Initiating Genesys Cloud Agent Assist Co-Browsing Handshake via WebSocket API with Python

What You Will Build

• A production-grade Python module that establishes a Genesys Cloud Agent Assist co-browsing WebSocket session by constructing and validating handshake payloads.
• The implementation uses the Genesys Cloud REST API for session provisioning and the websockets library for direct WebSocket handshake management.
• The code is written in Python 3.9+ and includes token caching, schema validation, latency tracking, audit logging, and external callback synchronization.

Prerequisites

• OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials flow with client_id and client_secret
• Required scopes: agentassist:co-browse:read, agentassist:co-browse:write, oauth:client_credentials
• Python 3.9 or higher
• External dependencies: pip install httpx websockets pydantic aiofiles
• Genesys Cloud environment URL (e.g., api.us.genesyscloud.com)

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud requires a valid bearer token for all REST and WebSocket handshake requests. The following implementation uses httpx to manage the OAuth 2.0 token flow with built-in 429 retry logic and automatic expiration tracking.

import time
import httpx
from typing import Optional

class AuthManager:
    def __init__(self, client_id: str, client_secret: str, env_url: str):
        self.client_id = client_id
        self.client_secret = client_secret
        self.base_url = f"https://{env_url}"
        self.token: Optional[str] = None
        self.expires_at: float = 0.0
        self._client = httpx.Client()

    async def get_token(self, force_refresh: bool = False) -> str:
        if not force_refresh and self.token and time.time() < self.expires_at - 30:
            return self.token

        url = f"{self.base_url}/api/v2/oauth/token"
        headers = {"Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"}
        data = {
            "grant_type": "client_credentials",
            "client_id": self.client_id,
            "client_secret": self.client_secret,
            "scope": "agentassist:co-browse:read agentassist:co-browse:write"
        }

        for attempt in range(3):
            try:
                response = await self._client.send(
                    self._client.build_request("POST", url, headers=headers, content=data),
                    stream=False
                )
                if response.status_code == 429:
                    wait_time = int(response.headers.get("Retry-After", 2 ** attempt))
                    await asyncio.sleep(wait_time)
                    continue
                response.raise_for_status()
                payload = response.json()
                self.token = payload["access_token"]
                self.expires_at = time.time() + payload["expires_in"]
                return self.token
            except httpx.HTTPStatusError as e:
                if e.response.status_code in (401, 403):
                    raise RuntimeError(f"Authentication failed: {e.response.status_code}") from e
                if attempt == 2:
                    raise
        raise RuntimeError("Max retries exceeded for token acquisition")

Implementation

Step 1: Handshake Payload Construction and Schema Validation

The Genesys Cloud Assist Gateway enforces strict JSON schemas for co-browsing handshakes. You must construct payloads containing session token references, permission matrices, capability directives, and explicit timeout boundaries. The following Pydantic model enforces these constraints before transmission.

import asyncio
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, validator
from typing import Dict, List

class HandshakePayload(BaseModel):
    type: str = Field("handshake", const=True)
    version: str = Field("1.0", const=True)
    session_token: str
    session_id: str
    permissions: Dict[str, int] = Field(
        ...,
        description="Permission level matrix: read=1, write=2, execute=3, admin=4"
    )
    capabilities: List[str] = Field(
        ...,
        description="Browser capability directives supported by the client"
    )
    timeout_ms: int = Field(30000, ge=5000, le=120000)

    @validator("permissions")
    def validate_permission_matrix(cls, v: Dict[str, int]) -> Dict[str, int]:
        allowed_keys = {"read", "write", "execute", "admin"}
        if not v.keys().issubset(allowed_keys):
            raise ValueError(f"Invalid permission keys. Allowed: {allowed_keys}")
        for level in v.values():
            if level not in (1, 2, 3, 4):
                raise ValueError("Permission levels must be between 1 and 4")
        return v

    @validator("capabilities")
    def validate_capability_directives(cls, v: List[str]) -> List[str]:
        valid_caps = {"dom_snapshot", "cursor_highlight", "input_control", "scroll_sync"}
        for cap in v:
            if cap not in valid_caps:
                raise ValueError(f"Unsupported capability directive: {cap}")
        return sorted(set(v))

    @validator("timeout_ms")
    def validate_timeout_limits(cls, v: int) -> int:
        if v < 5000 or v > 120000:
            raise ValueError("Timeout must be between 5000ms and 120000ms to prevent gateway timeout")
        return v

Step 2: WebSocket Connection and Atomic SEND Operations

The handshake must be transmitted as a single atomic JSON message immediately after the WebSocket upgrade completes. The client must verify the message format, trigger automatic session negotiation, and handle gateway constraints. The following handler manages the connection lifecycle and sends the validated payload.

