Azure Communication Identity Client

1.5.0 · active · verified Fri Apr 17

The `azure-communication-identity` library provides client-side functionality for managing user identities and issuing access tokens for Azure Communication Services. It allows applications to create, delete, and manage users, and to generate tokens required for client-side authentication with various communication functionalities like chat and calling. The current version is 1.5.0, and new versions are released regularly as part of the broader Azure SDK for Python, typically every 1-2 months or as features/fixes dictate.

Common errors

```
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'azure.communication.identity'
```
cause The package `azure-communication-identity` is not installed in your Python environment.

fix Run: `pip install azure-communication-identity`
```
AttributeError: 'CommunicationIdentityClient' object has no attribute 'issue_token'
```
cause The method `issue_token` was renamed to `get_token` in version 1.3.0.

fix Update your code to use `client.get_token(user, scopes=[...])` instead of `client.issue_token(...)`.
```
ValueError: Connection string is not in valid format.
```
cause The provided connection string is malformed or missing required components like 'endpoint' or 'accesskey'.

fix Double-check your `COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING` environment variable or hardcoded string against the format `endpoint=https://<your-resource>.communication.azure.com/;accesskey=<your-access-key>`.
```
ImportError: cannot import name 'CommunicationTokenScope' from 'azure.communication.identity'
```
cause Starting from version 1.4.0, `CommunicationTokenScope` was moved to the `models` submodule.

fix Change your import statement to `from azure.communication.identity.models import CommunicationTokenScope`.

Warnings

breaking The client class name changed from `CommunicationUserTokenClient` (in preview versions) to `CommunicationIdentityClient`.
Fix: Update your code to use `from azure.communication.identity import CommunicationIdentityClient` and instantiate this class.
breaking The method for issuing tokens was renamed from `issue_token` to `get_token`.
Fix: Replace calls to `client.issue_token(...)` with `client.get_token(...)`.
breaking The `CommunicationTokenScope` enum moved from the main package namespace to the `models` submodule.
Fix: Update your import statement from `from azure.communication.identity import CommunicationTokenScope` to `from azure.communication.identity.models import CommunicationTokenScope`.
gotcha Azure Communication Service identities incur costs. Ensure you delete identities when they are no longer needed to avoid unexpected charges.
Fix: Implement proper lifecycle management, including calling `client.delete_user(user)` when an identity is no longer required.
gotcha The connection string format must be exact: `endpoint=https://<your-resource>.communication.azure.com/;accesskey=<your-access-key>`. Missing parts or incorrect delimiters will lead to authentication errors.
Fix: Verify the connection string obtained from the Azure portal, ensuring both 'endpoint=' and 'accesskey=' components are present and correctly formatted.

Install

pip install azure-communication-identity Install stable version

Imports

CommunicationIdentityClient

from azure.communication.identity import CommunicationIdentityClient

CommunicationTokenScope

wrong:

from azure.communication.identity import CommunicationTokenScope

correct:

from azure.communication.identity.models import CommunicationTokenScope

Starting from version 1.4.0, CommunicationTokenScope was moved to the `models` submodule.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to initialize the `CommunicationIdentityClient`, create a new user identity, and issue an access token for that identity with specific scopes (e.g., chat and VoIP). It requires the `COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING` environment variable to be set, containing your Azure Communication Services resource's endpoint and access key. Identities incur costs, so consider deleting them after use if they are temporary.

import os
from azure.communication.identity import CommunicationIdentityClient
from azure.communication.identity.models import CommunicationTokenScope

# Set the COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING environment variable
# Example: 'endpoint=https://<your-resource>.communication.azure.com/;accesskey=<your-access-key>'
connection_string = os.environ.get(
    "COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING",
    "endpoint=https://<your-resource>.communication.azure.com/;accesskey=<your-access-key>"
)

if "endpoint=" not in connection_string or "accesskey=" not in connection_string:
    print("Error: COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING not set or invalid.")
    print("Please ensure it contains 'endpoint=' and 'accesskey='.")
    exit(1)

try:
    client = CommunicationIdentityClient.from_connection_string(connection_string)
    print("CommunicationIdentityClient initialized.")

    # Create a new identity
    user = client.create_user()
    print(f"Created identity with ID: {user.communication_user_id}")

    # Issue an access token for the identity
    token_response = client.get_token(
        user, 
        scopes=[CommunicationTokenScope.CHAT, CommunicationTokenScope.VOIP]
    )
    print(f"Issued token (partial): {token_response.token[:10]}...{token_response.token[-10:]}")
    print(f"Token expires on: {token_response.expires_on}")

    # Clean up: Delete the created identity (optional, but good for cost management)
    # client.delete_user(user)
    # print(f"Deleted identity: {user.communication_user_id}")

except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

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