Export All Architect Flows as JSON Using the Genesys Cloud CLI

How-To-Articles
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Export All Architect Flows as JSON Using the Genesys Cloud CLI

What You Will Build

  • A script that authenticates with Genesys Cloud and programmatically exports every Architect flow in your organization as a standalone JSON file.
  • This tutorial uses the Genesys Cloud REST API via the Python SDK to retrieve flow definitions.
  • The primary programming language is Python, with HTTP requests handled by the official genesyscloud SDK.

Prerequisites

  • OAuth Client: You need an OAuth Public Client or Confidential Client with the admin role or specific Architect permissions.
  • Required Scopes: flow:flow:read is the minimum scope required to read flow definitions.
  • SDK Version: genesyscloud Python SDK v2.0.0 or later.
  • Runtime: Python 3.8 or higher.
  • External Dependencies:
    • genesyscloud (the official Genesys Cloud Python SDK)
    • os (standard library for file handling)

Install the SDK via pip:

pip install genesyscloud

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. When using the Python SDK, you handle authentication by initializing the PureCloudPlatformClientV2 object. The SDK manages token refresh automatically if you provide the correct client credentials.

For this tutorial, we will use the Client Credentials Grant flow, which is suitable for server-to-server interactions like exporting data. You must configure your environment variables or use the SDK’s configuration file to store your client ID, client secret, and environment URL.

import os
from genesyscloud import PureCloudPlatformClientV2
from genesyscloud.api_exception import ApiException

def get_platform_client():
    """
    Initialize and return the Genesys Cloud Platform Client.
    Uses environment variables for credentials.
    """
    # Load configuration from environment variables
    client_id = os.environ.get('GENESYS_CLIENT_ID')
    client_secret = os.environ.get('GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET')
    env_url = os.environ.get('GENESYS_ENV_URL', 'https://api.mypurecloud.com')

    if not client_id or not client_secret:
        raise ValueError("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET must be set in environment variables.")

    # Initialize the platform client
    platform_client = PureCloudPlatformClientV2()
    
    # Configure the client
    platform_client.set_credentials(client_id, client_secret, env_url)
    
    return platform_client

try:
    client = get_platform_client()
    print("Authentication successful.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Authentication failed: {e}")
    exit(1)

Key Note: The set_credentials method handles the initial token request. Subsequent API calls will automatically refresh the token if it expires. Ensure your client has the flow:flow:read scope assigned in the Genesys Cloud Admin Console under Integrations > OAuth > Clients.

Implementation

Step 1: Retrieve All Flow IDs

Architect flows are paginated resources. You cannot retrieve all flows in a single request if you have more than the default page size (usually 25 or 100 items). You must iterate through the pages to collect all flow IDs.

We will use the ApiFlows class from the SDK. The method get_flows() returns a FlowEntityListing object.

from genesyscloud.api.flows_api import ApiFlows

def get_all_flow_ids(client: PureCloudPlatformClientV2):
    """
    Iterates through all pages of flows to collect every flow ID.
    Returns a list of flow IDs.
    """
    flows_api = ApiFlows(client)
    flow_ids = []
    
    # Initial request with a large page size to reduce round trips
    # Max page size for this endpoint is typically 1000, but we use 200 for safety
    page_size = 200
    continuation_token = None

    while True:
        try:
            # Call the API
            response = flows_api.get_flows(page_size=page_size, continuation_token=continuation_token)
            
            # Append IDs from the current page
            if response.entities:
                for flow in response.entities:
                    flow_ids.append(flow.id)
            
            # Check if there are more pages
            if not response.continuation_token:
                break
            
            # Update token for next iteration
            continuation_token = response.continuation_token
            
        except ApiError as e:
            print(f"Error retrieving flows: {e}")
            raise

    return flow_ids

# Execute the retrieval
try:
    all_flow_ids = get_all_flow_ids(client)
    print(f"Found {len(all_flow_ids)} flows.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Failed to retrieve flow IDs: {e}")
    exit(1)

Why this approach?
The get_flows endpoint returns metadata (ID, name, description) but not the full flow definition. Retrieving the metadata first is efficient because it avoids downloading large JSON payloads for every flow until you are ready to export them.

Step 2: Export Each Flow as JSON

Now that you have the list of flow IDs, you need to fetch the full definition for each flow. The endpoint /api/v2/flows/{flowId} returns the complete flow structure.

