Discrepancy between /api/v2/conversations and /api/v2/analytics/conversations for real-time screen pop context

Building a custom embeddable client app for our agents and running into a weird timing issue with conversation data. We need to pull specific custom attributes from the conversation object to trigger a screen pop in our custom desktop. The flow is straightforward. The agent clicks a button, the app calls the API, gets the data, and opens the CRM tab.

The problem is the data freshness. When I hit /api/v2/conversations/web/{conversationId}, I get the latest custom attributes immediately after they are set via the Studio script. It’s fast. Like, sub-second fast. But the response payload is massive. It includes every single participant, every message history, and tons of metadata we don’t need for this specific lookup. Parsing it takes too long in the browser thread. It blocks the UI for a noticeable second.

So I tried switching to /api/v2/analytics/conversations/realtime. The docs say this gives you a summary. I figured it would be lighter. It is. The payload is tiny. But here’s the kicker. The custom attributes are missing. Or rather, they’re not in the same structure. I see contactId and channelId, but no customAttributes object. I checked the metrics array. Nothing there either.

I’ve tried adding ?view=custom but that only changes the metrics, not the interaction details. I also tried filtering with query=interactionType:web but the result set is empty if I don’t wait for the next analytics tick, which is too slow for a screen pop.

Is there a way to get the lightweight summary from analytics that includes the latest custom attributes? Or am I stuck with the heavy v2/conversations endpoint and need to do some aggressive pruning in the SDK code before passing it to the renderer? Here’s the code snippet for the fetch:

const response = await fetch(`https://${orgDomain}.mypurecloud.com/api/v2/analytics/conversations/realtime?query=interactionId:${convId}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.records[0]); // Returns empty customAttributes

The v2 endpoint works but feels wrong for this use case. Using the analytics endpoint feels like a hack since the data isn’t there. What’s the standard pattern for this in the SDK community?

You’re hitting the eventual consistency gap between the real-time conversation service and the analytics warehouse. The analytics API isn’t meant for low-latency screen pops. It’s batched. If you need data the second a message arrives, stick to the real-time endpoints or push data via DFO events.

Stop polling /analytics/conversations. It’s too slow for this use case. Use the WebSocket subscription for the specific conversation ID instead. You’ll get the delta updates instantly. Here’s the minimal setup for the subscription.

// Subscribe to conversation events for a specific ID
const subscription = await platformClient.EventsApi.postEventsSubscription({
 body: {
 topics: [`conversations/conversations/${conversationId}`],
 eventTypes: ['conversation.updated'],
 subscriptionType: 'websocket'
 }
});

// Handle the stream
subscription.stream.on('data', (event) => {
 if (event.type === 'conversation.updated') {
 // event.data contains the fresh custom attributes
 triggerScreenPop(event.data);
 }
});

This avoids the latency entirely. The WebSocket keeps the connection open and pushes updates as they happen. You’ll see the custom attributes the moment the platform processes them. No polling needed.