How to Access Participant Attributes Set by Web Messaging Inside an Architect Inbound Message Flow

How-To-Articles
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How to Access Participant Attributes Set by Web Messaging Inside an Architect Inbound Message Flow

What You Will Build

  • A Python script that programmatically sets custom participant attributes on a Web Messaging conversation, retrieves the updated conversation object, and validates the attribute structure for Architect routing.
  • This tutorial uses the Genesys Cloud Conversations API and Web Messaging endpoints.
  • The code is implemented in Python 3.10+ using httpx.

Prerequisites

  • OAuth confidential client with scopes: conversation:read, conversation:write, webchat:read, webchat:write
  • Genesys Cloud API v2 (current stable)
  • Python 3.10+ runtime
  • External dependencies: httpx, python-dotenv, pydantic
  • A configured Web Messaging channel and an active Architect flow for inbound messages

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud uses OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials flow for server-to-server API access. You must request a token with the exact scopes required for conversation manipulation. Token expiry is typically one hour. Production code requires caching and refresh logic.

import os
import time
import httpx
from typing import Optional

# Environment variables must be set before execution
CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")
DOMAIN = os.getenv("GENESYS_DOMAIN", "mypurecloud.com")
BASE_URL = f"https://{DOMAIN}"

class GenesysAuth:
    def __init__(self):
        self.token: Optional[str] = None
        self.expires_at: float = 0.0

    def get_token(self) -> str:
        if self.token and time.time() < self.expires_at - 300:
            return self.token

        url = f"{BASE_URL}/oauth/token"
        headers = {"Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"}
        data = {
            "grant_type": "client_credentials",
            "client_id": CLIENT_ID,
            "client_secret": CLIENT_SECRET,
            "scope": "conversation:read conversation:write webchat:read webchat:write"
        }

        response = httpx.post(url, headers=headers, data=data)
        response.raise_for_status()
        payload = response.json()

        self.token = payload["access_token"]
        self.expires_at = time.time() + payload["expires_in"]
        return self.token

The token request targets /oauth/token. The response contains access_token and expires_in. The class caches the token and refreshes it before expiry. This prevents unnecessary authentication round trips and handles the 401 Unauthorized state gracefully.

Implementation

Step 1: Initialize Web Messaging Conversation and Inject Participant Attributes

Web Messaging conversations are created automatically by the Web Messaging SDK when a user types a message. Developers manipulate attributes via the Conversations API. Participant attributes are namespaced under custom or system. Architect routing rules only evaluate custom attributes set at the participant level.

import httpx
import time
import random

def retry_on_429(func):
    """Decorator to handle Genesys Cloud rate limiting with exponential backoff."""
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        retries = 0
        max_retries = 5
        while retries < max_retries:
            try:
                return func(*args, **kwargs)
            except httpx.HTTPStatusError as e:
                if e.response.status_code == 429:
                    wait_time = (2 ** retries) + random.uniform(0, 1)
                    print(f"Rate limited (429). Retrying in {wait_time:.2f}s...")
                    time.sleep(wait_time)
                    retries += 1
                else:
                    raise
        raise Exception("Max retries exceeded for 429 response")
    return wrapper

@retry_on_429
def set_participant_attributes(auth: GenesysAuth, conversation_id: str, attributes: dict) -> dict:
    url = f"{BASE_URL}/api/v2/conversations/webchat/{conversation_id}"
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {auth.get_token()}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }
    
    # Genesys expects a partial update payload targeting the first participant
    payload = {
        "participants": [
            {
                "id": "guest",
                "attributes": {
                    "custom": attributes
                }
            }
        ]
    }

    response = httpx.patch(url, headers=headers, json=payload)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()

# Example usage payload structure
ATTRIBUTES_TO_SET = {
    "priority_tier": "platinum",
    "product_interest": "enterprise_cloud",
    "opt_in_marketing": "true"
}

The endpoint PATCH /api/v2/conversations/webchat/{conversationId} accepts a partial conversation object. The participants array targets the guest participant by ID "guest". The custom namespace isolates your data from system-managed fields. The 429 retry decorator prevents cascading rate limits during high-volume attribute updates.

Step 2: Retrieve Conversation State and Validate Attribute Propagation

After setting attributes, you must verify propagation. Architect evaluates attributes in real time during routing. The GET endpoint returns the full conversation graph, including all participants and their attributes.

