A few things to consider when receiving events forwarded by a Data Connector.
Request Contents
Events are delivered to the receiving endpoint as HTTPS POST requests.
Both the headers and body of the incoming request contain information of interest that can be extracted and, depending on the configuration, used to verify the content and origin of the request.
Exploring the request contents
You can use webhook.site to explore the contents of the POST requests. This site will generate a URL that you can point a Data Connector to, and it will display all the relevant details about each request.
Note that using this service will make the events publicly available through the URL generated by that site. We recommend exploring this with emulators in a separate project in DT Studio.
Header
If a signature secret is set in the Data Connector configuration, the following header will be included.
X-Dt-Signature
Includes a JSON Web Token (JWT). Once decoded using the signature secret, it contains all the necessary information to verify the request content and origin.
Note that depending on the framework used to receive the Data Connector events, the header name casing may differ. Some services will force header names to be lower-cased, like x-dt-signature.
Read more about validating the request signature in the Verifying Signed Events section below.
Body
The request body contains three fields, event, labels, and metadata. The following snippet shows an example request body of a touch event for a humidity sensor forwarded by a Data Connector.
Contains metadata about the device that is the source of the event. See the section below for more details.
Event Metadata
Each event has a metadata field that includes details about the device that is the source of the event. The event metadata has the following structure.
Field
Type
Description
deviceId
string
The identifier of the device that published the event.
projectId
string
The identifier of the project the device is in.
deviceType
string
productNumber
string
Note
The structure of the metadata field might change in the future if event types are added that are not published by devices. Make sure to first check event.eventType to make sure it is a known device event before processing the metadata field.
See the code sample below for an example of how to do this.
The event metadata makes it possible to check which device type has published the event, even for event types like touch or networkStatus which are published by many types of devices. This makes it possible to add new devices to a database without having to first look up the device using the REST API.
The metadata also provides a more convenient way to get the deviceId and projectId of the device that published the event, without having to parse the event.targetName field.
Implementing Your Endpoint
In order to receive events from a Data Connector, your server needs to be set up to do the following:
Start listening for incoming requests on the URL specified in the Data Connector's Endpoint URL.
Read the HTTP headers and body, and process the event.
Reply with a 2XX status code in a timely manner. Any response code outside the 2xx range will be considered a failed delivery and will be retried.
If your endpoint fails to reply with status codes in the 2xx range consistently for an extended time period, the Data Connector will eventually be automatically disabled.
This server can be written in any programming language. Example implementations in a selection of languages can be found on the Example Integrations page, as well as in the Verifying Signed Events section on this page.
Regardless of which language is used to implement the server, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Server Configuration
The server needs to be set up to listen for HTTPS POST requests on the URL specified in the Data Connector's Endpoint URL. This endpoint needs to be publicly available and not require any authorization. You can verify that the event originates from DT by following the steps in the Verifying Signed Events section.
The server also needs to be configured with a valid SSL certificate that is issued from one of the root certificates from Mozilla's CA Certificate Program. This will be the case for most certificates (e.g. certificates issued by Let's Encrypt, DigiCert, GlobalSign, etc). Self-signed certificates are not supported.
SSL Certificate Verification
You can verify that you have a valid SSL cert by running curl -v {YOUR_ENDPOINT} in your terminal and look for the string "SSL certificate verify ok".
To verify that your SSL cert is issued by one of the root certs in Mozilla's CA Certificate Program, you can spin up an Alpine docker container locally, and check your SSL cert from that container. Alpine uses the root certs in Mozilla's CA Certificate Program to validate SSL certificates. Run the following commands in your terminal (assuming Docker is installed):
docker run --rm -ti alpine:latest sh
apk --update add ca-certificates curl
curl -v {YOUR_ENDPOINT}
Make sure the "SSL certificate verify ok" string is present in the output
Use ctrl+d to quit the container
To help diagnose any SSL issues, you can use the SSL Server Test from SSL Labs.
Handle Incoming Event
Each event will be delivered to your endpoint separately as individual requests. When processing a request, you should do the following steps:
(Recommended) Verify the integrity of the event, and that it originates from DT (see Verify Signed Events below).
