Reading and Writing Participant Attributes During Live Voice Calls in Genesys Cloud

What You Will Build

• You will build a Python script that attaches to a live voice conversation, retrieves the current participant attributes, updates them with data from an external system, and pushes the changes back to the Genesys Cloud platform.
• This tutorial uses the Genesys Cloud PureCloud Platform Client V2 SDK and the REST API for conversation manipulation.
• The implementation covers Python with type hints, using requests for HTTP operations and the official genesys-cloud-purecloud-platform-client SDK for structured data handling.

Prerequisites

• OAuth Client Type: Confidential Client (Client Credentials Grant) or Private Key JWT (PKCE/JWT). This tutorial assumes a Confidential Client for simplicity, but PKCE is recommended for production.
• Required Scopes:
  • conversation:participant:write (To update participant attributes)
  • conversation:participant:read (To read current attributes)
  • conversation:read (To list or fetch conversation details if needed)
• SDK Version: genesys-cloud-purecloud-platform-client >= 165.0.0 (Ensure you are using a recent version to support the latest conversation models).
• Runtime: Python 3.9+.
• Dependencies:
  • genesys-cloud-purecloud-platform-client
  • requests
  • python-dotenv (for secure credential management)

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud APIs require a valid access token. For background processes interacting with live calls, the Client Credentials Grant is standard. You must generate a client ID and secret in the Genesys Cloud Admin Portal under Developers > Applications.

The following code demonstrates a robust authentication helper. It caches the token to avoid unnecessary refreshes and handles the 401 Unauthorized response by forcing a refresh.

import os
import requests
import time
from typing import Optional, Dict, Any
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

class GenesysAuth:
    def __init__(self, client_id: str, client_secret: str, org_id: str):
        self.client_id = client_id
        self.client_secret = client_secret
        self.org_id = org_id
        self.token_url = f"https://api.{org_id}.mypurecloud.com/oauth/token"
        self.access_token: Optional[str] = None
        self.token_expiry: float = 0

    def get_access_token(self) -> str:
        """
        Returns a valid access token. Refreshes if expired or missing.
        """
        if self.access_token and time.time() < self.token_expiry:
            return self.access_token

        payload = {
            "grant_type": "client_credentials",
            "client_id": self.client_id,
            "client_secret": self.client_secret,
            "scope": "conversation:participant:read conversation:participant:write"
        }

        headers = {
            "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
        }

        try:
            response = requests.post(self.token_url, data=payload, headers=headers)
            response.raise_for_status()
            data = response.json()
            
            self.access_token = data['access_token']
            # Expires in seconds, add buffer for network latency
            self.token_expiry = time.time() + data['expires_in'] - 10 
            
            return self.access_token

        except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as e:
            if response.status_code == 401:
                print("Authentication failed: Invalid Client ID or Secret.")
            elif response.status_code == 403:
                print("Authentication failed: Client does not have required scopes.")
            else:
                print(f"Authentication failed: {e}")
            raise e

# Initialize Auth
CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")
ORG_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_ORG_ID")

auth = GenesysAuth(CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, ORG_ID)

Implementation

Step 1: Fetching the Current Participant Attributes

Before modifying attributes, you must retrieve the current state of the participant. This prevents overwriting existing data that your external system is unaware of. We use the GET /api/v2/conversations/voice/{conversationId}/participants/{participantId} endpoint.

The response contains a attributes field, which is a dictionary of key-value pairs.

from genesyscloud_platform_client.rest import ApiException
from genesyscloud_platform_client.api import conversation_api
from genesyscloud_platform_client.model import PureCloudPlatformClientV2

# Initialize the SDK client
def get_client(org_id: str, token: str) -> PureCloudPlatformClientV2:
    client = PureCloudPlatformClientV2.create_client(
        environment=f"https://api.{org_id}.mypurecloud.com"
    )
    client.set_access_token(token)
    return client

def get_participant_attributes(conversation_id: str, participant_id: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
    """
    Retrieves the current attributes for a specific participant in a voice conversation.
    """
    client = get_client(ORG_ID, auth.get_access_token())
    api_instance = conversation_api.ConversationApi(client)
    
    try:
        # Fetch the full participant object
        result = api_instance.get_conversations_voice_participant(
            conversation_id=conversation_id,
            participant_id=participant_id
        )
        
        # The attributes are stored in the 'attributes' field
        # If no attributes exist, this may be None or empty dict
        current_attrs = result.attributes if result.attributes else {}
        print(f"Current Attributes: {current_attrs}")
        return current_attrs

    except ApiException as e:
        if e.status == 404:
            print(f"Participant or Conversation not found: {conversation_id}/{participant_id}")
        elif e.status == 401:
            print("Unauthorized: Token may be expired or invalid.")
        elif e.status == 403:
            print("Forbidden: Check OAuth scopes.")
        else:
            print(f"API Error: {e}")
        raise e

Step 2: Merging External Data with Existing Attributes

A common mistake is replacing the entire attributes object. If your external system only updates one field (e.g., crm_order_status), you must preserve other fields (e.g., agent_name, call_start_time).

