Use the ZAF SDK v2 to interact with the Apps framework directly from your iframe. The SDK provides a ZAFClient global object that allows cross-frame communication between your app and the host Zendesk product. For details, see the ZAF Client API doc.

Import the ZAF SDK from https://static.zdassets.com/zendesk_app_framework_sdk/2.0/zaf_sdk.min.js. Example:

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://static.zdassets.com/zendesk_app_framework_sdk/2.0/zaf_sdk.min.js"></script>

Using the URL in your app ensures the SDK is automatically updated with the latest 2.0 patch releases, including any bug fixes. For more information, see Framework Versions.

The get, set and invoke methods of a ZAFClient object provide an interface between your iframe and the framework APIs. Due to the nature of cross-frame communication, every interaction between your iframe and the framework happens asynchronously. get, set and invoke return a JavaScript Promise object with the result of the call.

For ZAF v1 developers moving to v2, see ZAF v2 Basics.

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.get('ticket.requester.name').then(function(data) {
  console.log(data); // { "ticket.requester.name": "Mikkel Svane" }
});

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.set('ticket.type', 'task');

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.invoke('comment.appendText', 'My printer is on fire');

The get, set and invoke methods of ZAFClient support bulk calls.

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.get(['ticket.subject', 'ticket.requester.name']).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data); // { 'ticket.subject': 'Help, my printer is on fire', 'ticket.requester.name': 'Mikkel Svane' }
});

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.set({ 'ticket.subject': 'Printer Overheating Incident', 'ticket.type': 'incident' }).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data); // { 'ticket.subject': 'Printer Overheating Incident', 'ticket.type': 'incident' }
});

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.invoke({
  'ticket.comment.appendText': ['My printer is on fire'],
  'ticketFields:priority.hide': []
});

If an error occurs when calling get, set or invoke with a single path, the promise is rejected with an error. Errors can occur in case the path is invalid or given an invalid argument.

Example:

// invalid path
client.get('nonExistentPath').then(function(data) {
  console.log(data); // never run
}).catch(function(error) {
  console.log(error.toString()); // "APIUnavailable: "nonExistentPath" Could not find handler for: "nonExistentPath"
});

// invalid argument
client.set('ticket.form.id', -1).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data); // never run
}).catch(function(error) {
  console.log(error.toString()); // Error: "ticket.form.id" Invalid Ticket Form ID
});

When making bulk calls, the promise is always resolved. However, if one of the paths is invalid or if the call is given invalid arguments, the framework includes an errors property with the failed paths as keys and their error objects as values.

Example:

// invalid path
client.get(['ticket.subject', 'nonExistentPath']).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data);
  /*
    {
      'ticket.subject': 'Help, my printer is on fire',
      'errors': {
        'nonExistentPath': Error("Could not find handler for: 'nonExistentPath'")
      }
    }
  */
});

// invalid argument
client.set({
  'ticket.subject': 'Printer Overheating Incident',
  'ticket.form.id': -1
}).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data);
  /*
    {
      'ticket.subject': 'Help, my printer is on fire',
      'errors': {
        'ticket.form.id': Error("Invalid Ticket Form ID")
      }
    }
  */
});

For a complete list of available APIs, see the following docs:

• Core Apps API
• Support Apps API
• Chat Apps API

If you worked with ZAF v1, see Feature parity status.

Use the on method of a ZAFClient object to listen for events. For available events, see the listings by location in the following docs:

• Core Apps API
• Support Apps API
• Chat Apps API

Example:

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.on('ticket.updated', function() {
  handleTicketUpdated();
});

If you're familiar with ZAF v1, compare the example to the following v1 example:

events: {
    'ticket.updated': 'handleTicketUpdated',
    // ...
},

Hook events allow your app to hook into product events and block the completion of the event until your app responds.

If your event handler returns a promise, the UI will wait until the promise resolves. Alternatively the event handler can abort the user request by returning false or a string to show as an error message. In the following example, the handler for the ticket.save hook event prevents the user from saving the ticket:

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.on('ticket.save', function() {
  return false;
});

You can register multiple hook events. However, for the event to continue processing (for example, for the ticket save to be committed), all promises returned by the event handlers must be successfully resolved. If any event handler returns a rejected promise, throws an exception, or returns false or a string, the event is aborted. If a string is returned directly or passed with the promise rejection, the string is displayed as an error message in the UI.

