Sumsub — WebSDK integration

Embed Sumsub KYC into a web project end-to-end, from level creation to the "applicantReviewed" webhook that gates user access.

⚠️ Sandbox tokens only

Do not accept or use a production App Token / secret during integration work with this skill. The token generates real SDK sessions tied to real applicants. Insist on a sandbox pair from https://cockpit.sumsub.com/checkus/home?sbx=true — Connect Sumsub to your AI agent -> Build & configure -> Generate token. Token + secret are revealed once at creation; copy both before closing the dialog. Helper scripts in sibling skills enforce this with an sbx: prefix check; the curl recipes below assume the same.

Deeper auth mechanics: sumsub-api-auth.

The lifecycle in one picture

 ┌─────────────────────────┐
 │ 1. Level exists in the   │  ← one-time, done in dashboard or
 │    workspace              │     via sumsub-create-level
 └─────────────┬───────────┘
               │ levelName
 ┌─────────────▼───────────┐  ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
 │ 2. Server-side token     │◀─┤ Browser calls /api/sumsub/token │
 │    endpoint (HMAC-signed │  └──────────────────────────────────┘
 │    POST /resources/      │
 │    accessTokens)         │
 └─────────────┬───────────┘
               │ {token, userId}
 ┌─────────────▼───────────┐
 │ 3. Browser: snsWebSdk    │  ← user fills doc capture / selfie / form
 │    init → build → launch │     events fire: onApplicantSubmitted, etc.
 └─────────────┬───────────┘
               │ documents submitted
 ┌─────────────▼───────────┐  ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
 │ 4. Sumsub runs checks    │─▶│ Webhook POST → your server      │
 │    (async, ~seconds–min) │  │ (applicantReviewed = the truth) │
 └─────────────┬───────────┘  └──────────────────────────────────┘
               │ verdict
 ┌─────────────▼───────────┐
 │ 5. Your app gates access │  ← server checks reviewAnswer, not
 │    by reading applicant  │     the browser. Browser events are
 │    via GET /applicants…  │     UX only.
 └─────────────────────────┘

The split between browser events (UX) and webhooks + server reads (authoritative truth) is the most-missed part of a WebSDK integration. Don't trust onApplicantStatusChanged for entitlement decisions.

Stage 1 — Have a level

Every SDK launch references a levelName that exists in the workspace.

If the user has one (e.g. basic-kyc-level, the Sumsub default), capture it and move to Stage 2.

If the user doesn't yet have a level, brainstorm with them and hand off to sumsub-create-level. Don't silently pick defaults — the level encodes who can verify (country / applicant type) and what they must provide (ID, selfie, PoA, questionnaire). A reasonable starter flow when the user is genuinely unsure:

• APPLICANT_DATA — name, DOB, country, addresses.
• IDENTITY — PASSPORT, ID_CARD, DRIVERS (mode any).
• SELFIE — videoRequired: passiveLiveness.

Add PROOF_OF_RESIDENCE only if regulatory; add QUESTIONNAIRE only if they need structured data (source of funds, occupation). For each addition, ask "what decision does this gate?" before agreeing to include it.

Stage 2 — Server-side access-token endpoint

The SDK needs an access token, generated by your backend with the App Token + secret. The token is short-lived (ttlInSecs, default 1800) and scoped to one (userId, levelName) pair.

Endpoint shape

POST https://api.sumsub.com/resources/accessTokens
  ?userId=<your-stable-user-id>
  &levelName=<level-from-stage-1>
  &ttlInSecs=600

• Body: empty.
• Auth: App Token + HMAC signature (see sumsub-api-auth).
• Response: { "token": "_act-sbx-<...>", "userId": "..." }.

userId choice (load-bearing)

This is the externalUserId Sumsub stores against the applicant. Make it:

• Stable per real user (don't regenerate on each page load — the SDK looks up returning applicants by this id).
• Opaque to the user (a UUID or DB row id; not their email).
• Tied to your auth system (so a webhook callback can resolve it back to a user record).

Wrong userId choice → duplicate applicants, "stuck in submitted" support tickets, and the inability to resume an interrupted verification.

