Delete Genesys Cloud Recordings for Compliance via Media API with Go

How-To-Articles
1

Delete Genesys Cloud Recordings for Compliance via Media API with Go

What You Will Build

  • A Go module that identifies target recordings, validates retention and legal hold constraints, executes atomic DELETE operations, registers deletion webhooks, tracks purge latency, and generates compliance audit logs.
  • This implementation uses the Genesys Cloud CX Recordings, Webhooks, and Audit Logs APIs through the official Go SDK.
  • The tutorial covers Go 1.21 with production-grade error handling, rate limit recovery, and structured compliance reporting.

Prerequisites

  • OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials flow configured in Genesys Cloud
  • Required scopes: recording:read, recording:delete, webhook:write, auditlog:read
  • SDK: github.com/mypurecloud/platform-client-sdk-go/v7
  • Runtime: Go 1.21 or later
  • Dependencies: Standard library only (net/http, context, time, encoding/json, fmt, log, os)

Authentication Setup

The Genesys Cloud Go SDK handles OAuth token acquisition, caching, and automatic refresh when initialized with client credentials. You must set the environment variable PURECLOUD_ENVIRONMENT to your deployment region (e.g., mypurecloud.com, usw2.pure.cloud, au02.pure.cloud).

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "os"
    "time"

    "github.com/mypurecloud/platform-client-sdk-go/v7/platformclientv2"
)

func initSDK() *platformclientv2.ApiClient {
    clientId := os.Getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
    clientSecret := os.Getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")
    environment := os.Getenv("PURECLOUD_ENVIRONMENT")
    
    if clientId == "" || clientSecret == "" || environment == "" {
        log.Fatal("Required environment variables missing: GENESYS_CLIENT_ID, GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET, PURECLOUD_ENVIRONMENT")
    }

    config := platformclientv2.Configuration{
        ClientId:     &clientId,
        ClientSecret: &clientSecret,
        Environment:  &environment,
        Debug:        false,
    }

    // SDK automatically fetches and caches the access token
    apiClient := config.Builder().Build()
    return apiClient
}

The SDK caches the token in memory and refreshes it before expiration. For long-running compliance jobs, you may implement a custom token store, but the default in-memory cache suffices for batch deletion processes.

Implementation

Step 1: Initialize SDK and Configure Compliance Validation Pipeline

Before issuing deletion requests, you must establish a validation pipeline that checks legal hold status and retention policy constraints. Genesys Cloud enforces data retention server-side. Attempting to delete a recording under legal hold or outside the retention window returns a 403 Forbidden or 409 Conflict. The validation struct below mirrors the compliance schema required for safe deletion.

type ComplianceDirective struct {
    RecordingID   string
    PurgeReason   string
    ValidatedAt   time.Time
    IsLegallyHeld bool
    RetentionDays int
}

func validateRecordingForPurge(rec *platformclientv2.Recording, retentionLimitDays int) (*ComplianceDirective, error) {
    // Legal hold verification pipeline
    if rec.LegalHold != nil && *rec.LegalHold {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("recording %s is under legal hold and cannot be purged", *rec.Id)
    }

    // Retention period calculation
    var recordedAt time.Time
    if rec.RecordedAt != nil {
        recordedAt = *rec.RecordedAt
    } else if rec.CreatedAt != nil {
        recordedAt = *rec.CreatedAt
    } else {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("recording %s missing timestamp metadata", *rec.Id)
    }

    daysSinceRecorded := int(time.Since(recordedAt).Hours() / 24)
    if daysSinceRecorded < retentionLimitDays {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("recording %s is within %d day retention window (current age: %d days)", *rec.Id, retentionLimitDays, daysSinceRecorded)
    }

    return &ComplianceDirective{
        RecordingID:   *rec.Id,
        PurgeReason:   "compliance_retention_expiry",
        ValidatedAt:   time.Now(),
        IsLegallyHeld: false,
        RetentionDays: daysSinceRecorded,
    }, nil
}

Step 2: Query Recordings and Validate Retention Constraints

The Recordings API uses a POST query endpoint to retrieve recordings matching a filter. You must construct a query body that specifies the date range and media type. The SDK maps this to POST /api/v2/recordings/queries/recordings/get.

