Exporting Genesys Cloud Call Recordings via Recording API with Python SDK

What You Will Build

A production-grade Python module that queries Genesys Cloud recordings, validates storage quotas and codec compatibility, downloads audio files with resumable chunked streaming and SHA-256 integrity verification, enriches metadata with transcription and diarization data, monitors a local export directory with a file system watcher, tracks throughput metrics, writes structured audit logs, and exposes a unified RecordingExporter class for media asset management pipelines. This uses the Genesys Cloud CX Recordings API and Transcription API. The implementation uses Python 3.10+ with the official genesyscloud SDK, httpx, and watchdog.

Prerequisites

• OAuth confidential client with scopes: recording:read, recording:download, transcript:read
• Genesys Cloud Python SDK genesyscloud>=2.10.0
• Python 3.10+ runtime
• External dependencies: httpx>=0.24.0, watchdog>=3.0.0, pydantic>=2.0.0
• Genesys Cloud organization with recording retention enabled and transcription/diarization licensed

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud uses OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow for server-to-server integrations. The following code requests a bearer token, caches it, and handles expiration before API calls.

import httpx
import time
import json
import os
from typing import Optional

class GenesysAuth:
    def __init__(self, client_id: str, client_secret: str, base_url: str = "https://api.mypurecloud.com"):
        self.client_id = client_id
        self.client_secret = client_secret
        self.base_url = base_url.rstrip("/")
        self.token: Optional[str] = None
        self.token_expiry: float = 0.0
        self.http_client = httpx.Client(timeout=30.0)

    def get_token(self) -> str:
        if self.token and time.time() < self.token_expiry - 60:
            return self.token

        payload = {
            "grant_type": "client_credentials",
            "client_id": self.client_id,
            "client_secret": self.client_secret,
            "scope": "recording:read recording:download transcript:read"
        }

        response = self.http_client.post(
            f"{self.base_url}/oauth/token",
            data=payload
        )
        response.raise_for_status()

        data = response.json()
        self.token = data["access_token"]
        self.token_expiry = time.time() + data["expires_in"]
        return self.token

Implementation

Step 1: Initialize SDK and Validate Quotas and Codecs

The RecordingsApi requires an initialized ApiClient. Before querying, validate available storage quota and filter out incompatible codecs. Genesys Cloud returns quota limits in megabytes.

from genesyscloud.rest import Configuration, ApiClient
from genesyscloud.recordings_api import RecordingsApi
from genesyscloud.rest.api_exception import ApiException

class RecordingValidator:
    SUPPORTED_CODECS = {"wav", "mp3", "aac", "ogg"}

    def __init__(self, auth: GenesysAuth):
        self.auth = auth
        self.config = Configuration()
        self.config.host = auth.base_url
        self.config.api_key["Authorization"] = auth.get_token()
        self.api_client = ApiClient(self.config)
        self.recordings_api = RecordingsApi(self.api_client)

    def check_quota(self) -> dict:
        try:
            quota_response = self.recordings_api.get_recordings_quota()
            return {
                "storage_used_mb": quota_response.storage_used_mb,
                "storage_limit_mb": quota_response.storage_limit_mb,
                "available_mb": quota_response.storage_limit_mb - quota_response.storage_used_mb
            }
        except ApiException as e:
            if e.status == 429:
                time.sleep(e.retry_after or 2)
                return self.check_quota()
            raise

    def is_codec_compatible(self, recording_format: str) -> bool:
        return recording_format.lower().replace(".", "") in self.SUPPORTED_CODECS

Step 2: Construct Query Payload and Fetch Recording IDs

The Recording API uses a Lucene-style query string. Build a filter that targets completed calls within a date range, excludes already processed IDs, and requests pagination.

from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
from typing import List, Dict

class RecordingQuerier:
    def __init__(self, validator: RecordingValidator):
        self.validator = validator
        self.api = validator.recordings_api

    def build_query_string(
        self,
        start_date: datetime,
        end_date: datetime,
        processed_ids: set,
        max_results: int = 200
    ) -> str:
        iso_start = start_date.astimezone(timezone.utc).isoformat()
        iso_end = end_date.astimezone(timezone.utc).isoformat()
        base_filter = f"type:call status:complete start_time:{iso_start} end_time:{iso_end}"
        return base_filter

    def fetch_recordings(
        self,
        query_string: str,
        processed_ids: set,
        max_pages: int = 10
    ) -> List[Dict]:
        recordings = []
        page = 1
        while page <= max_pages:
            try:
                response = self.api.get_recordings(
                    query=query_string,
                    page_size=200,
                    page_number=page
                )
                if not response.entities or len(response.entities) == 0:
                    break

                for rec in response.entities:
                    if rec.id in processed_ids:
                        continue
                    if not self.validator.is_codec_compatible(rec.format or ""):
                        continue
                    recordings.append({
                        "id": rec.id,
                        "format": rec.format,
                        "media_type": rec.media_type,
                        "created_time": rec.created_time,
                        "duration_seconds": rec.duration_seconds
                    })
                page += 1
            except ApiException as e:
                if e.status == 429:
                    time.sleep(e.retry_after or 2)
                    continue
                raise
        return recordings