Example:

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.on('ticket.save', function() {
  return client.get('ticket.comment.text').then(function(data) {
    return fetch('https://myapi.example.org/is_polite?comment=' + data['ticket.comment.text']).catch(function() {
      throw 'You must be more polite';
    });
  });
});

Hook events have a 30-second timeout period during which your app must respond. Otherwise the event will be aborted by default.

You can make network requests to external servers using whatever JavaScript functions you like, including native XMLHttpRequest and fetch methods in modern browsers.

Use client.request() only if you need to make requests that are:

• To the REST API for the product running your app, or
• Proxied due to cross-domain restrictions, or
• Proxied to interpolate secure settings

Example:

var fetchSelf = {
  url: '/api/v2/users/me.json',
  type: 'GET',
  dataType: 'json'
};
var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.request(fetchSelf).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data);
});

Note: The client.request() method doesn't support uploading and downloading binary files. A workaround is to use JavaScript or jQuery AJAX calls.

If you're familiar with ZAF v1, compare the example to the following v1 example:

requests: {
    fetchSelf: {
      url: '/api/v2/users/me.json',
      type: 'GET',
      dataType: 'json'
    },
    ...
  }
},
...
this.ajax('fetchSelf');

Requests made to the Zendesk API are throttled in the client at the rate of 100 requests per minute per user per app. In addition to client-side throttling, the Zendesk API also has rate limits in the server. If a request is rate-limited in the server, the framework will auto-retry the request after a delay. To disable this behaviour and handle rate-limiting yourself, set the autoRetry option to false in your request options. For more information about rate limits, see Rate limits in the Zendesk REST API docs.

When an app makes AJAX requests, the settings for the request can be viewed in the browser console. Some settings may contain sensitive information such as an API key or token. Secure settings are a way to make settings inaccessible to agents when making AJAX requests. The setting values are only inserted in the outbound request server-side at the proxy layer.

Secure settings only work in requests made with the framework's client.request() method.

• Secure settings don't work with CORS requests made with the client.request() method. The outbound CORS requests bypass the proxy layer, so the secure setting can never be inserted in the request. See Making CORS requests.

• Secure settings don't work if you're testing the app locally using the ZAT server. However, you can install the app as a private app and then use ZAT to make updates to the installed app. You can also run the app locally after installing the app remotely. See Testing an app with secure settings locally.

To successfully make secure requests, the responding server must:

1. Allow requests from the IP address ranges documented in this article.
2. Provide a valid and complete SSL certificate chain. For example, curl https://YOUR-SERVER/ won't fail with SSL errors using a standard set of root certificates such as the Mozilla/Debian bundle published in the Ubuntu packages.

Secure settings are configured in your manifest file. To secure a setting, add a "secure": true property to the parameter that defines your setting. Example:

"parameters": [
  {
    "name": "token",
    "type": "text",
    "secure": true
  },
  ...
]

You also need to define a domainWhitelist property in the manifest file. Only requests to the white-listed domains will work for secure requests. The whitelist prevents attackers from hijacking the secure setting to reroute it to another domain and using it. Non-secure requests aren't affected by the whitelist.

{
  ...
  "domainWhitelist": ["example.com"],
  "parameters": [
    {
      "name": "token",
      "type": "text",
      "secure": true
    },
    ...
  ]
}

Specify only the domain name or names in the array. Don't include "https://". You can also configure the property on a per-installation basis using a regular installation setting. Example:

"domainWhitelist": ["www.teachmyapi.com", "{{setting.subdomain}}.herokuapp.com"],

To secure your HTTP request, replace the sensitive information in the code that defines the request with a {{setting.name}} placeholder, and add a secure: true property. Example:

var settings = {
  url: 'https://www.example.com/api/v2/leads.json',
  headers: {"Authorization": "Bearer {{setting.token}}"},
  secure: true,
  type: 'POST',
  contentType: 'application/json',
  data: JSON.stringify({lead: {name: 'Jay Gatsby', email: 'jgats@example.com'}})
};
var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.request(settings).then(...);

In the example, the bearer token is hidden from agents. All they can see in the console is the placeholder. The token is inserted server-side at the proxy layer.

When the admin installs the app for the first time, they'll be prompted to enter the token value:

Zendesk Support stores the value and inserts it in outgoing requests.

Note: The double-curly-bracket syntax {{setting.token}} works for inserting a secure setting in a request. You can't use the syntax to insert a secure setting elsewhere in your JavaScript code. Use the framework's client.metadata() method to retrieve and insert non-secure settings in your code. See Defining installation settings.

