Sending Messages via Genesys Cloud Conversation API with Go

What You Will Build

• This tutorial delivers a production-grade Go module that constructs, validates, sends, and tracks Genesys Cloud messages using the Conversations API.
• The implementation leverages the official platform-client-go SDK alongside raw HTTP transport for polling, retry logic, and batch synchronization.
• The code covers Go 1.21+ with structured logging, idempotency headers, async delivery polling, SLA tracking, HMAC audit trails, and a deterministic test simulator.

Prerequisites

• OAuth2 Client Credentials grant with scopes: conversation:send, conversation:read, authorization:read
• Genesys Cloud platform-client-go SDK v1.30.0 or higher
• Go 1.21+ runtime
• External dependencies: github.com/MyPureCloud/platform-client-go, golang.org/x/time/rate
• Active Genesys Cloud environment with a valid orgId and environmentId

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud requires OAuth2 bearer tokens for all API calls. The following implementation caches tokens, handles expiration, and implements retry logic for 429 Too Many Requests.

package main

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

	"github.com/MyPureCloud/platform-client-go"
	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
)

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

type AuthClient struct {
	Endpoint string
	ClientID string
	Secret   string
	Scopes   string
	transport *http.Transport
	client    *http.Client
	mu        sync.RWMutex
	token     string
	expires   time.Time
	limiter   *rate.Limiter
}

func NewAuthClient(endpoint, clientID, secret, scopes string) *AuthClient {
	return &AuthClient{
		Endpoint: endpoint,
		ClientID: clientID,
		Secret:   secret,
		Scopes:   scopes,
		transport: &http.Transport{
			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{MinVersion: tls.VersionTLS12},
			MaxIdleConns:    100,
			MaxIdleConnsPerHost: 100,
			IdleConnTimeout:     90 * time.Second,
		},
		client:  &http.Client{Timeout: 15 * time.Second, Transport: &RetryTransport{base: &http.Transport{}}},
		limiter: rate.NewLimiter(rate.Every(100*time.Millisecond), 10),
	}
}

func (a *AuthClient) GetToken(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
	a.mu.RLock()
	if time.Now().Before(a.expires.Add(-30 * time.Second)) {
		token := a.token
		a.mu.RUnlock()
		return token, nil
	}
	a.mu.RUnlock()

	a.mu.Lock()
	defer a.mu.Unlock()
	if time.Now().Before(a.expires.Add(-30 * time.Second)) {
		return a.token, nil
	}

	payload := fmt.Sprintf(
		"grant_type=client_credentials&client_id=%s&client_secret=%s&scope=%s",
		a.ClientID, a.Secret, a.Scopes,
	)
	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, a.Endpoint+"/oauth/token", bytes.NewBufferString(payload))
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to build auth request: %w", err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")

	resp, err := a.client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("auth request failed: %w", err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

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

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

	a.token = tr.AccessToken
	a.expires = time.Now().Add(time.Duration(tr.ExpiresIn) * time.Second)
	return a.token, nil
}

type RetryTransport struct {
	base http.RoundTripper
}

func (rt *RetryTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(req.Context(), 10*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	for attempt := 0; attempt < 3; attempt++ {
		resp, err := rt.base.RoundTrip(req)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusTooManyRequests {
			return resp, err
		}
		backoff := time.Duration(1<<uint(attempt)) * 500 * time.Millisecond
		select {
		case <-ctx.Done():
			return nil, ctx.Err()
		case <-time.After(backoff):
		}
	}
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("max retries exceeded for 429")
}

OAuth Scopes Required: conversation:send, conversation:read
HTTP Cycle: POST /oauth/token returns 200 OK with access_token, expires_in, and token_type. The RetryTransport catches 429 responses and applies exponential backoff before retrying.

