Replaying NICE Cognigy Conversation Logs via REST API with Go

Replaying NICE Cognigy Conversation Logs via REST API with Go

What You Will Build

  • A production-grade Go replay engine that fetches historical conversation logs, constructs simulation payloads, validates against analytics constraints, executes replays, and synchronizes results with external test harnesses.
  • This implementation uses the NICE Cognigy REST API v2 endpoints for logs, replay execution, and analytics constraints.
  • The tutorial covers Go 1.21+ with standard library HTTP clients, JSON serialization, exponential backoff retry logic, and structured audit logging.

Prerequisites

  • OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials grant type with scopes: logs:read, replay:execute, analytics:read, webhooks:notify
  • Cognigy API v2 access enabled on your tenant
  • Go runtime 1.21 or higher
  • No external dependencies required; the implementation uses net/http, encoding/json, time, sync, log/slog, and fmt
  • A configured external webhook receiver URL for test harness synchronization

Authentication Setup

Cognigy uses OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials for machine-to-machine API access. The following implementation caches tokens, enforces mutex safety, and refreshes before expiration.

package main

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

type OAuthConfig struct {
	BaseURL      string
	ClientID     string
	ClientSecret string
	GrantType    string
	Scopes       []string
}

type TokenResponse struct {
	AccessToken string `json:"access_token"`
	TokenType   string `json:"token_type"`
	ExpiresIn   int64  `json:"expires_in"`
}

type TokenCache struct {
	mu          sync.Mutex
	token       string
	expiresAt   time.Time
	refreshFunc func() (string, error)
}

func NewTokenCache(refreshFunc func() (string, error)) *TokenCache {
	return &TokenCache{refreshFunc: refreshFunc}
}

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

	if time.Until(tc.expiresAt) > 0 {
		return tc.token, nil
	}

	token, err := tc.refreshFunc()
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("token refresh failed: %w", err)
	}

	tc.token = token
	tc.expiresAt = time.Now().Add(time.Duration(55) * time.Minute)
	return tc.token, nil
}

func fetchOAuthToken(cfg OAuthConfig) (string, error) {
	payload := map[string]interface{}{
		"grant_type":    cfg.GrantType,
		"client_id":     cfg.ClientID,
		"client_secret": cfg.ClientSecret,
		"scope":         "logs:read replay:execute analytics:read webhooks:notify",
	}

	body, err := json.Marshal(payload)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("marshal token payload: %w", err)
	}

	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", cfg.BaseURL+"/oauth/token", bytes.NewBuffer(body))
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("create token request: %w", err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second}
	resp, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("execute token request: %w", err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

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

	var tokenResp TokenResponse
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&tokenResp); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("decode token response: %w", err)
	}

	return tokenResp.AccessToken, nil
}

The OAuth flow requires POST /oauth/token with grant_type=client_credentials. The token cache ensures concurrent goroutines do not trigger duplicate refresh calls. The cache expiry is set to 55 minutes to account for network latency and server clock drift.

Implementation

Step 1: Fetch Historical Logs with Atomic GET and Format Verification

Cognigy stores conversation logs as immutable event streams. You must retrieve logs using atomic GET operations to prevent partial reads during scaling events. The endpoint supports pagination and returns a log matrix containing timestamps, intents, slots, and branch paths.

type LogEntry struct {
	Timestamp int64  `json:"timestamp"`
	Intent    string `json:"intent"`
	Slot      string `json:"slot"`
	Value     string `json:"value"`
	Branch    string `json:"branch"`
	Action    string `json:"action"`
}

type LogResponse struct {
	Results []LogEntry `json:"results"`
	HasMore bool       `json:"hasMore"`
	Cursor  string     `json:"cursor,omitempty"`
}

func fetchConversationLogs(ctx context.Context, baseURL, conversationID string, tokenCache *TokenCache) ([]LogEntry, error) {
	var allLogs []LogEntry
	cursor := ""
	page := 1

	for {
		url := fmt.Sprintf("%s/api/v2/logs?conversationId=%s&format=matrix&cursor=%s", baseURL, conversationID, cursor)
		
		token, err := tokenCache.GetToken(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", url, nil)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("create log request: %w", err)
		}
		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+token)
		req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")

		client := &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second}
		resp, err := client.Do(req)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("execute log request: %w", err)
		}
		defer resp.Body.Close()

		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusUnauthorized {
			tokenCache.mu.Lock()
			tokenCache.token = ""
			tokenCache.expiresAt = time.Time{}
			tokenCache.mu.Unlock()
			return fetchConversationLogs(ctx, baseURL, conversationID, tokenCache)
		}

		var logResp LogResponse
		if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&logResp); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("decode log response: %w", err)
		}

		if len(logResp.Results) == 0 && logResp.Cursor == "" {
			break
		}

		allLogs = append(allLogs, logResp.Results...)
		cursor = logResp.Cursor
		page++

		if !logResp.HasMore || page > 50 {
			break
		}
	}

	return allLogs, nil
}

The GET /api/v2/logs endpoint requires the logs:read scope. Pagination uses a cursor-based model. The function enforces a maximum of 50 pages to prevent runaway memory allocation. Format verification occurs at the JSON decoding stage; malformed matrices will trigger a decode error that propagates to the caller.

