Programmatic creation of predictive outbound campaigns and dialer rules using the CXone API in Go

What You Will Build

• A Go application that authenticates to NICE CXone, creates a predictive outbound campaign in DRAFT status, and attaches a predictive dialer rule with concurrency and abandonment thresholds.
• The implementation uses CXone REST API v2 endpoints for campaigns and dialer rules.
• The tutorial covers Go 1.21+ using only the standard library (net/http, encoding/json, sync, time, context).

Prerequisites

• OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials grant type registered in the CXone Admin Console.
• Required OAuth scopes: campaigns:write, campaign-dialer-rules:write.
• CXone API version: v2.
• Go runtime: 1.21 or newer.
• No third-party packages are required. The implementation relies entirely on the Go standard library to demonstrate precise control over HTTP headers, retry logic, and token lifecycle management.

Authentication Setup

CXone uses a standard OAuth 2.0 token endpoint. The client credentials flow exchanges a client_id and client_secret for a bearer token valid for 3600 seconds. Production integrations must cache the token and refresh it before expiration to avoid unnecessary network round trips and to prevent 401 Unauthorized errors mid-request.

The following code establishes a thread-safe token cache with a 60-second refresh buffer. This buffer prevents race conditions where multiple goroutines attempt to refresh the token simultaneously near the expiration boundary.

package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"sync"
	"time"
)

type OAuthClient struct {
	BaseURL      string
	ClientID     string
	ClientSecret string
	mu           sync.Mutex
	token        string
	expiresAt    time.Time
	httpClient   *http.Client
}

type oauthResponse struct {
	AccessToken string `json:"access_token"`
	ExpiresIn   int    `json:"expires_in"`
}

func NewOAuthClient(baseURL, clientID, clientSecret string) *OAuthClient {
	return &OAuthClient{
		BaseURL:      baseURL,
		ClientID:     clientID,
		ClientSecret: clientSecret,
		httpClient:   &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second},
	}
}

func (o *OAuthClient) GetToken(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
	o.mu.Lock()
	defer o.mu.Unlock()

	// Refresh if expired or within 60-second buffer
	if time.Until(o.expiresAt) < 60*time.Second {
		if err := o.refreshToken(ctx); err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("token refresh failed: %w", err)
		}
	}
	return o.token, nil
}

func (o *OAuthClient) refreshToken(ctx context.Context) error {
	payload := map[string]string{
		"grant_type":    "client_credentials",
		"client_id":     o.ClientID,
		"client_secret": o.ClientSecret,
	}
	body, err := json.Marshal(payload)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, fmt.Sprintf("%s/oauth/token", o.BaseURL), bytes.NewBuffer(body))
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

	resp, err := o.httpClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
		return fmt.Errorf("oauth request failed with status %d", resp.StatusCode)
	}

	var result oauthResponse
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	o.token = result.AccessToken
	o.expiresAt = time.Now().Add(time.Duration(result.ExpiresIn) * time.Second)
	return nil
}

OAuth Scope Requirement: campaigns:write, campaign-dialer-rules:write
HTTP Cycle: POST /oauth/token with application/json body returns access_token and expires_in. The client caches the token and calculates absolute expiration time to enable stateless validation across requests.

Implementation

Step 1: HTTP Client with Automatic Retry Logic

CXone enforces strict rate limits on campaign creation endpoints. A 429 Too Many Requests response indicates the tenant has exceeded the allowed request rate. The Go net/http client does not retry automatically, so we implement an exponential backoff strategy that respects the Retry-After header when present.

type CXoneClient struct {
	Auth     *OAuthClient
	BaseURL  string
	HTTP     *http.Client
}

func (c *CXoneClient) DoWithRetry(ctx context.Context, method, path string, body any) (*http.Response, error) {
	maxRetries := 3
	var lastErr error

	for attempt := 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++ {
		token, err := c.Auth.GetToken(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

		var reqBody []byte
		if body != nil {
			reqBody, err = json.Marshal(body)
			if err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
		}

		url := fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", c.BaseURL, path)
		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, method, url, bytes.NewReader(reqBody))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+token)
		req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
		req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")

		resp, err := c.HTTP.Do(req)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

		// Handle 429 with exponential backoff
		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
			resp.Body.Close()
			retryAfter := 2 * time.Duration(attempt+1)
			if delay := resp.Header.Get("Retry-After"); delay != "" {
				if parsed, err := time.Parse(duration, delay); err == nil {
					retryAfter = parsed.Sub(time.Now())
				}
			}
			if attempt == maxRetries {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("rate limited after %d retries", maxRetries)
			}
			time.Sleep(retryAfter * time.Second)
			continue
		}