Implementation

Step 1: Initialize the Platform Client and Configure HTTP Transport

The official Go SDK requires a configuration object bound to your region. You must inject the token retriever to keep credentials fresh across long-running processes.

func InitGenesysClient(region string, auth *AuthClient) (*platformclientv2.Configuration, error) {
	config := platformclientv2.NewConfiguration()
	config.BasePath = fmt.Sprintf("https://%s.mypurecloud.com", region)
	config.SetTokenProvider(func() (string, error) {
		return auth.GetToken(context.Background())
	})
	return config, nil
}

Step 2: Construct Message Payloads with Content Types and Attachments

Genesys Cloud accepts structured message objects with explicit content types. The payload must declare from, to, content, and optional attachments. Attachments require a type, filename, and either a content (base64) or url.

type MessagePayload struct {
	From       string      `json:"from"`
	To         []string    `json:"to"`
	Type       string      `json:"type"`
	Content    interface{} `json:"content"`
	Attachments []struct {
		Type     string `json:"type"`
		Filename string `json:"filename"`
		Content  string `json:"content,omitempty"`
		URL      string `json:"url,omitempty"`
	} `json:"attachments,omitempty"`
}

func BuildMessage(sender string, recipients []string, contentType string, body interface{}, attachments []struct {
	Type string `json:"type"`
	Filename string `json:"filename"`
	Content string `json:"content,omitempty"`
	URL string `json:"url,omitempty"`
}) MessagePayload {
	return MessagePayload{
		From:        sender,
		To:          recipients,
		Type:        contentType,
		Content:     body,
		Attachments: attachments,
	}
}

Expected Request Body:

{
  "from": "agent@genesys.cloud",
  "to": ["customer@example.com"],
  "type": "text/html",
  "content": "<p>Order confirmation received.</p>",
  "attachments": [
    {"type": "application/pdf", "filename": "invoice.pdf", "url": "https://cdn.example.com/docs/inv-8821.pdf"}
  ]
}

Step 3: Validate Permissions Against Participant Roles and Channel Constraints

Before transmission, you must verify that the sender holds the correct role and that the channel supports the requested content type. SMS channels reject HTML and limit attachment sizes. The following function fetches conversation metadata and enforces constraints.

func ValidateMessageConstraints(config *platformclientv2.Configuration, conversationID string, payload MessagePayload) error {
	conversationsAPI := platformclientv2.NewConversationsApi(config)
	ctx := context.Background()

	conversation, _, err := conversationsAPI.GetConversation(ctx, conversationID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch conversation: %w", err)
	}

	if conversation.ChannelType == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("channel type undefined")
	}

	channel := *conversation.ChannelType
	if channel == "sms" {
		if payload.Type == "text/html" {
			return fmt.Errorf("html content is not supported on sms channels")
		}
		for _, att := range payload.Attachments {
			if len(att.Content) > 1024*1024 {
				return fmt.Errorf("sms attachments must not exceed 1mb")
			}
		}
	}

	for _, participant := range conversation.Participants {
		if participant.From != nil && participant.From.ID != nil && *participant.From.ID == payload.From {
			if participant.Role == nil || *participant.Role != "agent" {
				return fmt.Errorf("sender lacks agent role for outbound messaging")
			}
		}
	}

	return nil
}

OAuth Scope Required: conversation:read
Error Handling: Returns descriptive errors for unsupported channels, oversized attachments, or invalid participant roles. The SDK call GetConversation maps to GET /api/v2/conversations/{conversationId}.

Step 4: Send Messages with Deduplication and Async Polling

Idempotency prevents duplicate deliveries during network retries. Genesys Cloud honors the X-Genesys-Client-Id header. After sending, you must poll the conversation endpoint to confirm delivery status.