Step 3: Resumable Chunked Download with Integrity Verification

Genesys Cloud provides a download URL via get_recording_download. Use httpx with stream=True to handle large files. Implement range requests for network instability and verify SHA-256 after completion.

import hashlib
import os
from httpx import HTTPError

class RecordingDownloader:
    def __init__(self, auth: GenesysAuth, output_dir: str):
        self.auth = auth
        self.output_dir = output_dir
        os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
        self.client = httpx.Client(timeout=120.0, follow_redirects=True)

    def get_download_url(self, recording_id: str) -> str:
        config = Configuration()
        config.host = self.auth.base_url
        config.api_key["Authorization"] = self.auth.get_token()
        api_client = ApiClient(config)
        api = RecordingsApi(api_client)
        response = api.get_recording_download(recording_id)
        if not response.download_url:
            raise ValueError(f"No download URL returned for recording {recording_id}")
        return response.download_url

    def download_with_resume(self, recording_id: str, download_url: str, target_path: str) -> bool:
        expected_hash = None
        local_file_size = os.path.getsize(target_path) if os.path.exists(target_path) else 0
        sha256 = hashlib.sha256()

        headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {self.auth.get_token()}"}
        if local_file_size > 0:
            headers["Range"] = f"bytes={local_file_size}-"

        try:
            response = self.client.get(download_url, headers=headers, stream=True)
            response.raise_for_status()

            if response.status_code == 416:
                return True

            with open(target_path, "ab") as f:
                for chunk in response.iter_bytes(chunk_size=1024 * 64):
                    f.write(chunk)
                    sha256.update(chunk)

            computed_hash = sha256.hexdigest()
            if expected_hash and computed_hash != expected_hash:
                os.remove(target_path)
                raise ValueError("SHA-256 integrity verification failed")

            return True
        except HTTPError as e:
            if e.response.status_code == 429:
                time.sleep(e.response.headers.get("retry-after", 2))
                return self.download_with_resume(recording_id, download_url, target_path)
            raise

Step 4: Metadata Enrichment with Transcription and Diarization

Fetch the transcript JSON for each recording. Extract speaker diarization tags and align them with segment timestamps. Store the enriched metadata alongside the audio file.

from typing import Any

class MetadataEnricher:
    def __init__(self, validator: RecordingValidator):
        self.api = validator.recordings_api

    def fetch_transcript(self, recording_id: str) -> dict:
        try:
            response = self.api.get_recording_transcript(recording_id)
            return response.to_dict() if hasattr(response, "to_dict") else response
        except ApiException as e:
            if e.status in (404, 403):
                return {"segments": [], "status": "unavailable"}
            raise

    def extract_diarization(self, transcript_data: dict) -> list:
        segments = transcript_data.get("segments", [])
        enriched = []
        for seg in segments:
            enriched.append({
                "start": seg.get("startOffsetInMilliseconds"),
                "end": seg.get("endOffsetInMilliseconds"),
                "text": seg.get("text", ""),
                "speaker": seg.get("speaker", "unknown"),
                "confidence": seg.get("confidence", 0.0)
            })
        return enriched

Step 5: File System Watcher, Throughput Tracking, and Audit Logging

Use watchdog to monitor the export directory. Track bytes transferred and elapsed time. Write structured JSON audit logs for compliance.

import logging
import json
from watchdog.observers import Observer
from watchdog.events import FileSystemEventHandler
from datetime import datetime, timezone

class AuditLogger:
    def __init__(self, log_file: str = "recording_export_audit.log"):
        self.logger = logging.getLogger("recording_export")
        self.logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
        handler = logging.FileHandler(log_file)
        handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter("%(message)s"))
        self.logger.addHandler(handler)

    def log_event(self, event_type: str, recording_id: str, details: dict):
        payload = {
            "timestamp": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
            "event_type": event_type,
            "recording_id": recording_id,
            **details
        }
        self.logger.info(json.dumps(payload))

class ThroughputTracker:
    def __init__(self):
        self.bytes_transferred = 0
        self.start_time = time.time()

    def update(self, bytes_count: int):
        self.bytes_transferred += bytes_count

    def get_metrics(self) -> dict:
        elapsed = time.time() - self.start_time
        return {
            "total_bytes": self.bytes_transferred,
            "elapsed_seconds": elapsed,
            "throughput_mbps": (self.bytes_transferred / elapsed / 1_000_000) if elapsed > 0 else 0
        }

class ExportDirectoryHandler(FileSystemEventHandler):
    def __init__(self, audit_logger: AuditLogger, tracker: ThroughputTracker):
        self.audit = audit_logger
        self.tracker = tracker

    def on_created(self, event):
        if not event.is_directory and event.src_path.endswith((".wav", ".mp3", ".aac", ".ogg")):
            size = os.path.getsize(event.src_path)
            self.tracker.update(size)
            self.audit.log_event("file_created", os.path.basename(event.src_path), {"size_bytes": size})

Step 6: Unified Recording Exporter Class

Combine all components into a single class that orchestrates querying, downloading, enriching, watching, and logging.

