Updating Participant Attributes Mid-Conversation via the Conversations API

How-To-Articles
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Updating Participant Attributes Mid-Conversation via the Conversations API

What You Will Build

  • A script that identifies an active conversation participant and updates their custom or standard attributes without ending the session.
  • This tutorial uses the Genesys Cloud CX Conversations API (/api/v2/conversations) and the Python SDK.
  • The programming language covered is Python 3.9+.

Prerequisites

  • OAuth Client Type: A Genesys Cloud OAuth Client with client_credentials flow enabled.
  • Required Scopes: conversation:participant:write is mandatory for updating participant data. conversation:read is useful for initial discovery if you do not know the conversation ID.
  • SDK Version: genesys-cloud-purecloud-platform-client version 130.0.0 or later.
  • Runtime: Python 3.9 or higher.
  • Dependencies: genesys-cloud-purecloud-platform-client, python-dotenv (for secure credential management).

Install the dependencies:

pip install genesys-cloud-purecloud-platform-client python-dotenv

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud APIs require a valid OAuth 2.0 access token. For server-to-server integrations, the client_credentials grant type is the standard approach. The SDK handles token caching and automatic refresh, so you only need to configure the client once.

Create a .env file in your project root to store sensitive credentials:

GENESYS_CLOUD_REGION=us-east-1
GENESYS_CLOUD_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_here
GENESYS_CLOUD_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret_here

Initialize the client in your Python script. This setup ensures that every subsequent API call includes the correct Authorization: Bearer <token> header and respects the region endpoint.

import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from platformclientv2 import Configuration, ApiClient, ConversationsApi
from platformclientv2.rest import ApiException

# Load environment variables
load_dotenv()

def get_conversations_api():
    """
    Initializes and returns a configured ConversationsApi client.
    """
    # Define the region endpoint based on environment variable
    region = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLOUD_REGION", "my.genesys.cloud")
    base_url = f"https://{region}.mypurecloud.com"

    # Configure the SDK client
    configuration = Configuration(
        host=base_url,
        client_id=os.getenv("GENESYS_CLOUD_CLIENT_ID"),
        client_secret=os.getenv("GENESYS_CLOUD_CLIENT_SECRET")
    )

    # Initialize the API client with automatic token refresh
    api_client = ApiClient(configuration=configuration)

    # Return the specific API object for Conversations
    return ConversationsApi(api_client)

Implementation

Step 1: Identify the Conversation and Participant

Before updating attributes, you must know the conversationId and the specific participantId you intend to modify. In a production system, this ID is often passed via a callback webhook or stored in your external CRM when the conversation starts.

For this tutorial, we will query the system for an active conversation involving a specific user or queue to demonstrate how to locate the target participant. If you already possess the conversationId and participantId, you may skip directly to Step 2.

We will use the get_conversations_conversation_participant endpoint to fetch the current state of a participant. This confirms the participant is active and retrieves their current attributes dictionary, which is required for the update operation.

OAuth Scope: conversation:read

def get_participant_details(conversations_api, conversation_id, participant_id):
    """
    Fetches the current details of a participant to verify activity and retrieve existing attributes.
    """
    try:
        # Retrieve the participant object
        participant_response = conversations_api.get_conversations_conversation_participant(
            conversation_id=conversation_id,
            participant_id=participant_id
        )
        
        print(f"Found participant: {participant_response.id}")
        print(f"Current state: {participant_response.state}")
        print(f"Current attributes: {participant_response.attributes}")
        
        return participant_response
    except ApiException as e:
        if e.status == 404:
            print(f"Error: Participant {participant_id} not found in conversation {conversation_id}.")
        elif e.status == 401 or e.status == 403:
            print(f"Authentication Error: Check your OAuth scopes. You need 'conversation:read'.")
        else:
            print(f"API Exception: {e}")
        raise

Step 2: Prepare the Attribute Update Payload

The Genesys Cloud Conversations API uses a Patch pattern for updating participants. You do not send the entire participant object. Instead, you send only the fields that require modification.

Key considerations for the payload:

  1. Attributes are a Dictionary: The attributes field is a JSON object. When you send a new attributes object in a PATCH request, it typically replaces the existing attributes object entirely, unless the API specifically supports deep merging for that field (which varies by endpoint version). To be safe, always merge your new attributes with the existing ones fetched in Step 1.
  2. Standard vs. Custom Attributes: You can update standard fields like state (e.g., queued, connected) or custom key-value pairs in attributes.
  3. Data Types: Values in the attributes dictionary must be strings, numbers, booleans, or null. Complex objects are not supported in participant attributes.

OAuth Scope: conversation:participant:write

def prepare_update_payload(existing_attributes, new_attributes):
    """
    Merges new attributes with existing ones to prevent data loss.
    """
    if existing_attributes is None:
        existing_attributes = {}
    
    # Merge dictionaries: existing keys persist unless overwritten by new_attributes
    merged_attributes = {**existing_attributes, **new_attributes}
    
    # Construct the PATCH body
    # We only send the 'attributes' field here. 
    # If you needed to change the state, you would add 'state': 'connected' to this dict.
    patch_body = {
        "attributes": merged_attributes
    }
    
    return patch_body

Step 3: Execute the Update

Use the patch_conversations_conversation_participant method. This sends an HTTP PATCH request to /api/v2/conversations/{conversationId}/participants/{participantId}.