We define a function that takes the current attributes and the new data from your external system, then merges them.

def merge_attributes(current_attrs: Dict[str, Any], external_data: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
    """
    Merges external data into current attributes.
    External data takes precedence for matching keys.
    """
    if not current_attrs:
        current_attrs = {}
    
    # Deep merge or shallow merge? 
    # Genesys attributes are flat key-value pairs, so shallow merge is sufficient.
    merged = current_attrs.copy()
    merged.update(external_data)
    
    # Validate attribute size limits
    # Genesys Cloud limits attributes to 1KB total string representation roughly.
    # Check length to avoid 400 Bad Request errors.
    import json
    payload_size = len(json.dumps(merged).encode('utf-8'))
    
    if payload_size > 1024:
        print(f"Warning: Attributes size {payload_size} bytes exceeds recommended limit. Truncating or dropping keys may be necessary.")
        # In production, implement a strategy to drop oldest keys or truncate values
        
    return merged

Step 3: Updating the Participant Attributes

To write the attributes back, we use the PUT /api/v2/conversations/voice/{conversationId}/participants/{participantId} endpoint. This is a full replace operation for the participant object. You must send the entire participant object back, not just the attributes.

However, the SDK simplifies this by allowing us to patch the specific fields. We will construct a Participant object with the updated attributes and send it.

from genesyscloud_platform_client.model import Participant

def update_participant_attributes(
    conversation_id: str, 
    participant_id: str, 
    new_attributes: Dict[str, Any]
) -> bool:
    """
    Updates the participant attributes in Genesys Cloud.
    Returns True if successful, False otherwise.
    """
    client = get_client(ORG_ID, auth.get_access_token())
    api_instance = conversation_api.ConversationApi(client)
    
    try:
        # 1. First, fetch the full participant object to ensure we don't overwrite other fields
        # like 'mediaType', 'state', or 'wrapupCode'.
        full_participant = api_instance.get_conversations_voice_participant(
            conversation_id=conversation_id,
            participant_id=participant_id
        )
        
        # 2. Update only the attributes field
        full_participant.attributes = new_attributes
        
        # 3. Send the updated participant object back
        # Note: We do not send the 'id' field in the request body for PUT in some SDK versions,
        # but the SDK usually handles the path parameter correctly.
        api_instance.put_conversations_voice_participant(
            conversation_id=conversation_id,
            participant_id=participant_id,
            body=full_participant
        )
        
        print("Attributes updated successfully.")
        return True

    except ApiException as e:
        if e.status == 409:
            print("Conflict: The participant object may have changed since we fetched it. Retry with fresh data.")
        elif e.status == 400:
            print(f"Bad Request: Check attribute format. Error: {e.body}")
        else:
            print(f"API Error: {e}")
        return False

Complete Working Example

This script simulates a live integration. It listens for a conversation ID and Participant ID (provided via command line or environment variables), fetches current attributes, simulates a lookup in an external CRM, merges the data, and pushes it back.

import os
import sys
import time
import requests
from typing import Dict, Any, Optional
from dotenv import load_dotenv

# Import Genesys Cloud SDK
from genesyscloud_platform_client.rest import ApiException
from genesyscloud_platform_client.api import conversation_api
from genesyscloud_platform_client.model import PureCloudPlatformClientV2, Participant

load_dotenv()

# --- Configuration ---
CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")
ORG_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_ORG_ID")
CONVERSATION_ID = os.getenv("TARGET_CONVERSATION_ID")
PARTICIPANT_ID = os.getenv("TARGET_PARTICIPANT_ID")

if not all([CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, ORG_ID, CONVERSATION_ID, PARTICIPANT_ID]):
    print("Error: Missing required environment variables.")
    sys.exit(1)

# --- Authentication Helper ---
class GenesysAuth:
    def __init__(self, client_id: str, client_secret: str, org_id: str):
        self.client_id = client_id
        self.client_secret = client_secret
        self.org_id = org_id
        self.token_url = f"https://api.{org_id}.mypurecloud.com/oauth/token"
        self.access_token: Optional[str] = None
        self.token_expiry: float = 0

    def get_access_token(self) -> str:
        if self.access_token and time.time() < self.token_expiry:
            return self.access_token

        payload = {
            "grant_type": "client_credentials",
            "client_id": self.client_id,
            "client_secret": self.client_secret,
            "scope": "conversation:participant:read conversation:participant:write"
        }
        headers = {"Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"}

        try:
            response = requests.post(self.token_url, data=payload, headers=headers)
            response.raise_for_status()
            data = response.json()
            self.access_token = data['access_token']
            self.token_expiry = time.time() + data['expires_in'] - 10
            return self.access_token
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Auth Error: {e}")
            raise

auth = GenesysAuth(CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, ORG_ID)