Step 2: Construct Replay Payloads with Log Matrix and Simulation Directive

Replay payloads must map historical logs into a simulation matrix while injecting a directive that controls execution speed, state reset behavior, and branch override rules.

type SimulationDirective struct {
	Mode          string `json:"mode"`
	SpeedFactor   float64 `json:"speedFactor"`
	ResetState    bool   `json:"resetState"`
	OverrideBranch bool  `json:"overrideBranch"`
}

type ReplayPayload struct {
	ConversationID    string                `json:"conversationId"`
	LogMatrix         []LogEntry            `json:"logMatrix"`
	SimulationDirective SimulationDirective `json:"simulationDirective"`
	RequestedAt       int64                 `json:"requestedAt"`
}

func buildReplayPayload(logs []LogEntry, directive SimulationDirective) ReplayPayload {
	return ReplayPayload{
		ConversationID:      "replay-" + fmt.Sprint(time.Now().UnixNano()),
		LogMatrix:           logs,
		SimulationDirective: directive,
		RequestedAt:         time.Now().UnixMilli(),
	}
}

The payload structure aligns with Cognigy’s replay engine expectations. The simulationDirective controls how the analytics engine processes the log matrix. Setting resetState to true clears intermediate dialog state before execution. The speedFactor adjusts internal timers to simulate real-time pacing or accelerated playback.

Step 3: Validate Replay Schemas Against Analytics Constraints

Before execution, you must validate the payload against tenant-specific analytics constraints. This prevents replay failures caused by duration limits, unsupported branch paths, or timestamp drift.

type AnalyticsConstraints struct {
	MaxReplayDurationMs int64  `json:"maxReplayDurationMs"`
	AllowedBranches     []string `json:"allowedBranches"`
	TimestampDriftToleranceMs int64 `json:"timestampDriftToleranceMs"`
}

func fetchAnalyticsConstraints(ctx context.Context, baseURL string, tokenCache *TokenCache) (AnalyticsConstraints, error) {
	token, err := tokenCache.GetToken(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return AnalyticsConstraints{}, err
	}

	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", baseURL+"/api/v2/analytics/constraints", nil)
	if err != nil {
		return AnalyticsConstraints{}, err
	}
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+token)

	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second}
	resp, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		return AnalyticsConstraints{}, err
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	var constraints AnalyticsConstraints
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&constraints); err != nil {
		return AnalyticsConstraints{}, fmt.Errorf("decode constraints: %w", err)
	}
	return constraints, nil
}

func validateReplayPayload(payload ReplayPayload, constraints AnalyticsConstraints) error {
	if len(payload.LogMatrix) == 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("log matrix is empty")
	}

	startTime := payload.LogMatrix[0].Timestamp
	endTime := payload.LogMatrix[len(payload.LogMatrix)-1].Timestamp
	duration := endTime - startTime

	if duration > constraints.MaxReplayDurationMs {
		return fmt.Errorf("replay duration %dms exceeds maximum %dms", duration, constraints.MaxReplayDurationMs)
	}

	allowedBranchMap := make(map[string]bool)
	for _, branch := range constraints.AllowedBranches {
		allowedBranchMap[branch] = true
	}

	for i, entry := range payload.LogMatrix {
		if i > 0 {
			drift := entry.Timestamp - payload.LogMatrix[i-1].Timestamp
			if drift < 0 || drift > constraints.TimestampDriftToleranceMs {
				return fmt.Errorf("timestamp drift violation at index %d: %dms", i, drift)
			}
		}

		if !allowedBranchMap[entry.Branch] {
			return fmt.Errorf("branch path %s is not allowed by analytics constraints", entry.Branch)
		}
	}

	return nil
}

The GET /api/v2/analytics/constraints endpoint requires the analytics:read scope. Validation enforces three rules: total duration limits, chronological timestamp alignment, and branch path allowlisting. The drift check ensures logs were not reordered during extraction.