Do something with the event. You might for example put in on a separate queue for later processing (Google Pubsub, Amazon SQS, Azure ServiceBus, etc), write it to a database, or do some other processing.
Respond with a status code in the 2xx range once you've accepted/processed the event.
These steps should all be done in a timely manner, and respond within 10 seconds. If your endpoint takes more than 10 seconds to respond, you run the risk that it will time out and be retried according to the Retry Policy.
If you think there's a possibility that your processing might take more than 10 seconds, prefer to write the event to a separate queue or a database and do the processing at a later point in time.
Handling Duplicates
Every event received by DT Cloud is put in a dedicated, per-Data Connector queue. Messages are removed from this queue once acknowledged, or if the message is older than 12 hours.
A side effect of this delivery guarantee is that, under certain conditions, you may receive duplicates of the same event. While rare, deduplication should be performed on the receiving end by checking event IDs.
Best Practice
Use the included eventId field to check for duplicated events.
Retry policy
Any time a Data Connector does not receive a successful response (HTTP status code 2xx), the event will be retried. If an event has not been successfully acknowledged after 12 hours, it will be discarded.
The retry interval is calculated as an exponential backoff policy, given by
t0⋅2n−1,
where t0 is the initial interval of 8 seconds and n the attempt number. The interval will not exceed 1 hour. For very slow endpoints, the minimum retry interval will be 4x the response time.
The following table shows the retry interval after a given number of delivery attempts:
Attempt
Retry Interval [s]
1
8
2
16
3
32
...
...
9
2048
10
3600
11
3600
Verifying Signed Events
When using a Signature Secret, the X-Dt-Signature header is included and contains a JWT, signed by the Signature Secret. Inside, a checksum of the request body can be found and used to check for tampering.
The following steps sum up the process of verifying the received request at the receiving endpoint.
Extract the signed JWT from the HTTP header X-Dt-Signature of the received request.
Verify the JWT's signature with the signature secret.
Calculate a SHA256 checksum over the entire request body.
Compare the body checksum with the checksum_sha256 field contained in the JWT (there's a checksum field as well that uses SHA1 which is less secure than SHA256, and is kept only for backward compatibility).
If these checksums are identical, you can be certain that the event has not been tampered with and originated from your Data Connector.
# This Python script is built on Flask, docs are available here:
# https://flask.palletsprojects.com/en/2.0.x/quickstart/
import os
import hashlib
import jwt # pip install pyjwt==2.7.0
from flask import Flask, request # pip install Flask==2.3.2
app = Flask(__name__)
# Read environment variable.
SIGNATURE_SECRET = os.environ.get('DT_SIGNATURE_SECRET')
@app.route('/', methods=["POST"])
def data_connector_endpoint():
# Extract the body as a bytestring and the signed JWT.
# We'll use these values to verify the request.
payload = request.get_data()
token = request.headers['x-dt-signature']
# Verify request origin and content integrity.
if not verify_request(payload, token):
return ('Could not verify request.', 400)
# We now know the request came from DT Cloud, and the integrity
# of the body has been verify. We can now handle the event safely.
handle_event(request.get_json())
# Respond with a 200 status code to ack the event. Any states codes
# that are outside the 2xx range will nack the event, meaning it will
# be retried later.
return ('OK', 200)
def verify_request(body, token):
"""
Verifies that the request originated from DT, and that the body
hasn't been modified since it was sent. This is done by verifying
that the checksum field of the JWT token matches the checksum of the
request body, and that the JWT is signed with the signature secret.
"""
# Decode the JWT, and verify that it was signed using the
# signature secret. Also verifies that the algorithm used was HS256.
try:
payload = jwt.decode(token, SIGNATURE_SECRET, algorithms=["HS256"])
except Exception as err:
print(err)
return False
# Verify the request body checksum.
m = hashlib.sha256()
m.update(body)
checksum = m.digest().hex()
if payload["checksum_sha256"] != checksum:
print('Checksum Mismatch')
return False
return True
def handle_event(body):
"""
Processes the event itself. For this example, we will just
decode a touch event, and print out the timestamp, device ID,
and the device type.