Curl recipe

SUMSUB_APP_TOKEN='sbx:...'
SUMSUB_SECRET_KEY='...'
USER_ID='u-12345'
LEVEL='basic-kyc-level'

PATH_Q="/resources/accessTokens?userId=${USER_ID}&levelName=${LEVEL}&ttlInSecs=600"
TS=$(date -u +%s)
SIG=$(printf '%s%s%s' "$TS" "POST" "$PATH_Q" \
      | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "$SUMSUB_SECRET_KEY" -hex \
      | awk '{print $NF}')

curl -sS -X POST \
  -H "X-App-Token: $SUMSUB_APP_TOKEN" \
  -H "X-App-Access-Ts: $TS" \
  -H "X-App-Access-Sig: $SIG" \
  "https://api.sumsub.com${PATH_Q}"

URL-encode userId if it might contain /, ?, or &. The signing string must match the URI on the wire exactly — sign the encoded form.

Wiring it into the user's backend

Frame the endpoint as:

• Path: any (e.g. POST /api/sumsub/access-token).
• Inputs: the authenticated user's id, the levelName (often hardcoded per page).
• Auth: user must be logged in to your app — anyone hitting this route can spin up a verification session for that userId.
• Output: forward Sumsub's response body verbatim, or just the token field. Don't cache it server-side; the browser asks per launch.

Show the snippet for the user's actual stack (Express, FastAPI, Go, etc.) but the contract is the same in all of them: sign, call Sumsub, return token.

Stage 3 — Frontend SDK init

Load the builder

<script src="https://static.sumsub.com/idensic/static/sns-websdk-builder.js"></script>

This exposes the global snsWebSdk. For bundler-based projects, an npm package exists but the CDN script is what Sumsub officially documents and what every framework wrapper ends up calling.

Container

<div class="kyc-stage" style="position: relative; min-height: 600px;">
  <div id="sumsub-websdk-container"></div>
  <!-- Overlay loader covers the empty-iframe window. Hide on idCheck.onReady. -->
  <div id="kyc-loader" style="position: absolute; inset: 0; display: grid; place-items: center;">
    Loading verification…
  </div>
</div>

Give the stage a defined min-height (e.g. 600px) so the iframe doesn't collapse before the SDK adapts its height.

Don't skip the overlay loader. Between .launch() returning and the SDK iframe loading content from api.sumsub.com/websdk/websdk.html there is a 1–3s window where the container holds an empty iframe and looks broken — especially inside a modal that the user just opened. Mount a loader that covers the container, then hide it in the idCheck.onReady handler (Stage 4). Treating onReady as informational and leaving the handler empty is the single most common "the widget is blank" report.

Canonical vanilla launch

See examples/vanilla.html for a runnable file. Minimal shape:

async function getAccessToken() {
  const r = await fetch('/api/sumsub/access-token', { method: 'POST' });
  if (!r.ok) throw new Error('failed to mint access token');
  return (await r.json()).token;
}

const initialToken = await getAccessToken();

const sdk = snsWebSdk
  .init(initialToken, () => getAccessToken())   // refresh callback, returns Promise<string>
  .withConf({
    lang: 'en',
    email: currentUser.email,                   // optional, prefills
    phone: currentUser.phone,                   // optional, prefills
    theme: 'light',                             // 'light' | 'dark'
  })
  .withOptions({
    addViewportTag: false,                      // host page already sets it
    adaptIframeHeight: true,
  })
  .on('idCheck.onReady', () => {
    // SDK iframe content loaded — hide the overlay loader from the container snippet.
    document.getElementById('kyc-loader')?.style.setProperty('display', 'none');
  })
  .on('idCheck.onApplicantSubmitted', () => {
    // user just finished uploading; show "we're reviewing"
  })
  .on('idCheck.onApplicantStatusChanged', (payload) => {
    // status moved; payload.reviewStatus = 'pending' | 'queued' | 'completed' | ...
  })
  .on('idCheck.onError', (err) => {
    console.error('sumsub error', err);
  })
  .onMessage((type, payload) => {
    // catch-all firehose — useful for analytics or debugging
  })
  .build();

sdk.launch('#sumsub-websdk-container');

React recipe

examples/react-component.tsx — wraps the same builder in a useEffect with cleanup. Two gotchas it handles:

1. The CDN script must be present before snsWebSdk is read. Either inject it once in the document head, or dynamically load it and await the <script>'s load event.
2. On React 18 strict mode in dev, components mount twice — the cleanup function must remove the iframe / clear the container, otherwise you get two stacked widgets.