func SendAndPollMessage(config *platformclientv2.Configuration, conversationID string, payload MessagePayload, clientID string) (string, error) {
	conversationsAPI := platformclientv2.NewConversationsApi(config)
	ctx := context.Background()

	msgReq := platformclientv2.Messagecrequest{}
	msgReq.SetFrom(payload.From)
	msgReq.SetTo(payload.To)
	msgReq.SetType(payload.Type)
	msgReq.SetContent(payload.Content)
	if len(payload.Attachments) > 0 {
		var sdkAttachments []platformclientv2.Attachment
		for _, att := range payload.Attachments {
			sdkAtt := platformclientv2.Attachment{}
			sdkAtt.SetType(att.Type)
			sdkAtt.SetFilename(att.Filename)
			if att.Content != "" {
				sdkAtt.SetContent(att.Content)
			}
			if att.URL != "" {
				sdkAtt.SetUrl(att.URL)
			}
			sdkAttachments = append(sdkAttachments, sdkAtt)
		}
		msgReq.SetAttachments(sdkAttachments)
	}

	req := conversationsAPI.PostConversationsConversationIdMessagesReq(config, conversationID, msgReq)
	req = req.Header("X-Genesys-Client-Id", clientID)

	resp, _, err := conversationsAPI.PostConversationsConversationIdMessagesExecute(req)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("send failed: %w", err)
	}

	if resp.Status == nil || *resp.Status != "queued" {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("unexpected initial status: %v", resp.Status)
	}

	// Async polling for delivery confirmation
	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
		conversation, _, err := conversationsAPI.GetConversation(ctx, conversationID)
		if err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("poll failed: %w", err)
		}

		for _, msg := range conversation.Messages {
			if msg.ID != nil && *msg.ID == *resp.ID {
				if msg.Status != nil && (*msg.Status == "delivered" || *msg.Status == "read") {
					return *resp.ID, nil
				}
			}
		}
	}

	return *resp.ID, fmt.Errorf("timeout waiting for delivery confirmation")
}

OAuth Scope Required: conversation:send
HTTP Cycle: POST /api/v2/conversations/{conversationId}/messages returns 202 Accepted with a message ID and initial status queued. The polling loop calls GET /api/v2/conversations/{conversationId} until status transitions to delivered or read.

Step 5: Track Delivery Receipts for SLA Compliance

SLA compliance requires timestamp comparison between message creation and delivery. The following function calculates elapsed time and flags violations.

type SLAReport struct {
	MessageID      string
	CreatedAt      time.Time
	DeliveredAt    time.Time
	ElapsedTimeSec float64
	MeetsSLA       bool
	SLAThreshold   float64
}

func EvaluateSLA(config *platformclientv2.Configuration, conversationID, messageID string, thresholdSec float64) (SLAReport, error) {
	conversationsAPI := platformclientv2.NewConversationsApi(config)
	ctx := context.Background()

	conversation, _, err := conversationsAPI.GetConversation(ctx, conversationID)
	if err != nil {
		return SLAReport{}, err
	}

	var created, delivered time.Time
	for _, msg := range conversation.Messages {
		if msg.ID != nil && *msg.ID == messageID {
			if msg.CreatedTimestamp != nil {
				created = *msg.CreatedTimestamp
			}
			if msg.StatusTimestamps != nil && msg.StatusTimestamps.Delivered != nil {
				delivered = *msg.StatusTimestamps.Delivered
			}
			break
		}
	}

	if created.IsZero() {
		return SLAReport{}, fmt.Errorf("missing created timestamp")
	}

	elapsed := 0.0
	meetsSLA := true
	if !delivered.IsZero() {
		elapsed = delivered.Sub(created).Seconds()
		meetsSLA = elapsed <= thresholdSec
	}

	return SLAReport{
		MessageID:      messageID,
		CreatedAt:      created,
		DeliveredAt:    delivered,
		ElapsedTimeSec: elapsed,
		MeetsSLA:       meetsSLA,
		SLAThreshold:   thresholdSec,
	}, nil
}

Step 6: Synchronize State and Generate Audit Trails via Batch Jobs

External logging requires async batching to avoid blocking the main send pipeline. This implementation uses a buffered channel, a worker goroutine, and HMAC-SHA256 signatures for tamper-evident audit trails.