"""
# First, check if the event type is one of the event
# types we're expecting.
# As an example, we'll check for touch events here.
if body['event']['eventType'] == 'touch':
# Now that we know this is a device event, we can
# check for the device type and device identifier
# in the event metadata.
device_type = body['metadata']['deviceType']
device_id = body['metadata']['deviceId']
timestamp = body['event']['data']['touch']['updateTime']
print("Got touch event at {} from {} sensor with id {}".format(
timestamp,
device_type,
device_id,
))
# This Python is built on Flask, docs are available here:
# https://flask.palletsprojects.com/en/2.0.x/quickstart/
import os
# pip install dtintegrations==0.5.1
from dtintegrations import data_connector, provider
from flask import Flask, request # pip install Flask==2.3.2
app = Flask(__name__)
# Read environment variable.
DT_SIGNATURE_SECRET = os.getenv('DT_SIGNATURE_SECRET')
@app.route('/', methods=['POST'])
def dataconnector_endpoint():
# Validate and decode the incoming request.
payload = data_connector.HttpPush.from_provider(
request,
provider=provider.FLASK,
secret=DT_SIGNATURE_SECRET,
)
# Print the event data.
handle_event(payload)
# If all is well, return 200 response.
return ('OK', 200)
def handle_event(payload):
"""
Processes the event itself. For this example, we will just
decode a touch event, and print out the timestamp, device ID,
and the device type.
"""
# First, check if the event type is one of the event
# types we're expecting.
# As an example, we'll check for touch events here.
if payload.event.event_type == 'touch':
# Now that we know this is a device event, we can
# check for the device type and device identifier
# in the event metadata.
metadata = payload.get_device_metadata()
if metadata is None:
device_type = metadata.device_type
device_id = metadata.device_id
timestamp = payload.event.data.timestamp
print("Got touch event at {} from {} sensor with id {}".format(
timestamp,
device_type,
device_id,
))
const crypto = require('crypto')
const express = require('express') // npm install express@4.17.2
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken') // npm install jsonwebtoken@8.5.1
// Read environment variable
const signatureSecret = process.env.DT_SIGNATURE_SECRET
// dataConnectorEndpoint receives, validates, and returns a response
// for the forwarded event.
const dataConnectorEndpoint = (req, res) => {
// Validate request origin and content integrity.
let token = req.headers['x-dt-signature']
if (verifyRequest(JSON.stringify(req.body), token) === false) {
res.sendStatus(400)
return
}
// We now know the request came from DT Cloud, and the integrity
// of the body has been verify. We can now handle the event safely.
handleEvent(req.body)
// Respond with a 200 status code to ack the event. Any states codes
// that are outside the 2xx range will nack the event, meaning it will
// be retried later.
res.sendStatus(200);
};
// Verifies that the request originated from DT, and that the body
// hasn't been modified since it was sent. This is done by verifying
// that the checksum field of the JWT token matches the checksum of the
// request body, and that the JWT is signed with the signature secret.
const verifyRequest = (payload, token) => {
// Decode the JWT, and verify that it was signed using the
// signature secret. Also verifies that the algorithm used was HS256.
let decoded
try {
decoded = jwt.verify(token, signatureSecret, { algorithms: "HS256" })
} catch(err) {
console.log(err)
return false
}
// Verify the request body checksum.
const hash = crypto.createHash("sha256")
const checksum = hash.update(payload).digest("hex")
if (checksum !== decoded.checksum_sha256) {
console.log('Checksum Mismatch')
return false
}
return true
}
// handleEvent processes the event itself. For this example,
// we will just decode a touch event, and print out the timestamp,
// device ID, and the device type.
const handleEvent = (payload) => {
// First, check if the event type is one of the event
// types we're expecting.
// As an example, we'll check for touch events here.
switch (payload.event.eventType) {
case 'touch':
// Now that we know this is a device event, we can
// check for the device type and device identifier
// in the event metadata.
const deviceType = payload.metadata.deviceType
const deviceId = payload.metadata.deviceId
const timestamp = payload.event.data.touch.updateTime
console.log(`Received touch event at ${timestamp} from ${deviceType} sensor with id ${deviceId}`)
break
default:
break
}
}
// Sets up a bare-bones server that listens on port 8080, and routes
// all requests to the path "/" to the `dataConnectorEndpoint` function
const app = express()
app.use(express.json())
app.listen(8080)
app.post('/', dataConnectorEndpoint)
package main
import (
"crypto/sha256"
"encoding/hex"
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"io/ioutil"
"net/http"
"os"
// go get github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5@v5.0.0
jwt "github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5"
)
// Read environment variable
var signatureSecret = os.Getenv("DT_SIGNATURE_SECRET")
// DataConnectorEndpoint receives, validates, and returns a response
// for the forwarded event.
func DataConnectorEndpoint(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
// Extract the body and the signed JWT.