Other frameworks

The builder API is framework-agnostic. For Vue/Svelte/Angular, mirror the React pattern: lifecycle hook on mount → fetch token → build → launch into a ref'd element; on unmount → empty the container.

Stage 4 — Client lifecycle events

Wire these handlers on the SDK instance. Treat them as UX signals, not authoritative state.

Full payload fields per event: references/lifecycle.md.

Required handlers for a baseline integration

If you wire nothing else, wire these three. Skipping any of them produces a known-bad UX:

• idCheck.onReady → hide the overlay loader from Stage 3. Without this the modal looks blank for 1–3s after .launch().
• idCheck.onApplicantSubmitted → move the user to a "we're reviewing" state. Without this the user re-uploads or contacts support.
• idCheck.onError → render a retryable error to the UI. Without this failures only land in console.error and the user sees a stuck loader.

Why you can't trust onApplicantReviewed alone

The browser event fires from inside the iframe. A bad actor can spoof it trivially. The only authoritative signal is server-side: either a webhook delivery (Stage 5) or an authenticated GET against /resources/applicants/{userId}/one.

Stage 5 — Server-side source of truth

Webhook receiver

Sumsub POSTs JSON to your URL on every event. Two paths for registering it:

• Sandbox (while building this integration): use the sumsub-manage-webhooks skill. It builds the clientWebhooks payload from a compact spec, POSTs to /resources/api/agent/clientWebhooks with App Token auth, refuses non-sbx: tokens, rejects localhost / 127.0.0.1 targets up front, and walks the user through exposing their local receiver via ngrok http <port> so Sumsub can actually reach it. Hand off the target, types[], and signatureAlgorithm the user wants and let that skill do the POST.
• Production: do not create the prod webhook from any skill, including this one. Production webhook setup must be done by a human directly in the Sumsub dashboard (Integrations → Webhooks, workspace toggle on Production). The signing secret authenticates real PII deliveries; the audit trail should attribute setup to a person. Prototype the spec against sandbox here, then hand the final settings (target, event list, signature algorithm, custom headers) to whoever has prod access to recreate manually.

Headers you care about:

• x-payload-digest — the signature, hex-encoded.
• x-payload-digest-alg — HMAC_SHA256_HEX (default), HMAC_SHA512_HEX, or the legacy HMAC_SHA1_HEX.

The signing secret is not your App Token secret. It's a separate webhook secret generated (or supplied) at webhook-creation time in the dashboard. Store it in env (SUMSUB_WEBHOOK_SECRET) alongside the App Token pair.

Verification recipe — note the raw bytes requirement; do NOT JSON-parse before computing the digest, because re-serialising changes whitespace and key order:

// Node/Express — bodyParser.raw() so req.body is a Buffer
import crypto from 'node:crypto';

const ALG = { HMAC_SHA1_HEX: 'sha1', HMAC_SHA256_HEX: 'sha256', HMAC_SHA512_HEX: 'sha512' };

function verifySumsubWebhook(req, secret) {
  const alg = ALG[req.header('x-payload-digest-alg') || 'HMAC_SHA256_HEX'];
  const expected = req.header('x-payload-digest');
  const actual = crypto.createHmac(alg, secret).update(req.body).digest('hex');
  return Buffer.from(actual, 'hex').length === Buffer.from(expected, 'hex').length
      && crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(actual, 'hex'), Buffer.from(expected, 'hex'));
}

See examples/webhook-verify.js for a complete handler.

Local testing with ngrok

Sumsub needs a publicly reachable URL — your laptop's localhost won't do. The fastest end-to-end loop for local dev:

# 1. In one shell, start your local receiver (Node, Python, whatever).
node server.js                    # listens on http://localhost:3000

# 2. In another shell, tunnel that port.
ngrok http 3000                   # prints https://<random>.ngrok-free.app -> http://localhost:3000

# 3. Register the webhook against the ngrok URL.
#    Either via the dashboard (Integrations → Webhooks) OR via
#    sumsub-manage-webhooks `create` with target = the ngrok https URL.

# 4. Trigger an event by running a sandbox WebSDK verification end-to-end.
#    Watch the request arrive in your local server logs.