HTTP Cycle Reference:

POST /api/v2/recordings/queries/recordings/get HTTP/1.1
Host: api.mypurecloud.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <token>

{
  "query": {
    "type": "recordings",
    "dateRange": {
      "type": "absolute",
      "from": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "to": "2023-01-31T23:59:59Z"
    },
    "filter": {
      "type": "equal",
      "field": "mediaType",
      "value": "voice"
    }
  },
  "pageSize": 25,
  "pageNumber": 1
}

Response Body (Truncated):

{
  "pageNumber": 1,
  "pageSize": 25,
  "total": 42,
  "entities": [
    {
      "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
      "name": "call_20230115_103045.mp3",
      "mediaType": "voice",
      "legalHold": false,
      "retention": { "policyId": "default-retention-90" },
      "recordedAt": "2023-01-15T10:30:45Z",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}

Go Implementation:

func queryTargetRecordings(api *platformclientv2.ApiClient, from, to time.Time, pageSize int) ([]platformclientv2.Recording, error) {
    recordingsApi := platformclientv2.NewRecordingsApi(api)
    
    dateFrom := from.Format(time.RFC3339)
    dateTo := to.Format(time.RFC3339)
    
    queryBody := platformclientv2.Recordingsquery{
        Query: &platformclientv2.Query{
            Type: platformclientv2.String("recordings"),
            DateRange: &platformclientv2.Daterange{
                Type: platformclientv2.String("absolute"),
                From: &dateFrom,
                To:   &dateTo,
            },
            Filter: &platformclientv2.Filter{
                Type:  platformclientv2.String("equal"),
                Field: platformclientv2.String("mediaType"),
                Value: platformclientv2.String("voice"),
            },
        },
        PageSize:   &pageSize,
        PageNumber: platformclientv2.Int(1),
    }

    var allRecordings []platformclientv2.Recording
    pageNum := 1
    for {
        resp, _, err := recordingsApi.PostRecordingsQueriesRecordingsGet(context.Background(), queryBody)
        if err != nil {
            return nil, fmt.Errorf("query failed: %w", err)
        }

        if resp.Entities == nil || len(*resp.Entities) == 0 {
            break
        }
        allRecordings = append(allRecordings, *resp.Entities...)

        if resp.Total == nil || int(*resp.Total) <= len(allRecordings) {
            break
        }
        pageNum++
        queryBody.PageNumber = &pageNum
    }

    return allRecordings, nil
}

Step 3: Execute Atomic DELETE Operations with Latency Tracking

The deletion endpoint is DELETE /api/v2/recordings/{recordingId}. Genesys Cloud treats this as an atomic operation. Upon success, the platform initiates secure erase routines, reclaims storage, and updates the internal media ledger. The API returns 204 No Content. You must track latency, handle 429 rate limits with exponential backoff, and log success/failure rates.

func purgeRecordingWithAudit(api *platformclientv2.ApiClient, directive *ComplianceDirective) (time.Duration, error) {
    recordingsApi := platformclientv2.NewRecordingsApi(api)
    
    start := time.Now()
    ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
    defer cancel()

    // Retry loop for 429 Too Many Requests
    var lastErr error
    retries := 3
    for attempt := 0; attempt <= retries; attempt++ {
        _, httpResp, err := recordingsApi.DeleteRecordingsRecording(ctx, directive.RecordingID)
        
        if err == nil {
            latency := time.Since(start)
            return latency, nil
        }

        lastErr = err
        if httpResp != nil && httpResp.StatusCode == 429 {
            retryAfter := httpResp.Header.Get("Retry-After")
            waitTime := time.Duration(2^attempt) * time.Second
            if retryAfter != "" {
                if seconds, parseErr := time.ParseDuration(retryAfter + "s"); parseErr == nil {
                    waitTime = seconds
                }
            }
            log.Printf("Rate limited on %s. Retrying in %v", directive.RecordingID, waitTime)
            time.Sleep(waitTime)
            continue
        }

        // Non-retryable error
        break
    }

    return 0, fmt.Errorf("delete failed after %d attempts: %w", retries, lastErr)
}

Step 4: Register Deletion Webhooks and Verify Format

To synchronize deletion events with external compliance vaults, you register a webhook that triggers on recording.deleted. The payload contains the recording identifier, deletion timestamp, and operator context. This enables audit trail alignment without polling.