// We'll use these values to verify the request.
tokenString := r.Header.Get("x-dt-signature")
bodyBytes, err := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
if err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
return
}
// Validate request origin and content integrity.
if err := verifyRequest(bodyBytes, tokenString); err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
return
}
// We now know the request came from DT Cloud, and the integrity
// of the body has been verify. We can now handle the event safely.
if err := handleEvent(bodyBytes); err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
return
}
// Respond with a 200 status code to ack the event. Any states codes
// that are outside the 2xx range will nack the event, meaning it
// will be retried later.
w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
_, _ = w.Write([]byte("OK"))
}
// verifyRequest verifies that the request originated from DT, and that
// the body hasn't been modified since it was sent. This is done by
// verifying that the checksum field of the JWT token matches the checksum
// of the request body, and that the JWT is signed with the signature secret.
func verifyRequest(bodyBytes []byte, tokenString string) error {
// Decode the JWT, and verify that it was signed using the
// signature secret. Also verifies the algorithm used to sign the JWT.
token, err := jwt.Parse(
tokenString,
func(token *jwt.Token) (interface{}, error) {
// Return out signature secret to verify that it was used to
// sign the JWT.
return []byte(signatureSecret), nil
},
jwt.WithValidMethods([]string{"HS256"}),
)
if err != nil {
return err
}
// Verify the request body checksum.
sha256Bytes := sha256.Sum256(bodyBytes)
sha256String := hex.EncodeToString(sha256Bytes[:])
claims := token.Claims.(jwt.MapClaims)
if sha256String != claims["checksum_sha256"] {
return fmt.Errorf("Checksum mismatch.")
}
return nil
}
// handleEvent processes the event itself. For this example,
// we will just decode a touch event, and print out the timestamp,
// device ID, and the device type.
func handleEvent(payload []byte) error {
// The structure of the events we'll received from a Data Connector.
type Event struct {
Event struct {
EventId string `json:"eventId"`
EventType string `json:"eventType"`
Data json.RawMessage `json:"data"`
Timestamp string `json:"timestamp"`
} `json:"event"`
Labels map[string]string `json:"labels"`
Metadata map[string]string `json:"metadata"`
}
// The structure of the `Event.Data` field for a touch event.
// We'll be using touch events for this example.
type TouchData struct {
Touch struct {
Timestamp string `json:"updateTime"`
} `json:"touch"`
}
// Decode the event
var event Event
if err := json.Unmarshal(payload, &event); err != nil {
return err
}
// First, check if the event type is one of the event
// types we're expecting.
// As an example, we'll check for touch events here.
switch event.Event.EventType {
case "touch":
// Now that we know this is a touch event, we can decode
// the `Event.Data` field.
var touchData TouchData
err := json.Unmarshal(event.Event.Data, &touchData)
if err != nil {
return err
}
// Also, since we now know this is a device event, we can
// check for the device type and device identifier
// in the event metadata.
deviceType := event.Metadata["deviceType"]
deviceId := event.Metadata["deviceId"]
timestamp := touchData.Touch.Timestamp
fmt.Printf("Received touch event at %s from %s sensor with id %s\n",
timestamp,
deviceType,
deviceId,
)
}
return nil
}
func main() {
// Sets up a bare-bones server that listens on port 8080, and
// routes all requests to the path "/" to the
// `DataConnectorEndpoint` function.
http.HandleFunc("/", DataConnectorEndpoint)
fmt.Println("Started listening on localhost:8080 ...")
if err := http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil); err != nil {
fmt.Printf("Closed with error: %v\n", err)
} else {
fmt.Println("Closed server successfully")
}
}
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Contains event data. See the documentation where the structure is explained in detail for each event type.
Device label key- and value pairs included by the Data Connector. See the page for details about including labels.
