Remote Blocking using Blackout API

Remote blocking is a common use case for the API. With the knowledge of the API key and the user's identity (either Blackout's user ID field, or an external reference entered into Blackout), blocking or unblocking users remotely is possible.

Note that blocking a user will override all other cues to unblock (i.e. exiting a region or a scheduled period ending). It is down to the remote blocker to unblock the user again. The only exception to this is the use of Unblocking Beacons, sometimes referred to as 'Anti-beacons'. These can define break-out areas and other exceptions to blocked spaces. As an API-blocked user leaves one such region, the API blocking will continue.

A successful request to block a user does not automatically mean the user's devices are blocked. Due to the asynchronous nature of the request, and other circumstances such as the power and the state of the device, these requests are 'fire-and-forget'. In most cases, this request is enough, but if you want to have a closed-loop system, it can be used in conjunction with webhooks to be notified of a real block/unblock event reported by the device. This flow can be shown in the following sequence diagram.