type AuditEntry struct {
	Timestamp   time.Time `json:"timestamp"`
	MessageID   string    `json:"message_id"`
	Sender      string    `json:"sender"`
	Receiver    string    `json:"receiver"`
	Status      string    `json:"status"`
	ElapsedTime float64   `json:"elapsed_seconds"`
	SLAViolation bool     `json:"sla_violation"`
}

type BatchSyncer struct {
	entries    chan AuditEntry
	secret     []byte
	endpoint   string
	client     *http.Client
}

func NewBatchSyncer(endpoint string, secret string) *BatchSyncer {
	return &BatchSyncer{
		entries:  make(chan AuditEntry, 1000),
		secret:   []byte(secret),
		endpoint: endpoint,
		client:   &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second},
	}
}

func (b *BatchSyncer) Start() {
	go func() {
		var batch []AuditEntry
		ticker := time.NewTicker(5 * time.Second)
		defer ticker.Stop()

		for {
			select {
			case entry := <-b.entries:
				batch = append(batch, entry)
				if len(batch) >= 50 {
					b.flushBatch(batch)
					batch = nil
				}
			case <-ticker.C:
				if len(batch) > 0 {
					b.flushBatch(batch)
					batch = nil
				}
			}
		}
	}()
}

func (b *BatchSyncer) flushBatch(batch []AuditEntry) {
	payload, err := json.Marshal(batch)
	if err != nil {
		log.Printf("batch marshal failed: %v", err)
		return
	}

	h := hmac.New(sha256.New, b.secret)
	h.Write(payload)
	signature := hex.EncodeToString(h.Sum(nil))

	req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, b.endpoint, bytes.NewReader(payload))
	if err != nil {
		log.Printf("batch request build failed: %v", err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Set("X-Audit-Signature", signature)

	resp, err := b.client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		log.Printf("batch sync failed: %v", err)
		return
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	if resp.StatusCode >= 400 {
		log.Printf("batch sync returned %d", resp.StatusCode)
	}
}

func (b *BatchSyncer) Push(entry AuditEntry) {
	b.entries <- entry
}

Step 7: Expose a Message Simulator for Conversation Testing

The simulator generates deterministic test messages with randomized content types and attachment references. This enables load testing without external dependencies.

type MessageSimulator struct {
	seed int64
}

func NewMessageSimulator(seed int64) *MessageSimulator {
	return &MessageSimulator{seed: seed}
}

func (s *MessageSimulator) GenerateTestMessage(conversationID, sender string) MessagePayload {
	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(s.seed))
	contentTypes := []string{"text/plain", "text/html", "application/json"}
	attTypes := []string{"image/png", "application/pdf"}

	ct := contentTypes[rng.Intn(len(contentTypes))]
	var body interface{}
	switch ct {
	case "text/plain":
		body = fmt.Sprintf("Test message %d", rng.Intn(10000))
	case "text/html":
		body = fmt.Sprintf("<p>Test message %d</p>", rng.Intn(10000))
	default:
		body = map[string]string{"event": "test", "seq": fmt.Sprintf("%d", rng.Intn(10000))}
	}

	var attachments []struct {
		Type     string `json:"type"`
		Filename string `json:"filename"`
		Content  string `json:"content,omitempty"`
		URL      string `json:"url,omitempty"`
	}

	if rng.Float32() > 0.5 {
		attType := attTypes[rng.Intn(len(attTypes))]
		attachments = append(attachments, struct {
			Type     string `json:"type"`
			Filename string `json:"filename"`
			Content  string `json:"content,omitempty"`
			URL      string `json:"url,omitempty"`
		}{
			Type:     attType,
			Filename: fmt.Sprintf("test-%d.%s", rng.Intn(999), attType),
			URL:      "https://cdn.example.com/test-assets/placeholder",
		})
	}

	return BuildMessage(sender, []string{"test@genesys.cloud"}, ct, body, attachments)
}

Complete Working Example

The following module combines authentication, validation, sending, polling, SLA tracking, batch synchronization, and simulation into a single executable workflow.

package main

import (
	"context"
	"crypto/hmac"
	"crypto/sha256"
	"encoding/hex"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"math/rand"
	"time"

	"github.com/MyPureCloud/platform-client-go"
)

func main() {
	// 1. Authentication
	auth := NewAuthClient("https://api.us-east-1", "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET", "conversation:send conversation:read")
	token, err := auth.GetToken(context.Background())
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Auth failed: %v", err)
	}
	fmt.Printf("Token acquired: %s\n", token[:10]+"...")

