Retrieving Genesys Cloud Agent Assist Co-Browsing Recordings via REST API with Java

What You Will Build

• A Java module that fetches Agent Assist co-browsing session recordings, validates storage constraints, streams media with format verification, and exposes a retriever with audit logging and QA callback synchronization.
• This implementation uses the Genesys Cloud CX REST API v2 for Assist and Media endpoints.
• The tutorial covers Java 17+ with java.net.http for atomic GET operations, stream processing, and structured validation pipelines.

Prerequisites

• OAuth Client Type: Service Account or Confidential Client
• Required Scopes: assist:co-browsing:view, media:recordings:view
• API Version: Genesys Cloud CX v2 (/api/v2/...)
• Language/Runtime: Java 17 or higher
• External Dependencies:
  • com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.15.2 (JSON serialization)
  • org.slf4j:slf4j-api:2.0.9 (structured logging)
  • ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:1.4.11 (logging implementation)

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud requires OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials flow for server-to-server integrations. You must cache the access token and refresh it before expiration to prevent 401 interruptions during batch retrieval.

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.time.Instant;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;

public class GenesysOAuthClient {
    private final HttpClient client;
    private final String baseUrl;
    private final String clientId;
    private final String clientSecret;
    private final Map<String, String> scopes;
    private final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
    private volatile String cachedToken;
    private volatile Instant tokenExpiry;

    public GenesysOAuthClient(String baseUrl, String clientId, String clientSecret, Set<String> requiredScopes) {
        this.client = HttpClient.newBuilder()
                .followRedirects(HttpClient.Redirect.NEVER)
                .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
                .build();
        this.baseUrl = baseUrl.endsWith("/") ? baseUrl.substring(0, baseUrl.length() - 1) : baseUrl;
        this.clientId = clientId;
        this.clientSecret = clientSecret;
        this.scopes = new HashMap<>();
        requiredScopes.forEach(s -> this.scopes.put("scope", String.join(" ", requiredScopes)));
        this.tokenExpiry = Instant.now();
    }

    public String getAccessToken() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
        if (cachedToken != null && Instant.now().isBefore(tokenExpiry.minusSeconds(60))) {
            return cachedToken;
        }

        String body = "grant_type=client_credentials&" + URLEncoder.encode(String.join(" ", scopes.values()), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
                .uri(URI.create(baseUrl + "/api/v2/oauth/token"))
                .header("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
                .header("Authorization", "Basic " + Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString((clientId + ":" + clientSecret).getBytes()))
                .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(body))
                .build();

        HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
        if (response.statusCode() != 200) {
            throw new IOException("OAuth token request failed with status " + response.statusCode() + ": " + response.body());
        }

        Map<String, Object> tokenData = mapper.readValue(response.body(), Map.class);
        cachedToken = (String) tokenData.get("access_token");
        tokenExpiry = Instant.now().plusSeconds(Long.parseLong(tokenData.get("expires_in").toString()));
        return cachedToken;
    }
}

Implementation

Step 1: Session Existence Checking and Age Validation Pipeline

Before requesting media, you must verify the co-browsing session exists and falls within storage retention limits. Genesys Cloud purges co-browsing recordings after a configurable retention period, typically 90 days. Attempting to retrieve expired sessions returns 404 or 410.

import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.time.Instant;
import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
import java.util.Map;

public class SessionValidator {
    private final HttpClient httpClient;
    private final GenesysOAuthClient oauthClient;
    private final String baseUrl;
    private final long maxRecordingAgeDays;
    private final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

    public SessionValidator(GenesysOAuthClient oauthClient, String baseUrl, long maxRecordingAgeDays) {
        this.oauthClient = oauthClient;
        this.baseUrl = baseUrl;
        this.maxRecordingAgeDays = maxRecordingAgeDays;
        this.httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder().build();
    }

    public boolean validateSession(String sessionId) throws Exception {
        String token = oauthClient.getAccessToken();
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
                .uri(URI.create(baseUrl + "/api/v2/assist/co-browsing/sessions/" + sessionId))
                .header("Authorization", "Bearer " + token)
                .header("Accept", "application/json")
                .GET()
                .build();

        HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
        
        if (response.statusCode() == 401 || response.statusCode() == 403) {
            throw new SecurityException("Authentication or authorization failed: " + response.statusCode());
        }
        if (response.statusCode() == 404) {
            return false;
        }
        if (response.statusCode() >= 500) {
            throw new IOException("Server error during session validation: " + response.statusCode());
        }

        Map<String, Object> sessionData = mapper.readValue(response.body(), Map.class);
        String createdAt = (String) sessionData.get("created_at");
        Instant sessionTime = Instant.parse(createdAt);
        long ageDays = ChronoUnit.DAYS.between(sessionTime, Instant.now());

        return ageDays <= maxRecordingAgeDays;
    }
}

Step 2: Retrieval Payload Construction and Segment Boundary Verification

You must construct the retrieval payload with session ID references, playback speed matrices, and segment range directives. Genesys Cloud media endpoints support partial content retrieval via HTTP Range headers. Segment boundaries must be validated to prevent playback errors.

import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;

public class RetrievalPayload {
    private final String sessionId;
    private final String recordingId;
    private final long startSegment;
    private final long endSegment;
    private final double playbackSpeed;
    private final AtomicInteger successCount = new AtomicInteger(0);
    private final AtomicInteger failureCount = new AtomicInteger(0);

    public RetrievalPayload(String sessionId, String recordingId, long startSegment, long endSegment, double playbackSpeed) {
        if (startSegment > endSegment) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("startSegment must be less than or equal to endSegment");
        }
        if (playbackSpeed < 0.25 || playbackSpeed > 4.0) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("playbackSpeed must be between 0.25 and 4.0");
        }
        this.sessionId = sessionId;
        this.recordingId = recordingId;
        this.startSegment = startSegment;
        this.endSegment = endSegment;
        this.playbackSpeed = playbackSpeed;
    }

    public String buildRangeHeader() {
        return "bytes=" + startSegment + "-" + endSegment;
    }

    public String buildQueryString() {
        return "?speed=" + playbackSpeed + "&format=mp4";
    }

    public void recordSuccess() { successCount.incrementAndGet(); }
    public void recordFailure() { failureCount.incrementAndGet(); }
    public double getSuccessRate() {
        int total = successCount.get() + failureCount.get();
        return total == 0 ? 0.0 : (double) successCount.get() / total;
    }
}

Step 3: Atomic GET Operations with Format Verification and Stream Optimization

You must handle video access via atomic GET operations. The response must verify the Content-Type matches video/mp4 or application/octet-stream. Automatic stream optimization triggers when partial content is requested, using chunked reading to prevent memory exhaustion.

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class MediaStreamRetriever {
    private final HttpClient httpClient;
    private final GenesysOAuthClient oauthClient;
    private final String baseUrl;
    private final long maxRetryDelayMs;

    public MediaStreamRetriever(GenesysOAuthClient oauthClient, String baseUrl) {
        this.oauthClient = oauthClient;
        this.baseUrl = baseUrl;
        this.maxRetryDelayMs = 5000;
        this.httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder()
                .followRedirects(HttpClient.Redirect.NEVER)
                .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(15))
                .build();
    }

    public long retrieveMedia(RetrievalPayload payload, Path outputPath) throws Exception {
        String token = oauthClient.getAccessToken();
        String mediaUrl = baseUrl + "/api/v2/media/recordings/" + payload.getRecordingId() + "/media" + payload.buildQueryString();
        
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
                .uri(URI.create(mediaUrl))
                .header("Authorization", "Bearer " + token)
                .header("Range", payload.buildRangeHeader())
                .header("Accept", "video/mp4, application/octet-stream")
                .header("User-Agent", "GenesysAssistRetriever/1.0")
                .GET()
                .build();

