Does anyone know why custom guest attributes are being stripped during the Web Messaging SDK initialization?
- I’m deploying the Genesys Cloud Web Messaging widget via a Deno Deploy edge function.
- The goal is to pre-populate guest attributes for authenticated users before the chat starts.
- I am using the
genesys.cloud.webmessaging.init method with a configuration object.
- Here is the relevant snippet from my server-side rendering logic:
const config = {
deploymentId: 'my-deployment-id',
region: 'us-east-1',
guest: {
firstName: 'Test',
lastName: 'User',
customAttributes: {
userId: '12345',
tier: 'premium'
}
}
};
window.genesys = window.genesys || [];
window.genesys.push(['init', config]);
- The widget loads correctly, and the chat opens without errors.
- However, when the conversation starts, the
guest.customAttributes are empty in the Genesys Cloud UI.
- I verified the deployment settings allow custom attributes.
- I also tried setting them via
window.genesys.push(['setGuestAttributes', { ... }]) after init, but they still don’t show up in the conversation details.
- Is there a specific schema requirement for the
customAttributes object that I am missing?
- Or is the order of operations incorrect for the SDK initialization sequence?
It’s worth reviewing at the initialization sequence for the Web Messaging SDK. Ensure the guestAttributes are passed within the onInit callback rather than the primary config object to prevent premature stripping. Refer to this support article for details: https://help.nicecxone.com/articles/web-messaging-sdk-attributes.
genesys.cloud.webmessaging.init({
...config,
guestAttributes: {
"user_id": "12345",
"email": "[email protected]"
}
});
Passing attributes in the root config gets stripped during the handshake. The point above is correct about the lifecycle, but injecting them directly into the init payload as shown is the cleanest way to ensure they persist before the session starts.
This seems like a standard SDK lifecycle issue. the suggestion above is on the right track but misses a critical detail about when the attributes are actually bound to the session object. the docs state that “guest attributes must be set after the init callback completes to ensure they are part of the participant object” which means passing them in the root config often results in them being overwritten during the initial handshake.
you need to use the onInit callback to explicitly set them. here is the pattern that works in my studio scripts:
genesys.cloud.webmessaging.init({
// ... your config
}, {
onInit: function(instance) {
instance.setGuestAttributes({
"user_id": "12345",
"email": "[email protected]"
});
}
});
this ensures the attributes are attached to the instance before the first message is sent. if you pass them in the root object, the SDK strips them during validation.
The simplest way to resolve this is to ensure your ApiClient is configured with the correct region endpoint, as the Java SDK documentation states “base path must match the deployment environment,” which often causes attribute stripping when the handshake fails to resolve the correct user context. You need to explicitly set the guest attributes within the onInit callback rather than the initial config object. This aligns with the suggestion above regarding lifecycle timing.
genesys.cloud.webmessaging.init({
...config,
onInit: (session) => {
session.setGuestAttributes({
"user_id": "12345",
"email": "[email protected]"
});
}
});
Passing them in the root payload frequently results in them being overwritten during the initial handshake. The documentation warns that “attributes set prior to session initialization are not guaranteed to persist,” which explains why your previous attempts failed. Ensure the callback executes before any subsequent API calls to guarantee the metadata is bound to the participant object.