		// Handle 401 (token expired despite cache) by forcing refresh and retrying once
		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusUnauthorized {
			resp.Body.Close()
			c.Auth.mu.Lock()
			c.Auth.expiresAt = time.Time{} // Force immediate refresh
			c.Auth.mu.Unlock()
			if attempt == maxRetries {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unauthorized after retries")
			}
			continue
		}

		if resp.StatusCode >= 400 {
			defer resp.Body.Close()
			return resp, fmt.Errorf("api error: status %d", resp.StatusCode)
		}

		return resp, nil
	}
	return nil, lastErr
}

Expected Behavior: The function retries on 429 and 401 responses. It sleeps using exponential backoff, checks for the Retry-After header, and forces a token refresh on 401. This prevents cascading failures during high-volume campaign provisioning.

Step 2: Create Predictive Campaign

CXone predictive campaigns require a specific payload structure. The type field must be set to PREDICTIVE. The campaign status should be DRAFT initially, allowing you to attach dialer rules and target lists before activation. The API validates required fields like name, type, status, skills, and wrapUpCodes.

type PredictiveCampaign struct {
	Name        string   `json:"name"`
	Type        string   `json:"type"`
	Status      string   `json:"status"`
	Description string   `json:"description"`
	Skills      []string `json:"skills"`
	WrapUpCodes []string `json:"wrapUpCodes"`
	MaxCalls    int      `json:"maxCallsPerDay"`
}

func (c *CXoneClient) CreateCampaign(ctx context.Context, campaign PredictiveCampaign) (string, error) {
	campaign.Type = "PREDICTIVE"
	campaign.Status = "DRAFT"

	resp, err := c.DoWithRetry(ctx, http.MethodPost, "/api/v2/campaigns", campaign)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	var result struct {
		ID   string `json:"id"`
		Name string `json:"name"`
	}
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to decode campaign response: %w", err)
	}

	return result.ID, nil
}

OAuth Scope Requirement: campaigns:write
HTTP Cycle: POST /api/v2/campaigns
Request Body:

{
  "name": "Q3 Predictive Outreach",
  "type": "PREDICTIVE",
  "status": "DRAFT",
  "description": "Automated predictive dialer for lead qualification",
  "skills": ["OUTBOUND_SALES", "QUALIFICATION"],
  "wrapUpCodes": ["SALE", "NO_INTEREST", "CALLBACK"],
  "maxCallsPerDay": 1000
}

Response Body:

{
  "id": "camp_8f3a2b1c-9d4e-4f5a-b6c7-1234567890ab",
  "name": "Q3 Predictive Outreach",
  "status": "DRAFT"
}

The API returns the campaign identifier immediately. You must store this ID to attach dialer rules in the next step.

Step 3: Attach Dialer Rules

Predictive dialer rules control concurrency, abandonment thresholds, and predictive rates. CXone separates dialer rule configuration from the campaign entity. The /api/v2/campaign-dialer-rules endpoint accepts a payload tied to the campaign ID. The ruleType must match PREDICTIVE. Critical parameters include abandonedCallThreshold (maximum percentage of abandoned calls allowed), predictiveRate (algorithm speed multiplier), and maxConcurrentCalls.

type DialerRule struct {
	CampaignID             string  `json:"campaignId"`
	RuleType               string  `json:"ruleType"`
	AbandonedCallThreshold float64 `json:"abandonedCallThreshold"`
	PredictiveRate         float64 `json:"predictiveRate"`
	MaxConcurrentCalls     int     `json:"maxConcurrentCalls"`
	TargetListID           string  `json:"targetListId"`
}

func (c *CXoneClient) CreateDialerRule(ctx context.Context, rule DialerRule) error {
	rule.RuleType = "PREDICTIVE"

	resp, err := c.DoWithRetry(ctx, http.MethodPost, "/api/v2/campaign-dialer-rules", rule)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusCreated && resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
		return fmt.Errorf("dialer rule creation failed with status %d", resp.StatusCode)
	}

	return nil
}

OAuth Scope Requirement: campaign-dialer-rules:write
HTTP Cycle: POST /api/v2/campaign-dialer-rules
Request Body:

{
  "campaignId": "camp_8f3a2b1c-9d4e-4f5a-b6c7-1234567890ab",
  "ruleType": "PREDICTIVE",
  "abandonedCallThreshold": 0.03,
  "predictiveRate": 1.25,
  "maxConcurrentCalls": 50,
  "targetListId": "list_a1b2c3d4-5e6f-7g8h-9i0j-klmnopqrstuv"
}

Response Body:

{
  "id": "rule_x9y8z7w6-v5u4-t3s2-r1q0-p9o8n7m6l5k4",
  "campaignId": "camp_8f3a2b1c-9d4e-4f5a-b6c7-1234567890ab",
  "ruleType": "PREDICTIVE",
  "status": "ACTIVE"
}

The dialer rule activates immediately upon creation. The predictive algorithm begins calculating agent availability and call pacing based on the provided predictiveRate and abandonedCallThreshold.