Step 4: Execute Replay with State Reset and Branch Verification

Execution uses an atomic POST operation. The engine applies the simulation directive, processes the log matrix, and returns execution metrics. You must handle 429 rate limits with exponential backoff.

type ReplayResult struct {
	ExecutionID   string  `json:"executionId"`
	Status        string  `json:"status"`
	DurationMs    int64   `json:"durationMs"`
	StepsProcessed int    `json:"stepsProcessed"`
	BranchPath    string  `json:"branchPath"`
	Timestamp     int64   `json:"timestamp"`
}

func retryOnRateLimit(ctx context.Context, fn func() (*http.Response, error)) (*http.Response, error) {
	maxRetries := 4
	backoff := 1 * time.Second

	for attempt := 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++ {
		resp, err := fn()
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
			resp.Body.Close()
			select {
			case <-time.After(backoff):
				backoff *= 2
			case <-ctx.Done():
				return nil, ctx.Err()
			}
			continue
		}

		return resp, nil
	}
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("max retries exceeded for 429 rate limit")
}

func executeReplay(ctx context.Context, baseURL string, payload ReplayPayload, tokenCache *TokenCache) (ReplayResult, error) {
	body, err := json.Marshal(payload)
	if err != nil {
		return ReplayResult{}, fmt.Errorf("marshal replay payload: %w", err)
	}

	var result ReplayResult
	resp, err := retryOnRateLimit(ctx, func() (*http.Response, error) {
		token, tokErr := tokenCache.GetToken(ctx)
		if tokErr != nil {
			return nil, tokErr
		}

		req, reqErr := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "POST", baseURL+"/api/v2/replay/execute", bytes.NewBuffer(body))
		if reqErr != nil {
			return nil, reqErr
		}
		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+token)
		req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
		req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")

		client := &http.Client{Timeout: 60 * time.Second}
		return client.Do(req)
	})
	if err != nil {
		return ReplayResult{}, fmt.Errorf("execute replay request: %w", err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK && resp.StatusCode != http.StatusCreated {
		return ReplayResult{}, fmt.Errorf("replay execution failed: status %d", resp.StatusCode)
	}

	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
		return ReplayResult{}, fmt.Errorf("decode replay result: %w", err)
	}

	return result, nil
}

The POST /api/v2/replay/execute endpoint requires the replay:execute scope. The retry wrapper handles 429 responses with exponential backoff. The execution timeout is set to 60 seconds to accommodate longer log matrices. State reset triggers are evaluated server-side based on the resetState directive flag.

Step 5: Synchronize Events and Track Latency

Replay results must synchronize with external test harnesses via webhooks. You also need to track latency, success rates, and generate audit logs for governance.

type WebhookPayload struct {
	ExecutionID      string `json:"executionId"`
	Status           string `json:"status"`
	LatencyMs        int64  `json:"latencyMs"`
	SuccessRate      float64 `json:"successRate"`
	Timestamp        int64  `json:"timestamp"`
}

type ReplayMetrics struct {
	mu           sync.Mutex
	totalRuns    int
	successful   int
	totalLatency int64
}

func (m *ReplayMetrics) RecordRun(latencyMs int64, success bool) {
	m.mu.Lock()
	defer m.mu.Unlock()
	m.totalRuns++
	m.totalLatency += latencyMs
	if success {
		m.successful++
	}
}

func (m *ReplayMetrics) GetSuccessRate() float64 {
	m.mu.Lock()
	defer m.mu.Unlock()
	if m.totalRuns == 0 {
		return 0.0
	}
	return float64(m.successful) / float64(m.totalRuns)
}

func sendWebhookSync(ctx context.Context, webhookURL string, payload WebhookPayload) error {
	body, err := json.Marshal(payload)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("marshal webhook payload: %w", err)
	}

	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "POST", webhookURL, bytes.NewBuffer(body))
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("create webhook request: %w", err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second}
	resp, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("execute webhook request: %w", err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode >= 300 {
		return fmt.Errorf("webhook sync failed: status %d", resp.StatusCode)
	}
	return nil
}

The webhook payload contains execution metrics and success rates. The metrics struct uses mutex protection for concurrent recording. Latency tracking captures the delta between payload submission and result receipt. Audit logging occurs at each pipeline stage via structured log entries.

