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OBO Authentication

OBO or On-Behalf-Of authentication allows an authenticated bot + extension app to perform the following operations on behalf of a given user:
List the streams of a given user
Initiate connection requests to and determine connection status with other users
Get the presence state of other connected users
Initiate IMs and MIMs with other users
Send messages and attachments
Set the context user's own presence
For a full list of OBO-Enabled endpoints, click here.
OBO use cases differ from bot use cases in that activities are performed as if end users had initiated actions directly from within Symphony themselves.
For OBO apps, authentication is a two-fold process:
1.The app itself must be authenticated using its RSA public Key. The app authenticates only if it is enabled for the pod and its key is trusted. Upon successful OBO app authentication, the app receives an app sessionToken.
2.The app must request to authenticate on behalf of a particular user, using its app sessionToken. The app authenticates only if it is installed for the user and its app sessionToken is valid. Upon successful OBO user authentication, the app receives the user's sessionToken.
Once the app has obtained the user's sessionToken, it can make REST API calls with this sessionToken to perform activities on behalf of the session user.
OBO App Permissions
Before proceeding, check out the OBO App permissions required for a given workflow:
Category
Permission
Description
On Behalf Of
ACT_AS_USER
Required. This required permission allows an application to act on behalf of a user via any of the other permissions.

Note: This permission does not display to administrators on the Admin Portal because all apps can act on behalf of a user and therefore have the ACT_AS_USER permission by default.
Messaging
SEND_MESSAGES
The application can send messages for the logged-in user.
Messaging
SUPPRESS_MESSAGES
The application can suppress messages for the logged-in user.
Get Connections
GET_USER_CONNECTIONS
The application can get connection requests for the logged-in user.
Send Connections
REQUEST_USER_CONNECTIONS
The application can send connection requests for the logged-in user.
Get Presence
GET_PRESENCE
The application can only get presence for the logged-in user.
Set Presence
SET_PRESENCE
The application can only set presence for the logged-in user.
Primary User Identity
GET_BASIC_USER_INFO
The application can get information about the logged-in user.
Primary Contacts Access
GET_BASIC_CONTACT_INFO
The application can get information about other users through user look-up and search.
List User's Streams
LIST_USER_STREAMS
The application can list the streams in which the logged-in user is a member.
Getting Started
1.In order to perform an OBO operation, you need to first create an extension application manifest bundle.json file and upload to the Pod.
Application Manifest Bundle File Sample:
bundle.json
{
  "applications": [
    {
      "type": "sandbox",
      "id": "hello",
      "name": "Hello World",
      "blurb": "This is a hello world app with a few example extension API invocations!",
      "publisher": "Symphony",
      "url": "https://localhost:4000/controller.html",
      "domain": "localhost",
      "icon": "https://localhost:4000/icon.png"
    }
  ]
}
Parameter
Type
Required
Description
type
String
Required
This field should be set to sandbox, which indicates that this is a standalone app, embedded within Symphony's client.
id
String
Required
The unique identifier for your app. Note: Do not use a colon (:) in this field, or you will receive a 401 Unauthorized error.
name
String
Required
The name of your app, which will be displayed in the Symphony Market.
blurb
String
Optional
Applied for Developer Mode. Field for display in the Symphony Market and Admin Portal.
publisher
String
Optional
The publisher of your app, which will be displayed in the Symphony Market.
url
String
Optional
URL which the pod will call to send pod information to the application
domain
String
Required
The domain for your app, which should match the controller file URL.
icon
String
Optional
An icon for your app (32x32 px), which will be displayed in the Symphony Market.
1.Upload the manifest bundle.json to the Admin Portal -> App Management -> Add Custom App -> Import Application Bundle File
2.Add your App Backend's (Bot) RSA public key in the Authentication section under App Management.
3.Give your Application the following Permissions:
4.ACT_AS_USER
Note: Give your extension application the appropriate permissions corresponding to your OBO workflow. For example, if you Bot will perform an OBO workflow to list a user's streams, grant your application with the LIST_USER_STREAMS permission.
1.Once your App is created, make sure that it is enabled:
2.Admin Portal -> App Settings -> Locate your App and toggle its 'Global Status' to be 'Enabled'
3.Toggle 'Visibility' to be 'Visible'
4.Toggle 'Installation' to be 'Manual'
5.The last step is to make sure that the application is installed for the appropriate users. If the installation is set to 'Manual', make sure end-users install the extension application manually via the Symphony Marketplace. If not, make sure Symphony Admin installs this application on behalf of a given list of users.
Implementing OBO Authentication
The BDK 2.0 makes it super simple to create an OBO based workflow, To do so, simply, simply instantiate an OBO Session in your Bot project. The BDK 2.0 allows you to instantiate your OBO session from a username or user ID.
public class BotApplication {
​
  /** The Logger */
  private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(BotApplication.class);
​
    public static void main(String[] args) throws BdkConfigException, AuthInitializationException, AuthUnauthorizedException, Exception {
​
        // Initialize BDK entry point
        final SymphonyBdk bdk = new SymphonyBdk(loadFromClasspath("/config.yaml"));
​
        final AuthSession oboSessionUsername = bdk.obo("user.name");
        final AuthSession oboSessionUserId = bdk.obo(123456789L);
​
        // finally, start the datafeed read loop
        bdk.datafeed().start();
  }
}
Perform the Intended OBO workflow
In the following code snippet, the Bot authenticates on behalf of a given user and then prints a list of Streams (Type = ROOM) that the user in context is apart of:
public class BotApplication {
​
    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(BotApplication.class);
​
    public static void main(String[] args) throws BdkConfigException, AuthInitializationException, AuthUnauthorizedException, Exception {
​
        // Initialize BDK entry point
        final SymphonyBdk bdk = new SymphonyBdk(loadFromClasspath("/config.yaml"));
​
        final AuthSession oboSessionUsername = bdk.obo("user.name");
​
        // list streams OBO user "user.name"
        List<StreamAttributes> x = bdk.streams().listStreams(oboSessionUsername, new StreamFilter());
        System.out.println(x);
        List<StreamAttributes> y = x.stream()
                .filter(item -> item.getStreamType().getType().toString().equals("ROOM"))
                .collect(Collectors.toList());
        System.out.println(y);
​
        // finally, start the datafeed read loop
        bdk.datafeed().start();
  }
}
​