Complete Working Example

The following file combines authentication, retry logic, campaign creation, and dialer rule attachment into a single executable Go program. Replace the placeholder credentials and target list ID before execution.

package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"net/http"
	"sync"
	"time"
)

type OAuthClient struct {
	BaseURL      string
	ClientID     string
	ClientSecret string
	mu           sync.Mutex
	token        string
	expiresAt    time.Time
	httpClient   *http.Client
}

type oauthResponse struct {
	AccessToken string `json:"access_token"`
	ExpiresIn   int    `json:"expires_in"`
}

type CXoneClient struct {
	Auth    *OAuthClient
	BaseURL string
	HTTP    *http.Client
}

type PredictiveCampaign struct {
	Name        string   `json:"name"`
	Type        string   `json:"type"`
	Status      string   `json:"status"`
	Description string   `json:"description"`
	Skills      []string `json:"skills"`
	WrapUpCodes []string `json:"wrapUpCodes"`
	MaxCalls    int      `json:"maxCallsPerDay"`
}

type DialerRule struct {
	CampaignID             string  `json:"campaignId"`
	RuleType               string  `json:"ruleType"`
	AbandonedCallThreshold float64 `json:"abandonedCallThreshold"`
	PredictiveRate         float64 `json:"predictiveRate"`
	MaxConcurrentCalls     int     `json:"maxConcurrentCalls"`
	TargetListID           string  `json:"targetListId"`
}

func NewOAuthClient(baseURL, clientID, clientSecret string) *OAuthClient {
	return &OAuthClient{
		BaseURL:      baseURL,
		ClientID:     clientID,
		ClientSecret: clientSecret,
		httpClient:   &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second},
	}
}

func (o *OAuthClient) GetToken(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
	o.mu.Lock()
	defer o.mu.Unlock()

	if time.Until(o.expiresAt) < 60*time.Second {
		if err := o.refreshToken(ctx); err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("token refresh failed: %w", err)
		}
	}
	return o.token, nil
}

func (o *OAuthClient) refreshToken(ctx context.Context) error {
	payload := map[string]string{
		"grant_type":    "client_credentials",
		"client_id":     o.ClientID,
		"client_secret": o.ClientSecret,
	}
	body, err := json.Marshal(payload)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, fmt.Sprintf("%s/oauth/token", o.BaseURL), bytes.NewBuffer(body))
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

	resp, err := o.httpClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
		return fmt.Errorf("oauth request failed with status %d", resp.StatusCode)
	}

	var result oauthResponse
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	o.token = result.AccessToken
	o.expiresAt = time.Now().Add(time.Duration(result.ExpiresIn) * time.Second)
	return nil
}

func (c *CXoneClient) DoWithRetry(ctx context.Context, method, path string, body any) (*http.Response, error) {
	maxRetries := 3
	for attempt := 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++ {
		token, err := c.Auth.GetToken(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

		var reqBody []byte
		if body != nil {
			reqBody, err = json.Marshal(body)
			if err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
		}

		url := fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", c.BaseURL, path)
		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, method, url, bytes.NewReader(reqBody))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+token)
		req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
		req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")

		resp, err := c.HTTP.Do(req)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
			resp.Body.Close()
			retryAfter := 2 * time.Duration(attempt+1)
			if delay := resp.Header.Get("Retry-After"); delay != "" {
				if parsed, err := time.Parse(time.RFC1123, delay); err == nil {
					retryAfter = parsed.Sub(time.Now())
				}
			}
			if attempt == maxRetries {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("rate limited after %d retries", maxRetries)
			}
			time.Sleep(retryAfter * time.Second)
			continue
		}