Webhook Payload Structure:

{
  "id": "webhook-uuid",
  "name": "Compliance Deletion Sync",
  "event": "recording.deleted",
  "uri": "https://compliance-vault.example.com/api/v1/genesys/recordings/deleted",
  "method": "POST",
  "headers": {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "X-Compliance-Signature": "sha256"
  },
  "enabled": true
}

Go Implementation:

func registerDeletionWebhook(api *platformclientv2.ApiClient, targetURI string) error {
    webhooksApi := platformclientv2.NewWebhooksApi(api)
    
    webhook := platformclientv2.Webhook{
        Name:    platformclientv2.String("Compliance_Deletion_Sync"),
        Event:   platformclientv2.String("recording.deleted"),
        Uri:     &targetURI,
        Method:  platformclientv2.String("POST"),
        Headers: &map[string]string{
            "Content-Type": "application/json",
        },
        Enabled: platformclientv2.Bool(true),
    }

    _, _, err := webhooksApi.PostWebhooks(context.Background(), webhook)
    if err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("webhook registration failed: %w", err)
    }
    return nil
}

Step 5: Query Audit Logs and Generate Governance Report

After deletion, you must verify the platform ledger update and generate a compliance report. The Audit Logs API exposes deletion events via POST /api/v2/auditlogs/queries/auditlogs/get. You filter by action DELETE and entity RECORDING.

func generateAuditReport(api *platformclientv2.ApiClient, from, to time.Time) ([]platformclientv2.Auditlog, error) {
    auditApi := platformclientv2.NewAuditLogsApi(api)
    
    query := platformclientv2.Auditlogquery{
        Query: &platformclientv2.Query{
            Type: platformclientv2.String("auditlogs"),
            DateRange: &platformclientv2.Daterange{
                Type: platformclientv2.String("absolute"),
                From: platformclientv2.String(from.Format(time.RFC3339)),
                To:   platformclientv2.String(to.Format(time.RFC3339)),
            },
            Filter: &platformclientv2.Filter{
                Type:  platformclientv2.String("equal"),
                Field: platformclientv2.String("action"),
                Value: platformclientv2.String("DELETE"),
            },
        },
        PageSize: platformclientv2.Int(100),
    }

    var logs []platformclientv2.Auditlog
    resp, _, err := auditApi.GetAuditlogsQueriesAuditlogsGet(context.Background(), query)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("audit query failed: %w", err)
    }

    if resp.Entities != nil {
        logs = append(logs, *resp.Entities...)
    }
    return logs, nil
}

Complete Working Example

The following module integrates all components into a single executable compliance purge job. It validates recordings, executes deletions with retry logic, registers webhooks, tracks latency, and outputs a structured audit summary.

package main

import (
    "context"
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "os"
    "time"

    "github.com/mypurecloud/platform-client-sdk-go/v7/platformclientv2"
)

type ComplianceDirective struct {
    RecordingID   string
    PurgeReason   string
    ValidatedAt   time.Time
    IsLegallyHeld bool
    RetentionDays int
}

type PurgeReport struct {
    TotalAttempted int             `json:"total_attempted"`
    Successful     int             `json:"successful"`
    Failed         int             `json:"failed"`
    AvgLatencyMs   float64         `json:"avg_latency_ms"`
    AuditEntries   []AuditEntry    `json:"audit_entries"`
}

type AuditEntry struct {
    RecordingID string    `json:"recording_id"`
    Status      string    `json:"status"`
    LatencyMs   float64   `json:"latency_ms"`
    Timestamp   time.Time `json:"timestamp"`
}

func initSDK() *platformclientv2.ApiClient {
    clientId := os.Getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
    clientSecret := os.Getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")
    environment := os.Getenv("PURECLOUD_ENVIRONMENT")
    
    if clientId == "" || clientSecret == "" || environment == "" {
        log.Fatal("Required environment variables missing: GENESYS_CLIENT_ID, GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET, PURECLOUD_ENVIRONMENT")
    }

    config := platformclientv2.Configuration{
        ClientId:     &clientId,
        ClientSecret: &clientSecret,
        Environment:  &environment,
        Debug:        false,
    }
    return config.Builder().Build()
}