We will create a function that:

  1. Fetches the flow definition.
  2. Converts it to a JSON string.
  3. Sanitizes the flow name to create a valid filename.
  4. Writes the JSON to a file in a local directory.
import json
import re
import os
from genesyscloud.api.flows_api import ApiFlows
from genesyscloud.api_exception import ApiError

def sanitize_filename(name: str) -> str:
    """
    Removes invalid characters from filenames.
    Replaces spaces and special chars with underscores.
    """
    # Remove characters that are invalid in file names
    sanitized = re.sub(r'[\\/*?:"<>|]', "", name)
    # Replace spaces with underscores
    sanitized = sanitized.replace(" ", "_")
    # Truncate if too long
    if len(sanitized) > 100:
        sanitized = sanitized[:100]
    return sanitized

def export_flows_to_json(client: PureCloudPlatformClientV2, flow_ids: list, output_dir: str):
    """
    Downloads each flow definition and saves it as a JSON file.
    """
    flows_api = ApiFlows(client)
    
    # Create output directory if it does not exist
    if not os.path.exists(output_dir):
        os.makedirs(output_dir)

    exported_count = 0
    
    for flow_id in flow_ids:
        try:
            # Fetch the full flow definition
            # Note: expand='all' is not typically needed for flows as the definition is included by default
            response = flows_api.get_flow(flow_id=flow_id)
            
            # Convert the response entity to a dictionary
            # The SDK returns a Flow object. We can convert it to dict for JSON serialization.
            flow_data = response.to_dict() if hasattr(response, 'to_dict') else response
            
            # Sanitize the filename based on the flow name
            flow_name = flow_data.get('name', 'unknown_flow')
            filename = f"{sanitize_filename(flow_name)}.json"
            filepath = os.path.join(output_dir, filename)
            
            # Write to file
            with open(filepath, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                json.dump(flow_data, f, indent=2)
            
            exported_count += 1
            print(f"Exported: {filename}")
            
        except ApiError as e:
            # Handle specific API errors
            if e.status == 404:
                print(f"Flow not found (deleted?): {flow_id}")
            elif e.status == 429:
                print(f"Rate limited. Skipping flow: {flow_id}")
            else:
                print(f"Error exporting flow {flow_id}: {e}")
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Unexpected error exporting flow {flow_id}: {e}")

    print(f"Successfully exported {exported_count} flows to {output_dir}")

Important Detail: The get_flow method returns a Flow object. Depending on the SDK version, you may need to call .to_dict() to serialize it properly into JSON. If you are using a newer version of the SDK that supports JSON serialization directly, you can pass the object to json.dumps. The code above assumes the standard pattern of converting to a dictionary first.

Step 3: Handle Rate Limiting and Retries

Genesys Cloud APIs enforce rate limits. If you have thousands of flows, you may hit a 429 Too Many Requests error. The SDK does not automatically retry all requests, so you should implement a basic retry mechanism or delay between requests.

Here is an enhanced version of the export loop with exponential backoff:

import time

def export_flows_with_retry(client: PureCloudPlatformClientV2, flow_ids: list, output_dir: str, max_retries: int = 3):
    """
    Exports flows with retry logic for rate limiting.
    """
    flows_api = ApiFlows(client)
    
    if not os.path.exists(output_dir):
        os.makedirs(output_dir)

    exported_count = 0
    
    for flow_id in flow_ids:
        retries = 0
        success = False
        
        while retries < max_retries and not success:
            try:
                response = flows_api.get_flow(flow_id=flow_id)
                flow_data = response.to_dict() if hasattr(response, 'to_dict') else response
                
                flow_name = flow_data.get('name', 'unknown_flow')
                filename = f"{sanitize_filename(flow_name)}.json"
                filepath = os.path.join(output_dir, filename)
                
                with open(filepath, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                    json.dump(flow_data, f, indent=2)
                
                exported_count += 1
                print(f"Exported: {filename}")
                success = True
                
            except ApiError as e:
                if e.status == 429:
                    retries += 1
                    wait_time = 2 ** retries  # Exponential backoff: 2s, 4s, 8s
                    print(f"Rate limited on flow {flow_id}. Retrying in {wait_time}s...")
                    time.sleep(wait_time)
                else:
                    print(f"Error exporting flow {flow_id}: {e}")
                    success = True  # Break the retry loop for non-429 errors
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Unexpected error exporting flow {flow_id}: {e}")
                success = True

    print(f"Successfully exported {exported_count} flows to {output_dir}")

Complete Working Example

Below is the full, copy-pasteable script. Save this as export_flows.py.