Last modified 3mo ago

Category	Permission	Description
On Behalf Of	`ACT_AS_USER`	Required. This required permission allows an application to act on behalf of a user via any of the other permissions. Note: This permission does not display to administrators on the Admin Portal because all apps can act on behalf of a user and therefore have the `ACT_AS_USER` permission by default.
Messaging	`SEND_MESSAGES`	The application can send messages for the logged-in user.
Messaging	`SUPPRESS_MESSAGES`	The application can suppress messages for the logged-in user.
Get Connections	`GET_USER_CONNECTIONS`	The application can get connection requests for the logged-in user.
Send Connections	`REQUEST_USER_CONNECTIONS`	The application can send connection requests for the logged-in user.
Get Presence	`GET_PRESENCE`	The application can only get presence for the logged-in user.
Set Presence	`SET_PRESENCE`	The application can only set presence for the logged-in user.
Primary User Identity	`GET_BASIC_USER_INFO`	The application can get information about the logged-in user.
Primary Contacts Access	`GET_BASIC_CONTACT_INFO`	The application can get information about other users through user look-up and search.
List User's Streams	`LIST_USER_STREAMS`	The application can list the streams in which the logged-in user is a member.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
type	String	Required	This field should be set to `sandbox`, which indicates that this is a standalone app, embedded within Symphony's client.
id	String	Required	The unique identifier for your app. Note: Do not use a colon (:) in this field, or you will receive a `401 Unauthorized` error.
name	String	Required	The name of your app, which will be displayed in the Symphony Market.
blurb	String	Optional	Applied for Developer Mode. Field for display in the Symphony Market and Admin Portal.
publisher	String	Optional	The publisher of your app, which will be displayed in the Symphony Market.
url	String	Optional	URL which the pod will call to send pod information to the application
domain	String	Required	The domain for your app, which should match the controller file URL.
icon	String	Optional	An icon for your app (32x32 px), which will be displayed in the Symphony Market.