		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusUnauthorized {
			resp.Body.Close()
			c.Auth.mu.Lock()
			c.Auth.expiresAt = time.Time{}
			c.Auth.mu.Unlock()
			if attempt == maxRetries {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unauthorized after retries")
			}
			continue
		}

		if resp.StatusCode >= 400 {
			defer resp.Body.Close()
			return resp, fmt.Errorf("api error: status %d", resp.StatusCode)
		}

		return resp, nil
	}
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("max retries exceeded")
}

func (c *CXoneClient) CreateCampaign(ctx context.Context, campaign PredictiveCampaign) (string, error) {
	campaign.Type = "PREDICTIVE"
	campaign.Status = "DRAFT"

	resp, err := c.DoWithRetry(ctx, http.MethodPost, "/api/v2/campaigns", campaign)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	var result struct {
		ID string `json:"id"`
	}
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to decode campaign response: %w", err)
	}
	return result.ID, nil
}

func (c *CXoneClient) CreateDialerRule(ctx context.Context, rule DialerRule) error {
	rule.RuleType = "PREDICTIVE"
	resp, err := c.DoWithRetry(ctx, http.MethodPost, "/api/v2/campaign-dialer-rules", rule)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusCreated && resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
		return fmt.Errorf("dialer rule creation failed with status %d", resp.StatusCode)
	}
	return nil
}

func main() {
	ctx := context.Background()

	// Configuration
	const (
		CXoneEnv       = "api-us-02"
		ClientID       = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID"
		ClientSecret   = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"
		TargetListID   = "list_a1b2c3d4-5e6f-7g8h-9i0j-klmnopqrstuv"
	)
	baseURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://%s.cxone.com", CXoneEnv)

	auth := NewOAuthClient(baseURL, ClientID, ClientSecret)
	client := &CXoneClient{
		Auth:    auth,
		BaseURL: baseURL,
		HTTP:    &http.Client{Timeout: 15 * time.Second},
	}

	// Step 1: Create Campaign
	campaign := PredictiveCampaign{
		Name:        "Predictive Outbound Q4",
		Description: "Automated predictive dialer configuration",
		Skills:      []string{"OUTBOUND_SALES"},
		WrapUpCodes: []string{"SALE", "NO_INTEREST"},
		MaxCalls:    500,
	}

	campaignID, err := client.CreateCampaign(ctx, campaign)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to create campaign: %v", err)
	}
	log.Printf("Campaign created successfully: %s", campaignID)

	// Step 2: Attach Dialer Rule
	rule := DialerRule{
		CampaignID:             campaignID,
		AbandonedCallThreshold: 0.03,
		PredictiveRate:         1.25,
		MaxConcurrentCalls:     40,
		TargetListID:           TargetListID,
	}

	if err := client.CreateDialerRule(ctx, rule); err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to create dialer rule: %v", err)
	}
	log.Println("Dialer rule attached successfully. Campaign is ready for activation.")
}

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

• Cause: The OAuth token has expired, or the Authorization header is malformed. The token cache buffer may have been bypassed by a long-running request.
• Fix: The DoWithRetry function detects 401 responses and forces an immediate token refresh by resetting expiresAt to zero. Ensure the OAuth client credentials have not been rotated in the CXone Admin Console.
• Code Fix: Verify GetToken is called before every request. The provided implementation handles automatic refresh on 401.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• Cause: The OAuth client lacks the required scopes. Campaign creation requires campaigns:write. Dialer rule creation requires campaign-dialer-rules:write.
• Fix: Navigate to the CXone Admin Console, locate the OAuth client, and append the missing scopes to the client configuration. Revoke and regenerate the client secret if the scope update does not propagate immediately.
• Code Fix: No code change is required. The error originates from the identity provider. Verify the scope string matches exactly without trailing spaces.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

• Cause: The tenant has exceeded the CXone API rate limit for campaign operations. Predictive campaign creation triggers backend provisioning workflows that consume higher quota.
• Fix: The implementation implements exponential backoff. If the Retry-After header is present, the client sleeps for the specified duration. If the error persists after three retries, back off for a longer period or batch campaign creation asynchronously.
• Code Fix: The DoWithRetry function handles 429 automatically. Adjust maxRetries or base sleep duration if your tenant enforces stricter limits.

Error: 400 Bad Request

• Cause: Invalid JSON payload, missing required fields, or mismatched ruleType. CXone validates that type equals PREDICTIVE for predictive campaigns. Dialer rules must reference an existing campaign ID and target list ID.
• Fix: Validate the JSON structure against the CXone API schema. Ensure skills and wrapUpCodes arrays contain valid identifiers registered in the tenant. Verify abandonedCallThreshold is between 0.0 and 1.0.
• Code Fix: Enable request/response logging by intercepting c.HTTP.Do in a custom RoundTripper to inspect the exact payload sent to the API.

Official References

• CXone Campaigns API Documentation
• CXone Dialer Rules API Documentation
• CXone OAuth 2.0 Authentication Guide
• CXone API Rate Limiting Policy