func validateRecordingForPurge(rec *platformclientv2.Recording, retentionLimitDays int) (*ComplianceDirective, error) {
    if rec.LegalHold != nil && *rec.LegalHold {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("recording %s is under legal hold and cannot be purged", *rec.Id)
    }

    var recordedAt time.Time
    if rec.RecordedAt != nil {
        recordedAt = *rec.RecordedAt
    } else if rec.CreatedAt != nil {
        recordedAt = *rec.CreatedAt
    } else {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("recording %s missing timestamp metadata", *rec.Id)
    }

    daysSinceRecorded := int(time.Since(recordedAt).Hours() / 24)
    if daysSinceRecorded < retentionLimitDays {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("recording %s is within %d day retention window (current age: %d days)", *rec.Id, retentionLimitDays, daysSinceRecorded)
    }

    return &ComplianceDirective{
        RecordingID:   *rec.Id,
        PurgeReason:   "compliance_retention_expiry",
        ValidatedAt:   time.Now(),
        IsLegallyHeld: false,
        RetentionDays: daysSinceRecorded,
    }, nil
}

func queryTargetRecordings(api *platformclientv2.ApiClient, from, to time.Time, pageSize int) ([]platformclientv2.Recording, error) {
    recordingsApi := platformclientv2.NewRecordingsApi(api)
    
    dateFrom := from.Format(time.RFC3339)
    dateTo := to.Format(time.RFC3339)
    
    queryBody := platformclientv2.Recordingsquery{
        Query: &platformclientv2.Query{
            Type: platformclientv2.String("recordings"),
            DateRange: &platformclientv2.Daterange{
                Type: platformclientv2.String("absolute"),
                From: &dateFrom,
                To:   &dateTo,
            },
            Filter: &platformclientv2.Filter{
                Type:  platformclientv2.String("equal"),
                Field: platformclientv2.String("mediaType"),
                Value: platformclientv2.String("voice"),
            },
        },
        PageSize:   &pageSize,
        PageNumber: platformclientv2.Int(1),
    }

    var allRecordings []platformclientv2.Recording
    pageNum := 1
    for {
        resp, _, err := recordingsApi.PostRecordingsQueriesRecordingsGet(context.Background(), queryBody)
        if err != nil {
            return nil, fmt.Errorf("query failed: %w", err)
        }

        if resp.Entities == nil || len(*resp.Entities) == 0 {
            break
        }
        allRecordings = append(allRecordings, *resp.Entities...)

        if resp.Total == nil || int(*resp.Total) <= len(allRecordings) {
            break
        }
        pageNum++
        queryBody.PageNumber = &pageNum
    }

    return allRecordings, nil
}

func purgeRecordingWithAudit(api *platformclientv2.ApiClient, directive *ComplianceDirective) (time.Duration, error) {
    recordingsApi := platformclientv2.NewRecordingsApi(api)
    
    start := time.Now()
    ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
    defer cancel()

    var lastErr error
    retries := 3
    for attempt := 0; attempt <= retries; attempt++ {
        _, httpResp, err := recordingsApi.DeleteRecordingsRecording(ctx, directive.RecordingID)
        
        if err == nil {
            latency := time.Since(start)
            return latency, nil
        }

        lastErr = err
        if httpResp != nil && httpResp.StatusCode == 429 {
            retryAfter := httpResp.Header.Get("Retry-After")
            waitTime := time.Duration(2^attempt) * time.Second
            if retryAfter != "" {
                if seconds, parseErr := time.ParseDuration(retryAfter + "s"); parseErr == nil {
                    waitTime = seconds
                }
            }
            log.Printf("Rate limited on %s. Retrying in %v", directive.RecordingID, waitTime)
            time.Sleep(waitTime)
            continue
        }
        break
    }

    return 0, fmt.Errorf("delete failed after %d attempts: %w", retries, lastErr)
}

func registerDeletionWebhook(api *platformclientv2.ApiClient, targetURI string) error {
    webhooksApi := platformclientv2.NewWebhooksApi(api)
    
    webhook := platformclientv2.Webhook{
        Name:    platformclientv2.String("Compliance_Deletion_Sync"),
        Event:   platformclientv2.String("recording.deleted"),
        Uri:     &targetURI,
        Method:  platformclientv2.String("POST"),
        Headers: &map[string]string{
            "Content-Type": "application/json",
        },
        Enabled: platformclientv2.Bool(true),
    }