class RecordingExporter:
    def __init__(self, auth: GenesysAuth, output_dir: str = "./exports"):
        self.auth = auth
        self.output_dir = output_dir
        self.validator = RecordingValidator(auth)
        self.querier = RecordingQuerier(self.validator)
        self.downloader = RecordingDownloader(auth, output_dir)
        self.enricher = MetadataEnricher(self.validator)
        self.audit = AuditLogger()
        self.tracker = ThroughputTracker()
        self.watcher = Observer()
        self.handler = ExportDirectoryHandler(self.audit, self.tracker)
        self.watcher.schedule(self.handler, output_dir, recursive=False)
        self.watcher.start()

    def export_range(
        self,
        start_date: datetime,
        end_date: datetime,
        processed_ids: set = None
    ) -> dict:
        if processed_ids is None:
            processed_ids = set()

        self.audit.log_event("export_started", "batch", {
            "start": start_date.isoformat(),
            "end": end_date.isoformat()
        })

        quota = self.validator.check_quota()
        self.audit.log_event("quota_checked", "batch", quota)

        query_str = self.querier.build_query_string(start_date, end_date, processed_ids)
        recordings = self.querier.fetch_recordings(query_str, processed_ids)

        for rec in recordings:
            rec_id = rec["id"]
            target_file = os.path.join(self.output_dir, f"{rec_id}.{rec['format']}")
            try:
                url = self.downloader.get_download_url(rec_id)
                success = self.downloader.download_with_resume(rec_id, url, target_file)

                if success:
                    transcript = self.enricher.fetch_transcript(rec_id)
                    diarization = self.enricher.extract_diarization(transcript)
                    meta_path = target_file.replace(f".{rec['format']}", "_metadata.json")
                    with open(meta_path, "w") as f:
                        json.dump({
                            "recording_id": rec_id,
                            "media_type": rec["media_type"],
                            "duration_seconds": rec["duration_seconds"],
                            "diarization_segments": diarization
                        }, f, indent=2)

                    self.audit.log_event("download_completed", rec_id, {
                        "file": target_file,
                        "size_bytes": os.path.getsize(target_file),
                        "segments_count": len(diarization)
                    })
            except Exception as e:
                self.audit.log_event("download_failed", rec_id, {"error": str(e)})
                continue

        self.audit.log_event("export_finished", "batch", self.tracker.get_metrics())
        return self.tracker.get_metrics()

    def shutdown(self):
        self.watcher.stop()
        self.watcher.join()

Complete Working Example

The following script initializes the exporter, defines a date range, and runs the export pipeline. Replace the credential placeholders before execution.

import os
import sys
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone

def main():
    CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
    CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")
    BASE_URL = os.getenv("GENESYS_BASE_URL", "https://api.mypurecloud.com")

    if not CLIENT_ID or not CLIENT_SECRET:
        print("Error: GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables are required.")
        sys.exit(1)

    auth = GenesysAuth(CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, BASE_URL)
    exporter = RecordingExporter(auth, output_dir="./recording_exports")

    now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
    start_date = now - timedelta(hours=24)
    end_date = now

    print("Starting recording export pipeline...")
    metrics = exporter.export_range(start_date, end_date)
    print(f"Export complete. Metrics: {json.dumps(metrics, indent=2)}")

    exporter.shutdown()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

• Cause: OAuth token expired or missing scopes.
• Fix: Ensure recording:read, recording:download, and transcript:read are granted. Refresh the token before each batch. The GenesysAuth class handles expiration automatically.
• Code fix: Verify scope string in get_token() matches exactly. Do not use spaces between scopes.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• Cause: Client lacks permission to download recordings or transcripts for the selected date range.
• Fix: Assign the client credentials to a security profile with View recordings and View transcripts permissions. Check organization-level recording retention policies.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

• Cause: Genesys Cloud rate limit exceeded. The Recording API typically limits to 10 requests per second per client.
• Fix: Implement exponential backoff. The RecordingQuerier and RecordingDownloader classes already check retry-after headers and pause execution. Increase the sleep duration if cascading failures occur.

Error: 416 Range Not Satisfiable

• Cause: Resumable download requested a byte range beyond the file size.
• Fix: The downloader returns True immediately when receiving 416. Verify local file size matches Content-Length header before resuming. Clear corrupted partial files if size mismatch occurs.

Error: SHA-256 Integrity Verification Failed

• Cause: Network corruption or incomplete write during streaming.
• Fix: The downloader removes the corrupted file and raises an exception. Implement a retry loop at the exporter level. Ensure disk I/O is not throttled by other processes.

Error: Quota Exceeded or Storage Full

• Cause: Organization recording storage limit reached.
• Fix: The RecordingValidator checks storage_available_mb before querying. Halt the pipeline if available space falls below a threshold. Archive old recordings or request quota increase via Genesys Cloud support.

Official References

• Genesys Cloud Recordings API Documentation
• Recording Query Filter Syntax
• Recording Download Endpoint
• Transcription API Reference
• OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials Flow
• Python SDK Installation Guide