Complete Working Example

package main

import (
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"log/slog"
	"os"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	ctx := context.Background()
	baseURL := "https://api.cognigy.com"
	webhookURL := "https://test-harness.example.com/webhooks/replay"

	cfg := OAuthConfig{
		BaseURL:      baseURL,
		ClientID:     os.Getenv("COGNIGY_CLIENT_ID"),
		ClientSecret: os.Getenv("COGNIGY_CLIENT_SECRET"),
		GrantType:    "client_credentials",
	}

	tokenCache := NewTokenCache(func() (string, error) {
		return fetchOAuthToken(cfg)
	})

	conversationID := os.Getenv("COGNIGY_CONVERSATION_ID")
	if conversationID == "" {
		slog.Error("COGNIGY_CONVERSATION_ID environment variable not set")
		os.Exit(1)
	}

	metrics := &ReplayMetrics{}
	logger := slog.New(slog.NewJSONHandler(os.Stdout, nil))

	logger.Info("starting replay engine", "conversationId", conversationID)

	logs, err := fetchConversationLogs(ctx, baseURL, conversationID, tokenCache)
	if err != nil {
		logger.Error("failed to fetch logs", "error", err)
		os.Exit(1)
	}

	directive := SimulationDirective{
		Mode:          "simulation",
		SpeedFactor:   1.0,
		ResetState:    true,
		OverrideBranch: false,
	}

	payload := buildReplayPayload(logs, directive)

	constraints, err := fetchAnalyticsConstraints(ctx, baseURL, tokenCache)
	if err != nil {
		logger.Error("failed to fetch constraints", "error", err)
		os.Exit(1)
	}

	if err := validateReplayPayload(payload, constraints); err != nil {
		logger.Error("validation failed", "error", err)
		os.Exit(1)
	}

	startTime := time.Now()
	result, err := executeReplay(ctx, baseURL, payload, tokenCache)
	latency := time.Since(startTime).Milliseconds()

	success := err == nil && result.Status == "completed"
	metrics.RecordRun(latency, success)

	webhookPayload := WebhookPayload{
		ExecutionID: result.ExecutionID,
		Status:      result.Status,
		LatencyMs:   latency,
		SuccessRate: metrics.GetSuccessRate(),
		Timestamp:   time.Now().UnixMilli(),
	}

	if err := sendWebhookSync(ctx, webhookURL, webhookPayload); err != nil {
		logger.Warn("webhook sync failed", "error", err)
	}

	auditLog := map[string]interface{}{
		"event":       "replay_executed",
		"executionId": result.ExecutionID,
		"status":      result.Status,
		"latencyMs":   latency,
		"success":     success,
		"timestamp":   time.Now().UnixMilli(),
	}
	auditJSON, _ := json.Marshal(auditLog)
	logger.Info("audit log generated", "payload", string(auditJSON))

	fmt.Printf("Replay completed: status=%s, duration=%dms, latency=%dms\n", result.Status, result.DurationMs, latency)
}

This script initializes the OAuth cache, fetches logs, validates against constraints, executes the replay, synchronizes with the test harness, records metrics, and generates an audit log. Replace environment variables with your tenant credentials before execution.

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

  • Cause: Expired or invalid OAuth token. The client credentials grant may have been revoked or the token cache returned a stale value.
  • Fix: Force cache invalidation by setting expiresAt to a past time. Verify client_id and client_secret match the registered OAuth application.
  • Code Fix: The TokenCache implementation automatically retries with a fresh token when StatusUnauthorized is detected.

Error: 403 Forbidden

  • Cause: Missing OAuth scope. The replay engine requires replay:execute and logs:read. Analytics validation requires analytics:read.
  • Fix: Update the OAuth application configuration in the Cognigy admin portal. Add the missing scopes to the scope parameter in the token request.
  • Code Fix: Verify the fetchOAuthToken function includes all required scopes in the grant payload.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

  • Cause: Rate limit exceeded on the replay execution endpoint. Cognigy enforces per-tenant and per-endpoint throttling.
  • Fix: Implement exponential backoff. The retryOnRateLimit wrapper handles this automatically. Reduce concurrent replay executions if you scale the pipeline.
  • Code Fix: The retry function waits 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s before retrying. Adjust maxRetries if your tenant allows higher throughput.

Error: 400 Bad Request (Schema Validation)

  • Cause: Replay payload violates analytics constraints. Common triggers include exceeding maxReplayDurationMs, timestamp drift, or disallowed branch paths.
  • Fix: Review the validateReplayPayload output. Trim logs to fit duration limits. Correct timestamp ordering. Verify branch paths against the allowed list.
  • Code Fix: The validation function returns specific error messages indicating the exact index or constraint violated.

Error: 500 Internal Server Error

  • Cause: Server-side processing failure during simulation execution. Usually caused by malformed log matrices or unsupported directive configurations.
  • Fix: Validate JSON structure against Cognigy’s schema. Ensure simulationDirective matches supported modes. Contact Cognigy support if the error persists with valid payloads.
  • Code Fix: Wrap execution in a retry loop with circuit breaker logic if 5xx errors occur repeatedly.

Official References