Search alert limitations

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Developer

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Example

When you enable search alerts in a search page, you should be aware that certain limitations apply to search-tokens.

If you’re using search token authentication in a search page, the Search API always sends email notifications to the first user in the array of userIds of the token with which the user who subscribes to search alert notifications authenticates.

This implies that the name value of the first entry in the array of userIds you specify when creating a search token should always be a valid email address.

This also implies that if you’re using a single search token to authenticate more than one user, only the first user in the array of userIds of that token actually receives email notifications for search alerts to which any other user who authenticates with that token subscribes.

Example

You generate a search token like the following for a single user whose email address is john_doe@example.com:

POST /rest/search/token HTTP/1.1

Host: platform.cloud.coveo.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer MyOAuth2Token

Payload

{
  "userIds": [
    {
      "name": "anonymous@coveo.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "john_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    }
  ]
}

If the user authenticates with this search token and decides to subscribe to certain search alerts, the Search API will send email notification to anonymous@coveo.com, which is probably not the correct address. The user will therefore never receive search alert email notifications.

You generate a search token like the following to authenticate four distinct users:

POST /rest/search/token HTTP/1.1

Host: platform.cloud.coveo.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer MyOAuth2Token

Payload

{
  "userIds": [
    {
      "name": "jane_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "john_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "bob_smith@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "alice_smith@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    }
  ]
}

If the user john_doe@example.com subscribes to certain search alerts, the user jane_doe@example.com will actually receive the email notifications.

Moreover, if the users bob_smith@example.com and alice_smith@example.com also subscribe to certain search alerts, jane_doe@example.com will receive email notifications for those search alerts as well.

If you want search alert email notifications to work properly while still allowing your search tokens to impersonate the anonymous identity, you should generate a {search token} like the following for each user:

POST /rest/search/token HTTP/1.1

Host: platform.cloud.coveo.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer MyOAuth2Token

Payload

{
  "userIds": [
    {
      "name": "john_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "anonymous@coveo.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    }
  ]
}