@retry_on_429
def get_conversation_state(auth: GenesysAuth, conversation_id: str) -> dict:
    url = f"{BASE_URL}/api/v2/conversations/webchat/{conversation_id}"
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {auth.get_token()}",
        "Accept": "application/json"
    }
    
    response = httpx.get(url, headers=headers)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()

def extract_participant_attributes(conversation_data: dict) -> dict:
    """Safely navigate the conversation JSON to extract custom participant attributes."""
    participants = conversation_data.get("participants", [])
    if not participants:
        return {}
    
    # Web Messaging guest is typically the first participant
    guest = participants[0]
    attributes = guest.get("attributes", {})
    return attributes.get("custom", {})

The response structure follows this pattern:

{
  "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
  "type": "webchat",
  "state": "active",
  "participants": [
    {
      "id": "guest",
      "name": "Web Visitor",
      "attributes": {
        "custom": {
          "priority_tier": "platinum",
          "product_interest": "enterprise_cloud",
          "opt_in_marketing": "true"
        },
        "system": {
          "browser": "Chrome 120",
          "os": "Windows 11"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

You must parse the participants[0].attributes.custom object. Architect does not evaluate system attributes for custom routing logic unless explicitly mapped. The extraction function handles missing keys gracefully to prevent KeyError exceptions during validation.

Step 3: Map API Attribute Structure to Architect Routing Expressions

Architect Inbound Message flows use a template syntax to reference conversation data. The mapping between the API JSON structure and the Architect expression is strict. A mismatch in namespace or path causes silent routing failures.

The API structure:
conversation.participants[0].attributes.custom.<key>

The Architect expression:
{{participant.attributes.custom.<key>}}

You can validate routing logic programmatically by simulating the expression evaluation. This ensures your API attribute injection matches the Architect routing condition exactly.

def evaluate_architect_condition(conversation_data: dict, condition: dict) -> bool:
    """
    Simulates Architect routing condition evaluation.
    condition format: {"attribute_path": "participant.attributes.custom.priority_tier", "operator": "equals", "value": "platinum"}
    """
    path_parts = condition["attribute_path"].replace("{{", "").replace("}}", "").split(".")
    
    # Map Architect syntax to API JSON structure
    # participant.attributes.custom -> participants[0].attributes.custom
    if path_parts[0] == "participant":
        target_key = "participants"
        index = 0
        remaining = path_parts[1:]
    elif path_parts[0] == "conversation":
        target_key = "participants"
        index = 0
        remaining = path_parts[1:]
    else:
        raise ValueError("Unsupported Architect attribute root")
    
    # Navigate the JSON
    current = conversation_data.get(target_key, [])
    if not current or index >= len(current):
        return False
    
    current = current[index]
    for part in remaining:
        if isinstance(current, dict):
            current = current.get(part)
        else:
            return False
            
    if current is None:
        return False
    
    # Evaluate operator
    op = condition["operator"]
    target_value = condition["value"]
    
    if op == "equals":
        return str(current) == str(target_value)
    elif op == "contains":
        return str(target_value) in str(current)
    elif op == "not_equals":
        return str(current) != str(target_value)
    
    return False

# Example routing condition matching Architect UI configuration
ROUTING_CONDITION = {
    "attribute_path": "{{participant.attributes.custom.priority_tier}}",
    "operator": "equals",
    "value": "platinum"
}

This function translates Architect template syntax into JSON path navigation. It validates that the attribute set via API matches the routing rule. You can integrate this into CI/CD pipelines to verify that attribute injection scripts align with production Architect flows before deployment.

Complete Working Example

The following script combines authentication, attribute injection, state retrieval, and routing validation into a single executable module. Replace the environment variables with your Genesys Cloud credentials and an active Web Messaging conversation ID.

import os
import time
import random
import httpx
from typing import Optional

CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")
DOMAIN = os.getenv("GENESYS_DOMAIN", "mypurecloud.com")
BASE_URL = f"https://{DOMAIN}"

class GenesysAuth:
    def __init__(self):
        self.token: Optional[str] = None
        self.expires_at: float = 0.0

    def get_token(self) -> str:
        if self.token and time.time() < self.expires_at - 300:
            return self.token
        url = f"{BASE_URL}/oauth/token"
        headers = {"Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"}
        data = {
            "grant_type": "client_credentials",
            "client_id": CLIENT_ID,
            "client_secret": CLIENT_SECRET,
            "scope": "conversation:read conversation:write webchat:read webchat:write"
        }
        response = httpx.post(url, headers=headers, data=data)
        response.raise_for_status()
        payload = response.json()
        self.token = payload["access_token"]
        self.expires_at = time.time() + payload["expires_in"]
        return self.token

def retry_on_429(func):
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        retries = 0
        max_retries = 5
        while retries < max_retries:
            try:
                return func(*args, **kwargs)
            except httpx.HTTPStatusError as e:
                if e.response.status_code == 429:
                    wait_time = (2 ** retries) + random.uniform(0, 1)
                    print(f"Rate limited (429). Retrying in {wait_time:.2f}s...")
                    time.sleep(wait_time)
                    retries += 1
                else:
                    raise
        raise Exception("Max retries exceeded for 429 response")
    return wrapper