You can make cross-origin HTTP requests for external resources using whatever JavaScript functions you like, including the native XMLHttpRequest and fetch methods in JavaScript.

If you use the App framework's client.request() method, include a cors: true property in the argument object:

var fetchItem = {
  url: 'https://cdn.example.com/items/30',
  cors: true,
  type: 'GET',
  dataType: 'json'
};
var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.request(fetchItem).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data);
});

The App framework's client.request() method supports encoding and sending JSON web tokens (JWT). JWT is a way of encoding and sending information in an HTTP request to be verified by a second party. It's often used for single sign-on authentication. For details, see Anatomy of a JWT request in the Support Help Center.

The information in JWT tokens is not encrypted. It's only digitally signed with the specified secret key. As a result, include only information that's not secret but needs to be verified by the receiving party, such as the names of Zendesk Support users. Don't include any sensitive information such as passwords.

To encode and send a JWT token:

1. Define a jwt object in the options object that configures your request. The options must also include secure:true.
2. Use the {{jwt.token}} placeholder in the same options object, such as in the request url or in an authorization header.
3. Pass the options object to the request() method.

Example:

var options = {
  url: 'https://www.example.com/app',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'JWT {{jwt.token}}'
  },
  contentType: 'application/json',
  secure: true,
  jwt: {
    algorithm: 'HS256',
    secret_key: 'some_shared_secret',
    expiry: 3600,
    claims: {
      iat: 1372113305,
      jti: '8883362531196.326',
      iss: 'some_subdomain',
    }
  },
  type: 'POST',
  dataType: 'json'
};

var client = ZAFClient.init();
client.request(options).then(function(data) {
  console.log(data);
});

You can use secure settings to prevent sensitive data in the token from being accessed by agents in the browser console. Example:

jwt: {
  secret_key: '{{setting.shared_secret}}',
  claims: {
    ...
  }
}

Only Latin-1 (ISO-8859-1) characters are allowed in the token. Non-UTF-8 headers will still be parsed as UTF-8.

A Zendesk proxy server will intercept the outgoing request and replace the {{jwt.token}} placeholder with the encoded token.

Note: The placeholder doesn't work with CORS requests made with the client.request() method because those requests bypass the proxy layer.

A Zendesk app can consist of a web application running on a remote server that generates and serves all the HTML loaded in an iframe in a Zendesk product. No application logic or content is stored in the Zendesk infrastructure. When the app opens in the product, Zendesk must request the initial page from the server-side app. Subsequent page requests to the server usually originate from the iframed app itself.

If you're building a server-side app, one security feature to consider is verifying that an HTTP request for the initial page originates from a legitimate Zendesk product instance.

To help you, Zendesk can include a JSON Web Token (JWT) in the request for the initial page. After receiving the request, your server-side app can check the signed token to validate that the request originated from a legitimate Zendesk product instance. This helps prevent downgrade attacks.

The signed token also contains a number of attributes (known as claims) that your server-side app can use to look up externally stored values associated with your Zendesk Support account.

Zendesk includes the JWT token only in requests for the initial page of the app. This page is specified in the location object in the app's manifest.json file. Example:

"location": {
  "support": {
    "ticket_sidebar": {
      "signed": true,
      "url": "https://myapp.example.org/"
    }
  }
}

This feature is only available for apps that specify a page on a remote server in the location object. It's not available for apps that specify a page hosted on the Zendesk infrastructure, such as "assets/iframe.html".

To get Zendesk to include a JWT token in its request for the initial app page, include one of the following properties in your app's manifest.json file:

• To include a JWT token for the app in all locations, add "signedUrls": true to the top-level manifest object. Example:

  {
    "name": "My App",
    "signedUrls": true,
    "location": { ... },
    ...
  }
  

or

• To include a JWT token for the app only in a specific location, add "signed": true to the named location in the location object. Example:

  "name": "My App",
  "location": {
    "support": {
      "ticket_sidebar": {
        "signed": true,
        "url": "https://myapp.example.org/"
      }
    }
  },
  

Once the JWT token is enabled, Zendesk does the following:

• Changes the request method for the initial page from GET to POST
• Includes the JWT token in a field named token in the POST request's form data

As a result, make sure your server-side app performs the following tasks:

• Handles POST requests for the initial page of the app
• Gets the token from the request's form data
• Validates the JWT token

Zendesk signs the JWT token with RSA using the SHA-256 hash algorithm ("RS256" in RFC7519). Your server-side app should use a JWT client library that supports this signature algorithm. Validating that the JWT algorithm used to encode the token is RS256 helps prevent downgrade attacks. A list of popular JWT libraries is available at jwt.io.