# 5. When you're happy, PATCH the webhook to point at your real server
#    hostname (sumsub-manage-webhooks `update` command).

webhook.site works too if you just want to see the raw payload without running a local receiver — but it can't echo back a 200 to verify the delivery flow.

Webhook events that matter for a KYC flow

reviewResult.reviewAnswer:

• GREEN — approved.
• RED — rejected. rejectLabels says why; reviewRejectType is FINAL (can't retry) or RETRY (user may resubmit).

Full list: Sumsub webhook docs.

Server-side status check (fallback / on-demand)

For pages that need to check status synchronously (e.g. user logs back in between webhook arriving and your DB updating):

PATH_Q="/resources/applicants/${USER_ID}/one"
TS=$(date -u +%s)
SIG=$(printf '%s%s%s' "$TS" "GET" "$PATH_Q" \
      | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "$SUMSUB_SECRET_KEY" -hex \
      | awk '{print $NF}')

curl -sS \
  -H "X-App-Token: $SUMSUB_APP_TOKEN" \
  -H "X-App-Access-Ts: $TS" \
  -H "X-App-Access-Sig: $SIG" \
  "https://api.sumsub.com${PATH_Q}"

Reads reviewStatus and reviewResult.reviewAnswer. Cheap; use as a fallback, not as a polling loop — webhooks are the primary signal.

Resumption / returning users

The SDK looks up applicants by externalUserId. If a user starts verification, abandons, and returns 3 days later:

1. Your endpoint mints a new access token for the same userId + same levelName.
2. The SDK opens to wherever the user left off (re-uploads only the missing steps).
3. No duplicate applicant is created.

Don't generate a new userId for returning users — that's the #1 cause of "the user is stuck and customer support sees two applicants".

Token refresh

The first argument to .init(token, refreshCallback) covers expiry mid-session:

• SDK calls your refreshCallback when the token nears expiry.
• It must return Promise<string> resolving to a fresh token (call your endpoint again).
• If you return a stale or wrong-userId token, the SDK hangs.

For most flows a 600-second TTL is plenty. Don't pre-fetch and cache — mint on demand.

Sandbox testing

In sandbox mode:

• Use test documents from the Sumsub docs ("Test documents" page) to trigger GREEN vs RED outcomes without uploading real PII.
• AML hits are simulated — names like Greenacre go through; Aikman and similar are pre-loaded as positive matches.
• Webhook delivery works the same. For a local receiver, expose it through ngrok http <port> (or Cloudflare Tunnel / Tailscale Funnel) and register the public URL via the sumsub-manage-webhooks skill — it has the full walkthrough and rejects raw localhost targets before they ever reach Sumsub. webhook.site is fine for inspecting payload shapes without a real receiver.
• Selfies in sandbox bypass real biometrics — any face works.

Sandbox tokens (sbx:) only fire against the sandbox workspace. Production tokens (prd:) only fire against production. There's no fall-through.

Going live checklist

When the user says "we're ready to switch to prod":

• Webhook receiver verifies the signature on raw bytes (replay Stage 5 test against a real delivery).
• externalUserId is the stable user id, not the email / display name.
• Server is the source of truth for verification state. Browser events may be ignored entirely.
• Token endpoint is auth-gated (only logged-in users can mint a token for themselves).
• applicantReviewed triggers the user-facing state change in your DB, with idempotency (the same event can arrive twice).
• Per-user retry handling: reviewResult.reviewRejectType === 'RETRY' ⇒ let user re-launch the SDK; 'FINAL' ⇒ block.
• Production App Token + secret + separate webhook secret are all in the prod secret store. Sandbox values stay only in dev env.

See also

• references/lifecycle.md — full event catalog with payload fields, plus webhook event reference.
• examples/vanilla.html — runnable single-file integration.
• examples/react-component.tsx — React hook + cleanup pattern.
• examples/webhook-verify.js — signature verification with raw-body handling.
• sumsub-api-auth — the auth signing reference, shared with every other Sumsub skill.
• sumsub-create-level — for the Stage-1 hand-off.
• sumsub-manage-webhooks — for the Stage-5 hand-off: create / list / update / disable sandbox webhooks via the public API, with the localhost-rejection and ngrok walkthrough built in. Production webhook setup is dashboard-only and must be done by a human.
• Sumsub docs index — authoritative source if anything in this skill drifts.