@retry_on_429
def set_participant_attributes(auth: GenesysAuth, conversation_id: str, attributes: dict) -> dict:
    url = f"{BASE_URL}/api/v2/conversations/webchat/{conversation_id}"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {auth.get_token()}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
    payload = {"participants": [{"id": "guest", "attributes": {"custom": attributes}}]}
    response = httpx.patch(url, headers=headers, json=payload)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()

@retry_on_429
def get_conversation_state(auth: GenesysAuth, conversation_id: str) -> dict:
    url = f"{BASE_URL}/api/v2/conversations/webchat/{conversation_id}"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {auth.get_token()}", "Accept": "application/json"}
    response = httpx.get(url, headers=headers)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()

def evaluate_architect_condition(conversation_data: dict, condition: dict) -> bool:
    path_parts = condition["attribute_path"].replace("{{", "").replace("}}", "").split(".")
    target_key = "participants"
    index = 0
    remaining = path_parts[1:]
    current = conversation_data.get(target_key, [])
    if not current or index >= len(current):
        return False
    current = current[index]
    for part in remaining:
        if isinstance(current, dict):
            current = current.get(part)
        else:
            return False
    if current is None:
        return False
    op = condition["operator"]
    target_value = condition["value"]
    if op == "equals":
        return str(current) == str(target_value)
    elif op == "contains":
        return str(target_value) in str(current)
    elif op == "not_equals":
        return str(current) != str(target_value)
    return False

def main():
    if not CLIENT_ID or not CLIENT_SECRET:
        raise ValueError("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET must be set")
        
    auth = GenesysAuth()
    conversation_id = os.getenv("GENESYS_CONVERSATION_ID")
    if not conversation_id:
        raise ValueError("GENESYS_CONVERSATION_ID must be set")
        
    attributes = {"priority_tier": "platinum", "product_interest": "enterprise_cloud"}
    print("Setting participant attributes...")
    set_participant_attributes(auth, conversation_id, attributes)
    
    print("Retrieving conversation state...")
    conv_state = get_conversation_state(auth, conversation_id)
    
    condition = {"attribute_path": "{{participant.attributes.custom.priority_tier}}", "operator": "equals", "value": "platinum"}
    matches = evaluate_architect_condition(conv_state, condition)
    
    print(f"Architect routing condition matches: {matches}")
    print("Attribute validation complete.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

This script requires three environment variables: GENESYS_CLIENT_ID, GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET, and GENESYS_CONVERSATION_ID. Execute it with python script.py. The output confirms attribute injection and routing alignment.

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

  • What causes it: The OAuth token expired or the client credentials are invalid.
  • How to fix it: Verify GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET. Ensure the token caching logic refreshes before expiry. The provided GenesysAuth class handles automatic refresh.
  • Code showing the fix: The get_token method checks time.time() < self.expires_at - 300 and issues a new request when the buffer is exhausted.

Error: 403 Forbidden

  • What causes it: The OAuth client lacks conversation:write or webchat:write scopes.
  • How to fix it: Navigate to the Genesys Cloud admin console, locate the OAuth client, and append the missing scopes. Restart the script to request a new token with updated permissions.
  • Code showing the fix: The token request explicitly includes "scope": "conversation:read conversation:write webchat:read webchat:write".

Error: 422 Unprocessable Entity

  • What causes it: The payload structure violates Genesys Cloud schema validation. Common causes include missing participants array, incorrect id field, or placing attributes under system instead of custom.
  • How to fix it: Verify the PATCH payload matches the exact structure shown in Step 1. Ensure attributes.custom contains only string values. Architect routing expressions cannot evaluate arrays or nested objects without explicit serialization.
  • Code showing the fix: The set_participant_attributes function constructs the payload with "participants": [{"id": "guest", "attributes": {"custom": attributes}}].

Error: Architect Routing Fails Despite Correct API Data

  • What causes it: Mismatch between API namespace and Architect expression syntax. Using {{conversation.attributes.custom.key}} instead of {{participant.attributes.custom.key}} evaluates the wrong scope.
  • How to fix it: Use {{participant.attributes.custom.<key>}} for guest-submitted attributes. Use {{conversation.attributes.custom.<key>}} only for attributes injected via the conversation level API endpoint. Validate with the evaluate_architect_condition function.
  • Code showing the fix: The evaluation function explicitly maps participant to participants[0] and navigates to attributes.custom.

Official References