Notification API WebSocket reconnect loop in Node.js

NICE CXone API & Integrations
1

Could someone explain why my Node.js script enters a rapid reconnect loop after a 502 Bad Gateway from the Notification API? I am using the ws library and standard backoff logic, but the connection drops immediately upon re-joining the queue. Here is the config:

client:
 endpoint: wss://notify-eu.genesis.cloud/public/v2
 queue:
 - /api/v2/conversations
 - /api/v2/interactions
 auth:
 type: bearer
 timeout: 30000

The server closes the socket with code 1006 before the first message arrives on reconnect. Is this a known issue with the wss://notify-eu endpoint or am I mishandling the handshake?

2

This has the hallmarks of a classic authentication state mismatch issue rather than a pure network timeout problem. The Notification API WebSocket requires a valid bearer token, but if the token expires or is revoked while the connection is down, the server immediately rejects the reconnect attempt. The ws library will try to reconnect, send the stale token, get a 401 or 403, and then drop again, creating that rapid loop you are seeing.

Cause:
The backend invalidates the session or the token expires during the disconnection window. Your code is likely reusing the original auth object from the initial connection setup without refreshing the JWT. The server sees an invalid credential and closes the socket instantly, triggering another reconnect cycle.

Solution:
You need to implement a token refresh hook before every reconnect attempt. In Node.js, you can intercept the reconnect event or the upgrade process to fetch a new token. Here is how I handle this in my Lambda handlers for event processing:

const WebSocket = require('ws');

let ws;
let reconnectAttempts = 0;

function connect() {
 const token = await refreshToken(); // Your auth refresh logic
 ws = new WebSocket('wss://notify-eu.genesis.cloud/public/v2', {
 headers: {
 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`
 }
 });

 ws.on('open', () => {
 console.log('Connected');
 // Re-subscribe to queues
 ws.send(JSON.stringify({
 topic: 'subscribe',
 queue: ['/api/v2/conversations', '/api/v2/interactions']
 }));
 reconnectAttempts = 0;
 });

 ws.on('error', (err) => {
 console.error('WebSocket error:', err);
 ws.close();
 });

 ws.on('close', async (code, reason) => {
 if (code === 1006 || code === 1011) { // Abnormal closure
 console.log(`Reconnecting in ${Math.pow(2, reconnectAttempts) * 1000}ms...`);
 setTimeout(() => {
 reconnectAttempts++;
 connect();
 }, Math.pow(2, reconnectAttempts) * 1000);
 }
 });
}

Ensure your refreshToken() function handles the OAuth2 client credentials flow correctly. Also, verify that your IAM role has the genesyscloud:notification:subscribe permission. If the token is valid but permissions are missing, you will still get immediate drops. Check CloudWatch logs for the exact 4xx code returned on the reconnect.

3

My usual workaround is to refreshing the token before the WebSocket handshake. The standard backoff isn’t enough if the JWT is stale. Check the expiry in the payload and rotate it. See my Grafana plugin source for the token rotation logic: https://support.genesis.cloud/articles/ws-auth-refresh.

4

Make sure you verify the JWT expiration timestamp before attempting the WebSocket handshake, as the suggestion above correctly identifies the stale token as the root cause. In my Ruby on Rails middleware setup for Genesys Cloud webhook ingestion, I handle this by intercepting the connection logic and validating the token’s exp claim against the current server time in Asia/Kolkata (UTC+5:30). If the token is within 60 seconds of expiry, I trigger a synchronous refresh via the OAuth2 token endpoint using Faraday before initializing the Faye::WebSocket client. This prevents the rapid reconnect loop because the server accepts the fresh bearer token immediately upon the new handshake.

Here is the inline verification step I use in my controller before connecting:

def ensure_valid_token_for_ws
 payload = JWT.decode(current_token, nil, false)[0]
 exp_time = Time.at(payload['exp'])
 current_time = Time.now.in_time_zone('Asia/Kolkata')
 
 if exp_time - current_time < 60.seconds
 Rails.logger.info "Token expiring soon, refreshing before WS connect"
 refresh_oauth_token!
 end
end

If you are using Node.js, you should implement a similar check in your reconnect handler. Parse the JWT without verifying the signature (since you just need the expiry data) and compare the exp value to Date.now(). If the difference is less than your buffer threshold, call your token refresh function and wait for the promise to resolve before creating the new ws instance. This ensures that the 502 Bad Gateway or 401 Unauthorized errors are not triggered by an expired credential during the reconnection phase. The backoff logic is still necessary for network stability, but it must be paired with this token validation step to break the infinite loop.

  • JWT payload expiration claim (exp)
  • OAuth2 token refresh grant type
  • WebSocket handshake headers (Authorization: Bearer <token>)
  • Genesys Cloud Notification API queue subscriptions
  • Exponential backoff implementation details
5

Yep, this is a known issue…
The suggestion above is technically correct but misses the real pain point. Architect’s JSON parser chokes on nested function calls because it tries to evaluate the string …