondition(sourceAnswer, bc.getOperator(), bc.getValue())) {
                            showQuestion = true;
                            break;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            
            if (showQuestion) {
                triggeredQuestions.add(q.getId());
                // Simulate answer based on mock attributes or default
                if ("RATING".equals(q.getType())) {
                    answers.put(q.getId(), mockAttributes.getOrDefault("simulatedRating", 3));
                } else {
                    answers.put(q.getId(), mockAttributes.getOrDefault("simulatedText", "Test response"));
                }
            }
        }
        
        return triggeredQuestions;
    }
    
    private static boolean evaluateCondition(Object source, String operator, Object target) {
        if (source instanceof Number && target instanceof Number) {
            double s = ((Number) source).doubleValue();
            double t = ((Number) target).doubleValue();
            return switch (operator) {
                case "<=" -> s <= t;
                case ">=" -> s >= t;
                case "==" -> s == t;
                default -> false;
            };
        }
        return false;
    }
}

Required OAuth Scopes: webhooks:write, surveys:read, auditlogs:read

Complete Working Example

The following class combines authentication, construction, validation, publication, polling, webhook configuration, metrics retrieval, audit logging, and simulation into a single executable module.

import com.genesiscloud.client.PureCloudPlatformClientV2;
import com.genesiscloud.api.*;
import com.genesiscloud.model.*;
import com.genesiscloud.client.ApiException;
import java.util.*;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class GenesysSurveyManager {
    private static final String BASE_URL = "https://api.mypurecloud.com";
    private static final String CLIENT_ID = System.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID");
    private static final String CLIENT_SECRET = System.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET");
    private static final String WEBHOOK_URL = System.getenv("WEBHOOK_CALLBACK_URL");
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            PureCloudPlatformClientV2 client = new PureCloudPlatformClientV2();
            client.setBaseUri(BASE_URL);
            
            // Authentication
            client.setAuthenticator(new com.genesiscloud.client.auth.OAuth2Authenticator(
                new com.genesiscloud.client.auth.OAuthConfig()
                    .setClientId(CLIENT_ID)
                    .setClientSecret(CLIENT_SECRET)
                    .setGrantType("client_credentials")
                    .setScopes(List.of("surveys:read", "surveys:write", "webhooks:write", "analytics:read", "auditlogs:read"))
            ));
            client.setTokenCacheEnabled(true);
            
            SurveysApi surveysApi = new SurveysApi(client);
            WebhooksApi webhooksApi = new WebhooksApi(client);
            
            // Step 1: Build survey
            Survey survey = new Survey();
            survey.setName("Post-Interaction Customer Feedback");
            survey.setType("CUSTOMER");
            survey.setDistributionChannel("EMAIL");
            survey.setVersion("1");
            
            SurveyQuestion q1 = new SurveyQuestion();
            q1.setId("q1");
            q1.setType("RATING");
            q1.setText("How would you rate your recent interaction?");
            q1.setScaleType("NUMBER");
            q1.setMinValue(1);
            q1.setMaxValue(5);
            q1.setRequired(true);
            
            SurveyQuestion q2 = new SurveyQuestion();
            q2.setId("q2");
            q2.setType("TEXT");
            q2.setText("Please provide additional details.");
            q2.setRequired(false);
            
            SurveyBranchingCondition bc = new SurveyBranchingCondition();
            bc.setQuestionId("q1");
            bc.setOperator("<=");
            bc.setValue(2);
            bc.setTargetQuestionId("q2");
            q2.setBranching(List.of(bc));
            
            survey.setQuestions(List.of(q1, q2));
            
            SurveyTranslation tr = new SurveyTranslation();
            tr.setLocale("en-US");
            tr.setSurveyName("Post-Interaction Customer Feedback");
            survey.setTranslations(List.of(tr));
            
            // Step 2: Create and validate
            System.out.println("Creating survey...");
            Survey createdSurvey = surveysApi.postSurveys(survey);
            String surveyId = createdSurvey.getId();
            System.out.println("Survey created: " + surveyId);
            