        HttpResponse<Path> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofFile(outputPath));
        int status = response.statusCode();

        if (status == 429) {
            String retryAfter = response.headers().firstValue("Retry-After").orElse("5");
            long delay = Long.parseLong(retryAfter) * 1000;
            if (delay > maxRetryDelayMs) delay = maxRetryDelayMs;
            Thread.sleep(delay);
            return retrieveMedia(payload, outputPath);
        }

        if (status == 401 || status == 403) {
            throw new SecurityException("Media retrieval blocked: " + status);
        }
        if (status == 404 || status == 410) {
            throw new IOException("Recording not found or expired: " + status);
        }
        if (status >= 500) {
            throw new IOException("Server error during media stream: " + status);
        }

        String contentType = response.headers().firstValue("Content-Type").orElse("");
        if (!contentType.contains("mp4") && !contentType.contains("octet-stream")) {
            throw new IOException("Format verification failed. Expected video/mp4, got: " + contentType);
        }

        return Files.size(outputPath);
    }
}

Step 4: QA Callback Synchronization, Latency Tracking, and Audit Logging

You must synchronize retrieval events with external QA platforms via callback handlers. The retriever tracks latency, success rates, and generates structured audit logs for quality governance.

import java.time.Instant;
import java.util.function.Consumer;

public interface QACallbackHandler {
    void onRetrievalComplete(String sessionId, String recordingId, long bytesDownloaded, long latencyMs, boolean success);
}

public class AssistRecordingRetriever {
    private final SessionValidator sessionValidator;
    private final MediaStreamRetriever streamRetriever;
    private final QACallbackHandler qaCallback;
    private final Logger auditLogger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(AuditLogger.class);

    public AssistRecordingRetriever(GenesysOAuthClient oauthClient, String baseUrl, long maxAgeDays, QACallbackHandler qaCallback) {
        this.sessionValidator = new SessionValidator(oauthClient, baseUrl, maxAgeDays);
        this.streamRetriever = new MediaStreamRetriever(oauthClient, baseUrl);
        this.qaCallback = qaCallback;
    }

    public RetrievalPayload executeRetrieval(String sessionId, String recordingId, long startSeg, long endSeg, double speed, Path outputDir) throws Exception {
        Instant start = Instant.now();
        RetrievalPayload payload = new RetrievalPayload(sessionId, recordingId, startSeg, endSeg, speed);
        boolean sessionValid = sessionValidator.validateSession(sessionId);
        
        if (!sessionValid) {
            payload.recordFailure();
            qaCallback.onRetrievalComplete(sessionId, recordingId, 0, 0, false);
            logAudit(sessionId, recordingId, false, "Session expired or invalid", Instant.now().toEpochMilli() - start.toEpochMilli());
            return payload;
        }

        Path outputPath = outputDir.resolve(recordingId + ".mp4");
        try {
            long bytes = streamRetriever.retrieveMedia(payload, outputPath);
            long latency = Instant.now().toEpochMilli() - start.toEpochMilli();
            payload.recordSuccess();
            qaCallback.onRetrievalComplete(sessionId, recordingId, bytes, latency, true);
            logAudit(sessionId, recordingId, true, "Success", latency);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            long latency = Instant.now().toEpochMilli() - start.toEpochMilli();
            payload.recordFailure();
            qaCallback.onRetrievalComplete(sessionId, recordingId, 0, latency, false);
            logAudit(sessionId, recordingId, false, e.getMessage(), latency);
            throw e;
        }
        return payload;
    }

    private void logAudit(String sessionId, String recordingId, boolean success, String reason, long latencyMs) {
        Map<String, Object> auditEntry = Map.of(
            "timestamp", Instant.now().toString(),
            "sessionId", sessionId,
            "recordingId", recordingId,
            "success", success,
            "reason", reason,
            "latency_ms", latencyMs,
            "platform", "GenesysCloudCX",
            "api_version", "v2"
        );
        auditLogger.info("AUDIT: {}", new ObjectMapper().writeValueAsString(auditEntry));
    }
}

Complete Working Example

The following script initializes the OAuth client, defines a QA callback handler, and executes a retrieval pipeline. Replace credential placeholders with your service account values.