	// 2. SDK Initialization
	config, err := InitGenesysClient("api.us-east-1", auth)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Config failed: %v", err)
	}

	// 3. Batch Syncer
	syncer := NewBatchSyncer("https://logs.internal/api/v1/audit", "hmac-secret-key-32-bytes-long")
	syncer.Start()

	// 4. Simulator & Send Loop
	sim := NewMessageSimulator(42)
	conversationID := "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
	sender := "agent@genesys.cloud"

	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
		payload := sim.GenerateTestMessage(conversationID, sender)
		
		// Validate constraints
		if err := ValidateMessageConstraints(config, conversationID, payload); err != nil {
			log.Printf("Validation failed: %v", err)
			continue
		}

		// Deduplication ID
		clientID := fmt.Sprintf("cli-%d-%d", time.Now().UnixNano(), i)

		// Send & Poll
		msgID, err := SendAndPollMessage(config, conversationID, payload, clientID)
		if err != nil {
			log.Printf("Send/poll failed: %v", err)
			continue
		}

		// SLA Check
		sla, err := EvaluateSLA(config, conversationID, msgID, 10.0)
		if err != nil {
			log.Printf("SLA evaluation failed: %v", err)
			continue
		}

		// Push to audit batch
		syncer.Push(AuditEntry{
			Timestamp:    time.Now(),
			MessageID:    msgID,
			Sender:       sender,
			Receiver:     payload.To[0],
			Status:       "delivered",
			ElapsedTime:  sla.ElapsedTimeSec,
			SLAViolation: !sla.MeetsSLA,
		})

		fmt.Printf("Sent %s | SLA: %.2fs | Violation: %v\n", msgID, sla.ElapsedTimeSec, !sla.MeetsSLA)
		time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
	}
}

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

• Cause: Expired OAuth token or missing conversation:send scope.
• Fix: Verify the token provider refreshes tokens before expiration. Ensure the client credentials grant includes conversation:send and conversation:read.
• Code Fix: The AuthClient.GetToken method checks expires minus 30 seconds and re-fetches automatically.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• Cause: The authenticated user lacks the conversation:send permission or the participant role is not authorized to send on the target channel.
• Fix: Run ValidateMessageConstraints before sending. Verify the from address matches an agent role in the conversation participant list.
• Code Fix: Step 3 explicitly checks participant.Role and channel type constraints.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

• Cause: Exceeding Genesys Cloud rate limits for message creation or polling.
• Fix: Implement exponential backoff. The RetryTransport in the auth client handles 429 responses. Apply the same pattern to SDK HTTP transport or use golang.org/x/time/rate for client-side throttling.
• Code Fix: RetryTransport.RoundTrip retries up to 3 times with 500ms, 1000ms, 2000ms backoff.

Error: 400 Bad Request

• Cause: Invalid payload structure, unsupported content type for the channel, or missing required fields (from, to, type, content).
• Fix: Validate JSON structure against the MessageCreateRequest schema. Ensure SMS channels do not receive text/html payloads. Verify attachment type matches the file extension.
• Code Fix: Step 2 and Step 3 enforce type safety and channel-specific restrictions before transmission.

Error: Timeout Waiting for Delivery

• Cause: The polling loop exhausted attempts before the message status changed to delivered or read.
• Fix: Increase polling attempts or interval. Check network connectivity to Genesys endpoints. Verify the target endpoint supports delivery receipts (some external channels do not report back).
• Code Fix: SendAndPollMessage loops 10 times with 2-second intervals. Adjust the multiplier for production latency profiles.

Official References

• Conversations API v2 Documentation
• Platform Client Go SDK
• OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials Flow
• Message Content Types and Attachments
• Rate Limiting and Retry Guidelines