            // Step 3: Publish and poll
            System.out.println("Publishing survey version 1...");
            surveysApi.postSurveysIdVersionsVersionIdPublish(surveyId, "1");
            
            long backoff = 1000;
            SurveyVersion publishedVersion = null;
            for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
                try {
                    publishedVersion = surveysApi.getSurveysIdVersionsVersionId(surveyId, "1");
                    if ("ACTIVE".equals(publishedVersion.getStatus())) break;
                    if ("FAILED".equals(publishedVersion.getStatus())) {
                        throw new RuntimeException("Publication failed: " + publishedVersion.getErrorMessage());
                    }
                    Thread.sleep(backoff);
                    backoff *= 2;
                } catch (ApiException e) {
                    if (e.getCode() == 429) {
                        Thread.sleep(backoff);
                        backoff *= 2;
                    } else {
                        throw e;
                    }
                }
            }
            System.out.println("Survey active. Version: " + publishedVersion.getId());
            
            // Step 4: Configure webhook
            if (WEBHOOK_URL != null) {
                Webhook webhook = new Webhook();
                webhook.setName("Survey QM Sync");
                webhook.setWebhookType("WEBHOOK");
                webhook.setCallbackUrl(WEBHOOK_URL);
                webhook.setEventTypes(List.of("SurveyResponse"));
                webhook.setEnabled(true);
                webhooksApi.postWebhooks(webhook);
                System.out.println("Webhook configured.");
            }
            
            // Step 5: Fetch audit logs
            AuditLogs auditLogs = surveysApi.getSurveysIdAuditlogs(surveyId, null, null, 50, null);
            System.out.println("Audit log entries: " + auditLogs.getEntities().size());
            
            // Step 6: Run simulator
            Map<String, Object> mockAttrs = new HashMap<>();
            mockAttrs.put("simulatedRating", 1);
            List<String> triggered = simulateSurvey(survey, mockAttrs);
            System.out.println("Simulator triggered questions: " + triggered);
            
        } catch (ApiException | InterruptedException e) {
            System.err.println("API Error: " + e.getMessage());
            if (e instanceof ApiException) {
                System.err.println("Status Code: " + ((ApiException) e).getCode());
                System.err.println("Response Body: " + ((ApiException) e).getMessage());
            }
        }
    }
    
    private static List<String> simulateSurvey(Survey survey, Map<String, Object> mockAttributes) {
        List<String> triggered = new ArrayList<>();
        Map<String, Object> answers = new HashMap<>();
        
        for (SurveyQuestion q : survey.getQuestions()) {
            boolean show = true;
            if (q.getBranching() != null) {
                show = false;
                for (SurveyBranchingCondition bc : q.getBranching()) {
                    Object src = answers.get(bc.getQuestionId());
                    if (src instanceof Number && bc.getValue() instanceof Number) {
                        double s = ((Number) src).doubleValue();
                        double t = ((Number) bc.getValue()).doubleValue();
                        if (bc.getOperator().equals("<=") && s <= t) show = true;
                    }
                }
            }
            if (show) {
                triggered.add(q.getId());
                answers.put(q.getId(), mockAttributes.getOrDefault("simulatedRating", 3));
            }
        }
        return triggered;
    }
}

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

• Cause: The OAuth token has expired or the client credentials are invalid.
• Fix: Ensure the OAuth2Authenticator is properly initialized with correct CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET. Enable token caching to allow automatic refresh. Verify the OAuth application is active in the Genesys Cloud admin console.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• Cause: The OAuth application lacks the required scopes or the user context does not have survey management permissions.
• Fix: Add surveys:write and surveys:read to the OAuth scope list. Assign the Survey Manager or Organization Administrator role to the OAuth application or the authenticated user.

Error: 400 Bad Request

• Cause: The survey payload violates the JSON schema. Common issues include mismatched branching question IDs, invalid scale ranges, or missing required fields.
• Fix: Validate the SurveyQuestion IDs match exactly across branching conditions. Ensure minValue and maxValue are within supported bounds for the selected scaleType. Check the API response body for field-level error paths.

Error: 409 Conflict

• Cause: A survey version with the same identifier already exists, or the organization has reached the maximum active survey limit.
• Fix: Increment the version field before publishing. Query existing versions using GET /api/v2/surveys/{surveyId}/versions to identify the next available version number.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

• Cause: The polling loop or webhook configuration exceeds the rate limit for the tenant.
• Fix: Implement exponential backoff as shown in the publication polling logic. Reduce polling frequency and respect the Retry-After header when present.

Official References

• Genesys Cloud Survey API Documentation
• Genesys Cloud Java SDK Reference
• Genesys Cloud Webhook API Documentation
• OAuth Client Credentials Flow Guide