The response will return the updated participant object. Always check the response to confirm the attributes were applied.

def update_participant_attributes(conversations_api, conversation_id, participant_id, patch_body):
    """
    Updates the participant attributes using a PATCH request.
    """
    try:
        # Execute the patch
        updated_participant = conversations_api.patch_conversations_conversation_participant(
            conversation_id=conversation_id,
            participant_id=participant_id,
            body=patch_body
        )
        
        print(f"Successfully updated participant {participant_id}")
        print(f"New attributes: {updated_participant.attributes}")
        return updated_participant
        
    except ApiException as e:
        handle_api_error(e)

Step 4: Error Handling and Idempotency

Updating attributes is an idempotent operation if you control the keys. However, network failures can occur. The following function handles common HTTP errors and provides actionable debugging information.

def handle_api_error(exception):
    """
    Handles standard Genesys Cloud API exceptions.
    """
    status_code = exception.status
    body = exception.body
    
    if status_code == 400:
        print(f"Bad Request: The payload format may be invalid. Body: {body}")
    elif status_code == 401:
        print("Unauthorized: Token may be expired or invalid.")
    elif status_code == 403:
        print("Forbidden: The OAuth client lacks 'conversation:participant:write' scope.")
    elif status_code == 404:
        print("Not Found: The conversation or participant ID does not exist.")
    elif status_code == 409:
        print("Conflict: The participant state may prevent this update (e.g., updating a disconnected participant).")
    elif status_code == 429:
        print("Rate Limited: Too many requests. Implement exponential backoff.")
    else:
        print(f"Unexpected Error {status_code}: {body}")

Complete Working Example

This script combines all steps into a single executable module. It assumes you have a conversation_id and participant_id from an external source (such as a webhook payload).

import os
import sys
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from platformclientv2 import Configuration, ApiClient, ConversationsApi
from platformclientv2.rest import ApiException

# Load environment variables from .env file
load_dotenv()

def initialize_api():
    """Initializes the Genesys Cloud Conversations API client."""
    region = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLOUD_REGION", "my.genesys.cloud")
    base_url = f"https://{region}.mypurecloud.com"
    
    configuration = Configuration(
        host=base_url,
        client_id=os.getenv("GENESYS_CLOUD_CLIENT_ID"),
        client_secret=os.getenv("GENESYS_CLOUD_CLIENT_SECRET")
    )
    
    api_client = ApiClient(configuration=configuration)
    return ConversationsApi(api_client)

def update_participant_attrs(conversation_id, participant_id, custom_attrs):
    """
    Main function to update participant attributes.
    
    Args:
        conversation_id (str): The ID of the active conversation.
        participant_id (str): The ID of the participant to update.
        custom_attrs (dict): Dictionary of new key-value pairs to add/update.
    """
    conversations_api = initialize_api()
    
    # Step 1: Fetch current participant data
    print(f"Fetching current data for participant {participant_id}...")
    try:
        current_participant = conversations_api.get_conversations_conversation_participant(
            conversation_id=conversation_id,
            participant_id=participant_id
        )
    except ApiException as e:
        print(f"Failed to fetch participant: {e}")
        return

    # Verify participant is in an updateable state
    if current_participant.state in ["disconnected", "terminated"]:
        print(f"Warning: Participant is {current_participant.state}. Updates may not be persisted.")

    # Step 2: Merge attributes
    existing_attrs = current_participant.attributes or {}
    merged_attrs = {**existing_attrs, **custom_attrs}
    
    patch_body = {
        "attributes": merged_attrs
    }

    # Step 3: Apply the update
    print(f"Applying attributes: {custom_attrs}")
    try:
        updated_participant = conversations_api.patch_conversations_conversation_participant(
            conversation_id=conversation_id,
            participant_id=participant_id,
            body=patch_body
        )
        
        print("Success. Updated attributes:")
        print(updated_participant.attributes)
        
    except ApiException as e:
        if e.status == 403:
            print("Error: Missing 'conversation:participant:write' scope.")
        elif e.status == 404:
            print("Error: Conversation or Participant not found.")
        else:
            print(f"Error updating participant: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Example Usage
    # Replace these IDs with real values from your environment
    TARGET_CONV_ID = os.getenv("TEST_CONVERSATION_ID")
    TARGET_PART_ID = os.getenv("TEST_PARTICIPANT_ID")
    
    if not TARGET_CONV_ID or not TARGET_PART_ID:
        print("Please set TEST_CONVERSATION_ID and TEST_PARTICIPANT_ID in your .env file.")
        sys.exit(1)

    # Define new attributes to inject
    new_data = {
        "crm_record_id": "12345-ABC",
        "vip_status": "true",
        "last_interaction_type": "webchat"
    }

    update_participant_attrs(TARGET_CONV_ID, TARGET_PART_ID, new_data)

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 403 Forbidden

  • Cause: The OAuth token used does not have the conversation:participant:write scope.
  • Fix: Go to the Genesys Cloud Admin Console → Platform → Applications → OAuth Clients. Edit your client and ensure the conversation:participant:write scope is checked. Regenerate the token.

Error: 400 Bad Request - “Invalid attribute value”

  • Cause: The value provided for an attribute key is not a primitive type (string, number, boolean). JSON objects or arrays are not supported in participant attributes.
  • Fix: Serialize complex objects to a JSON string before sending.
    import json
complex_data = {"order_items": [{"id": 1, "qty": 2}]}
safe_payload = {
    "order_data": json.dumps(complex_data)  # Store as string
}

Error: 409 Conflict

  • Cause: Attempting to update a participant who has already been disconnected or terminated. While you can technically write attributes to a closed conversation for historical record-keeping, some states may reject writes depending on the conversation type.
  • Fix: Check the participant state before writing. If the conversation is closed, consider if the update is necessary for historical analytics. If so, ensure the API version supports post-disconnection updates.

Error: Attributes Not Persisting

  • Cause: The attributes dictionary in the PATCH body was empty or omitted.
  • Fix: Ensure the patch_body explicitly includes the "attributes" key. The API does not merge partial updates of the attributes map automatically if the key is missing; it expects the full new state of the attributes map in the request body.

Official References