Your JWT library will need a public key to decode the token. You can get your app's public key with the Get App Public Key endpoint in the Zendesk REST API:

https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/apps/{app_id}/public_key.pem

where {subdomain} is the subdomain of your Zendesk Support instance, and {app_id} is the ID of your app. You can get your app id with the List All Apps endpoint:

https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/apps.json

The key is generated when an app is created in Zendesk Support and doesn't change if you update the app later.

Note: You can only get the app's public key if the app has already been created in a Zendesk Support account. So before you can modify your server-side app to validate the JWT token, you must upload the app package (consisting only of the manifest file and any in-product branding assets) to the Zendesk Support instance. (Uploading an app doesn't enable it in the user interface yet.)

The following example shows one way a server-side app can handle the Zendesk JWT token. The Ruby app uses the JWT gem, the Zendesk API client for Ruby, and the Sinatra web framework. The code is explained after the example.

require 'jwt'
require 'sinatra'
require 'zendesk_api'

client = ZendeskAPI::Client.new do |config|
  ## Change these values with your credentials
  config.url = 'https://mysubdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2'
  config.username = 'user@mycompany.com'
  config.password = 'password'
end

app_id = 101 # Set this to your App ID
rsa_public_pem = client.connection.get("apps/#{app_id}/public_key.pem").body
puts "Validating against App ID #{app_id} with public key:"
puts rsa_public_pem
rsa_public = OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.new(rsa_public_pem)

set :protection, except: :frame_options

post '/' do
  decoded_token = JWT.decode params[:token], rsa_public, true, algorithm: 'RS256'
  jwt_claims = decoded_token.first
  user_info = client.connection.get(jwt_claims["sub"]).body
  user_name = user_info["user"]["name"]
  account_url = jwt_claims["iss"]
  "Welcome #{user_name} from #{account_url}!"
end

Note: If running this server-side app locally (example, http://localhost:4567), allow mixed content in your browser by clicking the shield icon on the right (Chrome) or the lock icon on the left (Firefox).

The app performs the following tasks:

1. Creates a REST API client with the Zendesk client for Ruby:

   client = ZendeskAPI::Client.new do |config|
     ...
   end
   

2. Uses the client to make a Zendesk REST API request to get the app's public key:

   rsa_public_pem = client.connection.get("apps/#{app_id}/public_key.pem").body
   

3. Uses a Sinatra url route to handle POST requests for the initial page of the app ('/'):

   post '/' do
     ...
   end
   

4. Gets the token from the request and validates it:

   post '/' do
     decoded_token = JWT.decode params[:token], rsa_public, true, algorithm: 'RS256'
     ...
   

For a Python example, see Secure the app in the "Building a server-side app" tutorial series in the Develop Help Center.

The JWT token contains a number of attributes (known as claims) that your server-side app can use to look up values associated with your Zendesk Support account.

Note: The JWT token does not grant access to any data in the Zendesk product instance apart from that provided in the JWT claims. An external method of authentication (such as username and password, API token, or OAuth) is required to fetch further information from the Zendesk product account, and is outside the scope of this document. For more information, see Security and Authentication in the Zendesk REST API documentation.

App assets hosted by Zendesk have their own unique url. This means apps have their own local storage, which is not shared by other apps.

However, if users have different installations of the same app, the asset url will be the same for the different installations. As a result, it's good practice to scope local storage keys to each installation to prevent conflicts between different installations running on the same browser. Example:

var client = ZAFClient.init();

function setKey(key, val) {
  return client.metadata().then(function(metadata) {
    return localStorage.setKey(metadata.installationId + ":" + key, val);
  });
}

function getKey(key) {
  return client.metadata().then(function(metadata) {
    return localStorage.getKey(metadata.installationId + ":" + key);
  });
}

setKey("username", "agent_extraordinaire");

getKey("username").then(function(username) {
  console.log(username); // agent_extraordinaire
});

The framework makes it possible for your app to interact with another instance of itself running in a different app location via the instances API. For more information, see instances.

The example below demonstrates triggering an event from one instance and listening to it from another. For this example we named the event incoming_call. In your own code, you can choose whatever name is appropriate.