import os
import json
import re
import time
from genesyscloud import PureCloudPlatformClientV2
from genesyscloud.api.flows_api import ApiFlows
from genesyscloud.api_exception import ApiError

def get_platform_client():
    """Initialize Genesys Cloud Platform Client."""
    client_id = os.environ.get('GENESYS_CLIENT_ID')
    client_secret = os.environ.get('GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET')
    env_url = os.environ.get('GENESYS_ENV_URL', 'https://api.mypurecloud.com')

    if not client_id or not client_secret:
        raise ValueError("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET must be set.")

    platform_client = PureCloudPlatformClientV2()
    platform_client.set_credentials(client_id, client_secret, env_url)
    return platform_client

def sanitize_filename(name: str) -> str:
    """Sanitize flow name for use as a filename."""
    sanitized = re.sub(r'[\\/*?:"<>|]', "", name)
    sanitized = sanitized.replace(" ", "_")
    if len(sanitized) > 100:
        sanitized = sanitized[:100]
    return sanitized

def get_all_flow_ids(client: PureCloudPlatformClientV2):
    """Retrieve all flow IDs from the organization."""
    flows_api = ApiFlows(client)
    flow_ids = []
    page_size = 200
    continuation_token = None

    while True:
        try:
            response = flows_api.get_flows(page_size=page_size, continuation_token=continuation_token)
            if response.entities:
                for flow in response.entities:
                    flow_ids.append(flow.id)
            if not response.continuation_token:
                break
            continuation_token = response.continuation_token
        except ApiError as e:
            print(f"Error retrieving flows: {e}")
            raise
    return flow_ids

def export_flows(client: PureCloudPlatformClientV2, flow_ids: list, output_dir: str):
    """Export each flow to a JSON file with retry logic."""
    flows_api = ApiFlows(client)
    if not os.path.exists(output_dir):
        os.makedirs(output_dir)

    exported_count = 0
    max_retries = 3

    for flow_id in flow_ids:
        retries = 0
        success = False

        while retries < max_retries and not success:
            try:
                response = flows_api.get_flow(flow_id=flow_id)
                # Convert SDK object to dictionary
                flow_data = response.to_dict() if hasattr(response, 'to_dict') else response
                
                flow_name = flow_data.get('name', 'unknown_flow')
                filename = f"{sanitize_filename(flow_name)}.json"
                filepath = os.path.join(output_dir, filename)
                
                with open(filepath, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                    json.dump(flow_data, f, indent=2)
                
                exported_count += 1
                print(f"Exported: {filename}")
                success = True

            except ApiError as e:
                if e.status == 429:
                    retries += 1
                    wait_time = 2 ** retries
                    print(f"Rate limited on flow {flow_id}. Retrying in {wait_time}s...")
                    time.sleep(wait_time)
                else:
                    print(f"Error exporting flow {flow_id}: {e}")
                    success = True
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Unexpected error exporting flow {flow_id}: {e}")
                success = True

    print(f"Successfully exported {exported_count} flows to {output_dir}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        print("Initializing client...")
        client = get_platform_client()
        
        print("Retrieving all flow IDs...")
        flow_ids = get_all_flow_ids(client)
        print(f"Found {len(flow_ids)} flows.")
        
        output_directory = "./exported_flows"
        print(f"Exporting flows to {output_directory}...")
        export_flows(client, flow_ids, output_directory)
        
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Fatal error: {e}")
        exit(1)

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

  • Cause: The OAuth token is invalid, expired, or the client credentials are incorrect.
  • Fix: Verify that GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET are correct. Ensure the client is active in Genesys Cloud Admin. Check that the flow:flow:read scope is assigned to the client.

Error: 403 Forbidden

  • Cause: The OAuth client lacks the required permissions.
  • Fix: In Genesys Cloud Admin, go to Integrations > OAuth > Clients. Edit your client and ensure the Flow permissions include Read. Also, verify the user associated with the client (if using user impersonation) has Architect Read permissions.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

  • Cause: You are making API calls faster than the rate limit allows.
  • Fix: The provided code includes exponential backoff. If you still encounter this, increase the wait_time in the retry logic or add a fixed delay between requests.

Error: AttributeError: 'Flow' object has no attribute 'to_dict'

  • Cause: Older versions of the Genesys Cloud Python SDK may not have the to_dict method on all models.
  • Fix: Upgrade the SDK (pip install --upgrade genesyscloud). If you cannot upgrade, you can manually serialize the object using json.dumps(response, default=str), but this may result in less clean JSON.

Official References