import json
import logging
from datetime import datetime, timezone
from typing import Any, Callable, Optional

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

class HandshakeExecutor:
    def __init__(self, ws_url: str, token: str, payload: HandshakePayload):
        self.ws_url = ws_url
        self.token = token
        self.payload = payload
        self.connection_start: Optional[float] = None
        self.connection_end: Optional[float] = None
        self.success = False
        self.error_message: Optional[str] = None

    async def execute_handshake(self) -> dict:
        self.connection_start = time.time()
        headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {self.token}"}
        
        try:
            async with websockets.connect(self.ws_url, additional_headers=headers) as ws:
                # Format verification before atomic send
                message = self.payload.json(exclude_unset=True)
                json.dumps(message)  # Raises TypeError if non-serializable

                # Atomic SEND operation
                await ws.send(message)
                
                # Automatic session negotiation trigger
                response_raw = await ws.recv()
                response = json.loads(response_raw)
                
                self.connection_end = time.time()
                self.success = response.get("status") == "accepted"
                
                if not self.success:
                    self.error_message = response.get("error", "Unknown handshake rejection")
                    logger.error(f"Handshake rejected: {self.error_message}")
                    
                return response
                
        except websockets.exceptions.InvalidStatusCode as e:
            self.error_message = f"WebSocket upgrade failed: {e.status_code}"
            logger.error(self.error_message)
            raise
        except websockets.exceptions.ConnectionClosedError as e:
            self.error_message = f"Connection dropped during handshake: {e}"
            logger.error(self.error_message)
            raise
        except Exception as e:
            self.error_message = str(e)
            logger.error(f"Handshake execution failed: {e}")
            raise
        finally:
            if self.connection_end is None:
                self.connection_end = time.time()
            self._record_audit()

    def _record_audit(self) -> None:
        latency_ms = (self.connection_end - self.connection_start) * 1000
        audit_entry = {
            "timestamp": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
            "session_id": self.payload.session_id,
            "latency_ms": round(latency_ms, 2),
            "success": self.success,
            "error": self.error_message,
            "payload_hash": hash(json.dumps(self.payload.dict(), sort_keys=True))
        }
        logger.info(f"Handshake Audit: {json.dumps(audit_entry)}")

Step 3: Validation Pipelines, External Synchronization, and Metrics

Production deployments require token validity verification, feature compatibility checks, external session management callbacks, and continuous metric collection. The following orchestrator ties authentication, validation, execution, and external synchronization into a single reusable class.

from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from typing import Dict, List, Optional

@dataclass
class SessionMetrics:
    total_handshakes: int = 0
    successful_handshakes: int = 0
    total_latency_ms: float = 0.0
    failure_reasons: Dict[str, int] = field(default_factory=dict)

    def record(self, executor: HandshakeExecutor) -> None:
        self.total_handshakes += 1
        latency = (executor.connection_end - executor.connection_start) * 1000
        self.total_latency_ms += latency
        if executor.success:
            self.successful_handshakes += 1
        else:
            reason = executor.error_message or "unknown"
            self.failure_reasons[reason] = self.failure_reasons.get(reason, 0) + 1

    @property
    def success_rate(self) -> float:
        if self.total_handshakes == 0:
            return 0.0
        return self.successful_handshakes / self.total_handshakes

    @property
    def avg_latency_ms(self) -> float:
        if self.total_handshakes == 0:
            return 0.0
        return self.total_latency_ms / self.total_handshakes

class CoBrowseHandshakeInitiator:
    def __init__(
        self,
        auth: AuthManager,
        session_id: str,
        env_url: str,
        callback_handler: Optional[Callable[[dict], None]] = None
    ):
        self.auth = auth
        self.session_id = session_id
        self.env_url = env_url
        self.callback_handler = callback_handler
        self.metrics = SessionMetrics()

    async def validate_token_and_features(self, token: str) -> bool:
        # Verify token signature and expiration against gateway constraints
        url = f"https://{self.env_url}/api/v2/agentassist/co-browse/sessions/{self.session_id}"
        headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"}
        async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
            resp = await client.get(url, headers=headers)
            if resp.status_code == 401:
                raise RuntimeError("Token expired or invalid. Refresh required.")
            if resp.status_code == 403:
                raise RuntimeError("Insufficient scopes for co-browse session.")
            return resp.status_code == 200

    async def initiate_handshake(self, permissions: Dict[str, int], capabilities: List[str], timeout_ms: int = 30000) -> dict:
        token = await self.auth.get_token()
        