The app in this example must run in the nav_bar and top_bar locations. The manifest would contain a snippet like this:

{
  "location": {
    "support": {
      "nav_bar": "assets/nav_bar.html",
      "top_bar": "assets/top_bar.html"
    }
  }
}

The top bar app runs the following code:

var client = ZAFClient.init();

client.on('incoming_call', function() {
  client.invoke('popover');
});

The nav bar app runs the following code:

var client = ZAFClient.init();

var topBarClientPromise = client.get('instances').then(function(instancesData) {
  var instances = instancesData.instances;
  for (var instanceGuid in instances) {
    if (instances[instanceGuid].location === 'top_bar') {
      return client.instance(instanceGuid);
    }
  }
});

topBarClientPromise.then(function(topBarClient) {
  // trigger an incoming_call event on the top bar
  topBarClient.trigger('incoming_call');
});

You can show an iframe in the modal location using the instances.create API. Modals are currently only available in Zendesk Support.

Note: Apps using the signed urls feature must define the modal location in their manifest, specifying the url to be used.

To open a modal that displays the current Wikipedia home page, use:

var client = ZAFClient.init();

client.invoke('instances.create', {
  location: 'modal',
  url: 'https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page'
}).then(function(modalContext) {
  // The modal is on the screen now!
  var modalClient = client.instance(modalContext['instances.create'][0].instanceGuid);
  modalClient.on('modal.close', function() {
    // The modal has been closed.
  });
});

The Zendesk App Tools (ZAT) includes a local HTTP server that lets you run and test your apps locally.

Secure requests and app requirements don't work when an app is running locally. However, you can install the app as a private app and then use ZAT to make updates to the installed app. For secure settings, you can also run the app locally after installing the app remotely.

1. Use your command-line interface to navigate to the folder containing the app you want to test.

2. Run the following command in the app's folder to start the server:

   $ zat server
   

3. In a browser, navigate to the product page where you specified the app to appear and append ?zat=true to the URL. Example:

   https://subdomain.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/321321?zat=true

4. In your browser's Address bar, click the shield icon on the right (Chrome) or lock icon on the left (Firefox) and agree to load an unsafe script (Chrome) or to disable protection (Firefox).

   Note: Safari has no option to disable protection.

To stop the server, switch to your command-line interface and press Control+C.

After installing an app in Zendesk Support, you can continue making updates to the installed version.

If you uploaded the app manually, you must configure the updates first. See Configuring updates below. If you used the ZAT create command to upload the app, the configuration step is not necessary.

To update an installed app:

1. In your command-line tool, navigate to the app's local root folder. This is the folder that contains your manifest.json file.

2. Run zat update on the command line and enter your Zendesk Support subdomain, username, and password. The username is the email address you use to sign in.

3. After the update is complete, refresh the apps in the user interface.

If you manually uploaded the app, you must create a configuration file in your app's local root directory before you can make updates. This is a one-time requirement.

Note: If you used the ZAT create command to upload the app, the configuration file was created automatically. You can skip this section.

To create the configuration file:

1. Determine the app id by signing in to Zendesk Support as an admin and opening the following page in the same browser, replacing your_subdomain with your own:

   https://your_subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/apps/installations.json

   Locate your app and note the app_id.

2. Add a file named .zat to the root directory of your app.

   Tip: On a Mac, open Terminal, navigate to the app's root directory, and run the following command:

   $ touch .zat

   In Windows, create the file in NotePad with File > Save As.

3. Add the following snippet to the file:

   {
     "subdomain": "your_subdomain",
     "username": "your_username",
     "app_id": 1234
   }
   

   Replace the property values with your own and save the file. The username value is the email address you use to sign in.

If your app uses secure settings, you can keep testing it locally after installing it remotely.

1. Install the app as a private app in Zendesk Support.

2. Navigate to the app's root folder in your command-line tool and start the local ZAT server with an option named app-id:

   $ zat server --app-id=1234
   

   Though named app-id, specify the app's installation id, not the app id. To find it, sign in to your Zendesk Support instance as an admin and open the following page in the same browser, replacing your_subdomain with your own:

   https://your_subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/apps/installations.json

   Locate your installed app and note its id value, not its app_id value.

3. Test the app normally with the local server. See Testing an app locally.

Note: The domainWhitelist of the most recently uploaded zip file will be used, not the value from the manifest file in zat server.