How to Integrate the Kount Web Client SDK 1.0.4 into Your Website (ARCHIVED)

October 31, 2022 19:39

Note: For updated documentation about the Web Client SDK, refer to How to Integrate the Kount Web Client for Device Data Collection into Your Website.

Integration with Kount's fraud prevention solutions requires that your website(s) integrate with Kount by using Kount's Web Client SDK (version 1.0.4) JavaScript. This JavaScript executes while your user's web browser renders your website.

You must obtain, host, and serve the kount-web-client-sdk, as well as properly invoke the SDK when customers render your website.

Obtain the SDK

The kount-web-client-sdk is a Kount-supplied JavaScript SDK that is an integral component for the Kount integration, as it communicates with the other components in Kount's fraud prevention ecosystem.

Kount periodically releases new versions of the kount-web-client-sdk, so it is best practice to keep up-to-date with the latest release – earlier versions can become deprecated and unsupported.

NOTE: Only use official, unmodified, and versioned releases of the SDK.

The kount-web-client-sdk is available in two ways:

Download a versioned release of the kount-web-client-sdk.js from GitHub.
Use your preferred npm package manager to install the latest kount-web-client-sdk package.
For example:
```
npm install @kount/kount-web-client-sdk
```
To verify the integrity of the downloaded files, review the checksums.

Host the SDK

With the kount-web-client-sdk obtained, it must be hosted and incorporated into your website.

Requirements/Restrictions

The SDK must be:

Served from the same domain as the website address rendering in the user's browser.
Kept current as new versions are released
Used within the context of a web browser

The SDK must NOT be:

Modified
Used server-side
Used outside the context of a web browser

Data Required by the SDK

The following data is required to use the kount-web-client-sdk:

hostname

Provided by Kount to clients during initial account setup
Specific to environment
Used to specify the Kount hostname that will be used to process the SDK's requests

If you don't know the Kount hostname you should use, please contact your Kount representative.

clientID

Provided by Kount to clients during initial account setup
Unique to each Kount client
Static value that does not change across executions or environments

If you don't know your clientID, contact your Kount representative.

isSinglePageApp

Boolean value of true or false
Used to specify if the SDK is executing in the context of a Single Page Application

sessionID

Unique per user per website visit
Should not change during a user's website visit
Should remain unique to the originating user website visit (i.e., not be reused) for a minimum of 30 days
Contain only alphanumeric characters (0-9, a-z, or A-Z), dashes (-) or underscores (_)
32 characters in length
Random/unpredictable

The sessionID is required when using the kount-web-client-sdk, and when subsequently making server-side calls to Kount APIs. Because the sessionID is used when making calls to Kount's RIS service in both your users' web browsers and your servers, it is your responsibility to validate the same sessionID is used between the two throughout the duration of the user's visit to your website.

Configure and test the SDK

Incorporate and execute the kount-web-client-sdk on all pertinent pages of your website. Pertinent pages include all core pages in your site's workflow, particularly pages that lead to vulnerable actions (purchase, payment, security changes, contact info updates, etc.).

After the kount-web-client-sdk is invoked (and subsequently completes execution) on a page of your website, no further SDK interaction is required for that page.

Configuring

The kount-web-client-sdk invocation requires a JavaScript object that specifies the SDK's configuration specific to your implementation. This project includes a JavaScript object literal notation example that creates a JavaScript object containing all the required fields for kount-web-client-sdk configuration as kount-web-client-config-template.js. This provided example specifies generic values that must be updated with values appropriate to your specific implementation. Each individual SDK configuration property is further explained in the Data Required by the SDK section above.

You should create similar JavaScript objects to appropriately configure your application's use of the SDK. For example, if you are going to test your implementation, you must adjust your application's SDK configuration for hostname to point at the appropriate Kount, non-production, testing hostname.

Invoking

Start executing the kount-web-client-sdk by invoking its exported kountSDK function with the appropriate arguments.

The function is defined as:

function kountSDK(config, sessionID)

The required parameters are:

config: the configuration JavaScript object created as per the Configuring section above.
sessionID: the sessionID you generated for this user's website visit. Execution as a Module

Examples

Execution - Configuration via template

<script type="text/javascript" src="./kount-web-client-config-template.js"></script><!--Modify the src location according to where you are hosting the JavaScript code that creates an appropriate JavaScript object for configuration. This example assumes the creation of an object named kountConfig.-->
<script type="text/javascript" src="./kount-web-client-sdk.js"></script><!--Modify the src location according to where you are hosting the kount-web-client-sdk.js-->
<script type="text/javascript">
const sessionID = identifyTheSessionID(); // A client-supplied mechanism to identify the appropriate value for the sessionID.
kountSDK(kountConfig, sessionID); // Start the execution.
</script>

Execution - Configuration via Object Literal

<script type="text/javascript" src="./kount-web-client-sdk.js"></script><!--Modify the src location according to where you are hosting the kount-web-client-sdk.js-->
<script type="text/javascript">
const sessionID = identifyTheSessionID(); // A client-supplied mechanism to identify the appropriate value for the sessionID.
//Create the JavaScript object for configuration using JavaScript object literal notation.
const kountConfig = {
"clientID": "YOUR_CLIENT_ID;", // Replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID with your Kount provided clientID.
"hostname": "YOUR_KOUNT_HOSTNAME", // Replace YOUR_KOUNT_HOSTNAME with the appropriate hostname.
"isSinglePageApp": false // false or true depending on whether your website is a Single Page Application.
};
kountSDK(kountConfig, sessionID); // Start the execution.
</script>

Testing

When vetting your integration with the kount-web-client-sdk, you must not test functionality or run load tests against Kount's production hostnames; rather, you should specify an appropriate test hostname for the hostname value in the JavaScript configuration object that you pass into the SDK's invocation.

Troubleshooting

kount-web-client-sdk outputs messages to the browser's web console at different levels.

Refer to the kount-web-client-sdk code to identify console messages that might prove useful for your specific situation.

Make sure your web console is configured to display the appropriate level for the messages you are attempting to see.

Static Web SDK Sequence Diagram

This diagram summarizes the relationships and interactions between the customer's browser, the client's site, the client-hosted kount-web-client-sdk, and the Kount-defined endpoints.

The SDK and RIS

If you are using Kount's RIS Service, following successful browser invocations of the kount-web-client-sdk, client-initiated server-side calls to RIS (using the same clientID and sessionID that were specified during the SDK executions for a user's website visit) should result in the documented RIS functionality.

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