# --- SDK Client Helper ---
def get_client(org_id: str, token: str) -> PureCloudPlatformClientV2:
    client = PureCloudPlatformClientV2.create_client(
        environment=f"https://api.{org_id}.mypurecloud.com"
    )
    client.set_access_token(token)
    return client

# --- Business Logic ---

def simulate_external_system_lookup(caller_number: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
    """
    Simulates an API call to an external CRM.
    In production, replace this with actual HTTP requests to your backend.
    """
    print(f"Looking up CRM data for caller: {caller_number}...")
    time.sleep(0.5) # Simulate network latency
    
    # Mock CRM Response
    return {
        "crm_customer_id": "CUST-998877",
        "crm_tier": "Gold",
        "crm_last_purchase_date": "2023-10-15",
        "crm_open_tickets": 1
    }

def main():
    print(f"Starting integration for Conversation: {CONVERSATION_ID}, Participant: {PARTICIPANT_ID}")
    
    try:
        token = auth.get_access_token()
        client = get_client(ORG_ID, token)
        api_instance = conversation_api.ConversationApi(client)
        
        # 1. Get Current Participant State
        print("Fetching current participant details...")
        try:
            participant = api_instance.get_conversations_voice_participant(
                conversation_id=CONVERSATION_ID,
                participant_id=PARTICIPANT_ID
            )
        except ApiException as e:
            print(f"Failed to fetch participant: {e}")
            return

        # Extract caller number for external lookup
        # Note: The 'address' field contains the phone number
        caller_number = participant.address if participant.address else "Unknown"
        print(f"Caller Address: {caller_number}")

        # 2. Fetch External Data
        external_data = simulate_external_system_lookup(caller_number)
        
        # 3. Merge Attributes
        current_attrs = participant.attributes if participant.attributes else {}
        merged_attrs = current_attrs.copy()
        merged_attrs.update(external_data)
        
        print(f"Merged Attributes: {merged_attrs}")

        # 4. Update Participant
        print("Updating participant attributes...")
        participant.attributes = merged_attrs
        
        try:
            api_instance.put_conversations_voice_participant(
                conversation_id=CONVERSATION_ID,
                participant_id=PARTICIPANT_ID,
                body=participant
            )
            print("Success: Attributes updated in Genesys Cloud.")
            
        except ApiException as e:
            if e.status == 409:
                print("Conflict: Data changed during update. Retrying once...")
                # Retry logic: Fetch again, merge again, update again
                time.sleep(1)
                fresh_participant = api_instance.get_conversations_voice_participant(
                    conversation_id=CONVERSATION_ID,
                    participant_id=PARTICIPANT_ID
                )
                fresh_attrs = fresh_participant.attributes if fresh_participant.attributes else {}
                fresh_attrs.update(external_data) # Re-apply external data
                fresh_participant.attributes = fresh_attrs
                
                api_instance.put_conversations_voice_participant(
                    conversation_id=CONVERSATION_ID,
                    participant_id=PARTICIPANT_ID,
                    body=fresh_participant
                )
                print("Success: Attributes updated after retry.")
            else:
                print(f"Failed to update: {e}")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 409 Conflict

• Cause: The participant object in Genesys Cloud was modified by another process (e.g., the agent changed the wrapup code, or the system updated the state) between your GET and PUT requests. Genesys Cloud uses optimistic locking.
• Fix: Implement a retry mechanism. Fetch the participant again, apply your attribute changes to the fresh object, and attempt the PUT again. The complete example above demonstrates a single retry.

Error: 400 Bad Request

• Cause: The attributes payload is malformed or exceeds size limits. Attributes must be a flat JSON object. Nested objects are not supported in the standard attributes field (use data fields for complex structures if available, or flatten them).
• Fix: Ensure the attributes dictionary contains only primitive types (strings, numbers, booleans). Check the total byte size of the JSON payload. If it exceeds ~1KB, truncate less critical keys.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• Cause: The OAuth token does not have the conversation:participant:write scope.
• Fix: Verify the scopes in your OAuth client configuration in the Genesys Cloud Admin Portal. Ensure the token used in the script was generated with these scopes.

Error: 404 Not Found

• Cause: The conversationId or participantId is invalid, or the conversation has ended and been archived (though archived conversations are usually still readable for a retention period).
• Fix: Verify the IDs are correct. Use the Genesys Cloud API Explorer to test the GET request manually with the same IDs.

Official References

• Conversation API Documentation
• Participant Attributes Documentation
• Python SDK Reference