JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) can be used for automatic authentication when using the Agent JS API and/or IFrame embeds. For example, adding a JSON Web Token (JWT) as a query parameter allows the IFrame embed to load with the specified user already logged in.
There's no need to create the specified user ahead of time - this is all done automatically through use of JWTs.
Generate the JWT
The JWT is a token that carries information about which account it is, and who the specified user is. It is cryptographically signed by a RS256 private key on your backend. You will share with us the associated public key in your account settings so that we can verify the request is from you and auto-authenticate the specified user to your account.
Want to know more about JWTs? See https://jwt.io/ for the standard, open source libraries and more!
The JWT you create and sign should contain the following claims:
Claim
Description
Example
iat
Issued at time - this should be the time you created the JWT.
1527496190
exp
Expiry time - after this time we won't accept this JWT any more. How long JWTs you create last for is up to you, but we would recommend expiring them no more than a day after creation for security puposes.
1527582590
aud
Audience - must always be https://cobrowse.io.
iss
Issuer - Should be the License Key for your Cobrowse account which can be found at account settings.
j6ZCJL61wJ
sub
Subject - The email of the support agent that you'd like to auto-authenticate. User will be automatically created if it does not yet exist.
We recorded a video showing the complete steps to generate a RS256 private key, use it to sign a JSON object with the required claims, and use it as a query parameter to automatically authenticate the specified user. Hope it is helpful! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm8AYUfH9hw
We also recorded a video showing how to use the JWT Policy claim to restrict the scope of the JWT to a filtered set of devices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCNEtzMv5U0