    _, _, err := webhooksApi.PostWebhooks(context.Background(), webhook)
    if err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("webhook registration failed: %w", err)
    }
    return nil
}

func main() {
    api := initSDK()
    
    retentionDays := 90
    from := time.Now().AddDate(0, 0, -180)
    to := time.Now().AddDate(0, 0, -retentionDays)
    
    log.Println("Querying target recordings...")
    recordings, err := queryTargetRecordings(api, from, to, 50)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to query recordings: %v", err)
    }
    log.Printf("Found %d recordings in date range", len(recordings))

    var directives []*ComplianceDirective
    for i := range recordings {
        rec := &recordings[i]
        dir, err := validateRecordingForPurge(rec, retentionDays)
        if err != nil {
            log.Printf("Validation skipped %s: %v", *rec.Id, err)
            continue
        }
        directives = append(directives, dir)
    }
    log.Printf("Validated %d recordings for purge", len(directives))

    // Register webhook before purge job
    webhookURI := os.Getenv("COMPLIANCE_WEBHOOK_URI")
    if webhookURI != "" {
        if err := registerDeletionWebhook(api, webhookURI); err != nil {
            log.Printf("Warning: Webhook registration failed: %v", err)
        }
    }

    // Execute purge job
    report := PurgeReport{TotalAttempted: len(directives)}
    var totalLatency time.Duration

    for _, dir := range directives {
        latency, err := purgeRecordingWithAudit(api, dir)
        if err != nil {
            report.Failed++
            log.Printf("Purge failed %s: %v", dir.RecordingID, err)
            report.AuditEntries = append(report.AuditEntries, AuditEntry{
                RecordingID: dir.RecordingID,
                Status:      "failed",
                LatencyMs:   0,
                Timestamp:   time.Now(),
            })
            continue
        }
        
        report.Successful++
        totalLatency += latency
        report.AuditEntries = append(report.AuditEntries, AuditEntry{
            RecordingID: dir.RecordingID,
            Status:      "success",
            LatencyMs:   float64(latency.Milliseconds()),
            Timestamp:   time.Now(),
        })
    }

    if report.Successful > 0 {
        report.AvgLatencyMs = float64(totalLatency.Milliseconds()) / float64(report.Successful)
    }

    jsonData, _ := json.MarshalIndent(report, "", "  ")
    fmt.Println("Compliance Purge Report:")
    fmt.Println(string(jsonData))
}

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 403 Forbidden

  • Cause: The recording is protected by a retention policy, legal hold, or the OAuth token lacks recording:delete scope.
  • Fix: Verify the legalHold flag is false. Ensure the recording age exceeds your organization’s retention threshold. Confirm the client credentials include the recording:delete scope. Adjust the validation pipeline to skip protected assets.
  • Code Fix: The validateRecordingForPurge function already intercepts legal hold and retention violations before the API call.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

  • Cause: Genesys Cloud enforces rate limits per tenant and per endpoint. Batch deletion jobs frequently trigger cascading limits.
  • Fix: Implement exponential backoff using the Retry-After header. The provided purgeRecordingWithAudit function parses this header and sleeps accordingly. Reduce pageSize in queries to stagger requests.
  • Code Fix: The retry loop in Step 3 handles 429 responses automatically.

Error: 404 Not Found

  • Cause: The recording ID does not exist, or it was already deleted by another process or retention policy.
  • Fix: Treat 404 as a successful purge outcome in compliance contexts. The recording is already absent from the media store.
  • Code Fix: Add a check for httpResp.StatusCode == 404 in the retry loop and return 0, nil to count it as successful.

Error: 500 Internal Server Error

  • Cause: Transient platform failure during secure erase or ledger update.
  • Fix: Retry the request after a fixed delay. If it persists, log the recording ID for manual review and contact Genesys Cloud Support with the correlation ID from the response headers.
  • Code Fix: Extend the retry loop to include 5xx status codes with a maximum of 5 attempts.

Official References