        # Token validity and feature compatibility verification pipeline
        await self.validate_token_and_features(token)

        payload = HandshakePayload(
            session_token=token,
            session_id=self.session_id,
            permissions=permissions,
            capabilities=capabilities,
            timeout_ms=timeout_ms
        )

        ws_url = f"wss://{self.env_url}/api/v2/agentassist/co-browse/{self.session_id}/websocket"
        executor = HandshakeExecutor(ws_url, token, payload)
        
        result = await executor.execute_handshake()
        self.metrics.record(executor)

        # Synchronize handshake events with external session management services
        if self.callback_handler:
            callback_event = {
                "session_id": self.session_id,
                "status": "connected" if self.metrics.success_rate > 0 else "failed",
                "latency_ms": self.metrics.avg_latency_ms,
                "success_rate": self.metrics.success_rate,
                "timestamp": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
            }
            self.callback_handler(callback_event)

        return result

Complete Working Example

The following script combines all components into a runnable module. Replace the credential placeholders before execution.

import asyncio
import logging
import sys
from typing import Dict, List

# Import classes from previous sections
# AuthManager, HandshakePayload, HandshakeExecutor, SessionMetrics, CoBrowseHandshakeInitiator

def external_callback(event: dict) -> None:
    logging.info(f"External Session Manager Sync: {event}")

async def main() -> None:
    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s | %(levelname)s | %(message)s")
    
    # Configuration
    CLIENT_ID = "your_client_id"
    CLIENT_SECRET = "your_client_secret"
    ENV_URL = "api.us.genesyscloud.com"
    SESSION_ID = "active_conversation_session_id"

    auth = AuthManager(CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, ENV_URL)
    initiator = CoBrowseHandshakeInitiator(
        auth=auth,
        session_id=SESSION_ID,
        env_url=ENV_URL,
        callback_handler=external_callback
    )

    # Permission level matrix and capability directives
    permissions: Dict[str, int] = {"read": 2, "write": 3}
    capabilities: List[str] = ["dom_snapshot", "cursor_highlight", "scroll_sync"]

    try:
        result = await initiator.initiate_handshake(
            permissions=permissions,
            capabilities=capabilities,
            timeout_ms=45000
        )
        logging.info(f"Handshake Result: {result}")
        logging.info(f"Success Rate: {initiator.metrics.success_rate:.2%}")
        logging.info(f"Avg Latency: {initiator.metrics.avg_latency_ms:.2f}ms")
    except Exception as e:
        logging.error(f"Handshake initiation failed: {e}")
        sys.exit(1)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized on WebSocket Upgrade

• What causes it: The bearer token has expired, contains invalid scopes, or was not attached to the additional_headers parameter during websockets.connect.
• How to fix it: Verify the token expiration timestamp in AuthManager. Ensure the Authorization header is passed explicitly to the WebSocket constructor. Implement automatic token refresh before each handshake attempt.
• Code showing the fix: The AuthManager.get_token method already implements expiration tracking with a 30-second safety buffer. The HandshakeExecutor passes additional_headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {self.token}"} to enforce gateway authentication.

Error: 403 Forbidden on Session Validation

• What causes it: The OAuth client lacks agentassist:co-browse:read or agentassist:co-browse:write scopes, or the session_id belongs to a different routing queue.
• How to fix it: Update the client credentials scope configuration in the Genesys Cloud admin console. Verify that the session_id matches an active conversation returned by /api/v2/agentassist/co-browse/sessions.
• Code showing the fix: The validate_token_and_features method explicitly checks for 403 responses and raises a descriptive error before payload construction.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests on Token Endpoint

• What causes it: Excessive concurrent handshake initiations trigger Genesys Cloud rate limits on the OAuth endpoint.
• How to fix it: Implement exponential backoff with Retry-After header parsing. Cache tokens across multiple handshake initiators using a shared AuthManager instance.
• Code showing the fix: The get_token method includes a retry loop that reads Retry-After headers and sleeps accordingly before raising a final exception.

Error: WebSocket Close Code 1008 or 1011

• What causes it: The handshake payload violates assist gateway constraints (invalid permission levels, unsupported capability directives, or timeout outside 5000-120000ms).
• How to fix it: Validate payloads against the HandshakePayload Pydantic schema before transmission. Ensure capability directives match the browser environment. Adjust timeout values to stay within gateway limits.
• Code showing the fix: The @validator decorators in HandshakePayload enforce strict schema compliance. The execute_handshake method catches ConnectionClosedError and logs the exact gateway rejection reason.

Official References

• Genesys Cloud Agent Assist Co-Browse API Documentation
• Genesys Cloud WebSocket Protocol Guidelines
• Python websockets Library Documentation
• Pydantic Schema Validation Reference
• OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials Flow for Genesys Cloud