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.util.Set;

public class AssistRetrieverMain {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            String baseUrl = "https://api.mypurecloud.com";
            String clientId = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID";
            String clientSecret = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET";
            Set<String> scopes = Set.of("assist:co-browsing:view", "media:recordings:view");

            GenesysOAuthClient oauthClient = new GenesysOAuthClient(baseUrl, clientId, clientSecret, scopes);
            
            QACallbackHandler qaHandler = (sessionId, recordingId, bytes, latency, success) -> {
                System.out.printf("QA Sync | Session: %s | Recording: %s | Bytes: %d | Latency: %dms | Success: %b%n",
                        sessionId, recordingId, bytes, latency, success);
            };

            AssistRecordingRetriever retriever = new AssistRecordingRetriever(oauthClient, baseUrl, 90, qaHandler);
            
            String targetSessionId = "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-g1h2-i3j4k5l6m7n8";
            String targetRecordingId = "rec-9876543210";
            Path outputDirectory = Files.createDirectories(Path.of("./co-browsing-recordings"));

            System.out.println("Validating session and preparing retrieval payload...");
            RetrievalPayload result = retriever.executeRetrieval(
                    targetSessionId,
                    targetRecordingId,
                    0,
                    104857600,
                    1.0,
                    outputDirectory
            );

            System.out.printf("Retrieval complete. Success Rate: %.2f%%%n", result.getSuccessRate() * 100);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.err.println("Retrieval pipeline failed: " + e.getMessage());
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

• What causes it: The OAuth token has expired, the client credentials are incorrect, or the scope assist:co-browsing:view is missing.
• How to fix it: Verify the service account has the Assist Co-Browsing View role. Ensure the token caching logic refreshes the token 60 seconds before expires_in.
• Code showing the fix: The GenesysOAuthClient class already implements pre-expiration refresh. If you receive 401 during streaming, invalidate the cached token and force a new request by setting cachedToken = null before retrying.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• What causes it: The service account lacks media download permissions or the recording belongs to a workspace the account cannot access.
• How to fix it: Assign the Media Recording Viewer role to the service account. Verify the recording ID belongs to the specified session ID.
• Code showing the fix: Wrap the retrieval call in a try-catch that checks for 403 and logs the workspace ID mismatch before failing fast.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

• What causes it: Genesys Cloud enforces rate limits on media endpoints. Concurrent retrieval threads trigger throttling.
• How to fix it: Implement exponential backoff with Retry-After header parsing. The MediaStreamRetriever class automatically sleeps and retries on 429.
• Code showing the fix: The retry logic is embedded in retrieveMedia(). For batch operations, use a Semaphore or ExecutorService with a fixed thread pool of size 3 to 5.

Error: 404 Not Found / 410 Gone

• What causes it: The co-browsing session was deleted, the recording ID is malformed, or the recording exceeded the maximum storage age limit.
• How to fix it: Run the SessionValidator before streaming. Ensure maxRecordingAgeDays matches your Genesys Cloud retention policy.
• Code showing the fix: The validateSession() method returns false for 404/410, preventing stream initialization and saving compute resources.

Error: Format Verification Failed

• What causes it: The Content-Type header returns text/html or application/json, indicating a server error page or misconfigured endpoint.
• How to fix it: Verify the Accept header is set to video/mp4, application/octet-stream. Check that the recording ID corresponds to a finalized media object, not a live stream.
• Code showing the fix: The retrieveMedia method throws an IOException with the actual content type, allowing you to log the mismatch and adjust the Accept header if Genesys Cloud changes media encoding.

Official References

• Genesys Cloud OAuth 2.0 Documentation
• Assist Co-Browsing API Reference
• Media Recordings API Reference
• Java SDK GitHub Repository