A webhook is a way to automatically send data between applications using HTTP when specific events occur
How it works
Webhooks are user-defined HTTP callbacks that are triggered by events in a web application. When an event occurs, the webhook makes an HTTP request to the URL you configured for it. The request includes details of the event.
Examples:
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Twilio: Uses webhooks to let your application know when events happen, such as receiving an SMS message or getting an incoming phone call.
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GitHub: Uses webhooks to send notifications about events to collaboration platforms, such as Discord or Slack.
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Notification :You can set up a webhook in Notion to send notifications from Notion to another tool.
Key Components of a Webhook:
- Triggering Events:
- Webhooks are triggered by specific events (e.g., “new order created,” “payment received”).
- You usually configure these events in the source system, such as a payment gateway or an API service.
- Endpoint (Listener):
- A URL on your server that will receive the webhook request.
- Must be publicly accessible for the source system to send POST requests.
- Data Payload:
- Webhooks send data in the request body, typically in JSON format.
- Example:
{ "event": "order_created", "order_id": "12345", "status": "confirmed" }.
- Authentication:
- Source systems often include a secret key or token to verify the authenticity of the webhook request.
- The receiving system should validate this to prevent unauthorized access.
- Response:
- Your webhook endpoint typically responds with an HTTP status code (e.g., 200 for success, 400/500 for failure).
Key Points for Production:
- Security:
- Use a secret key or token to verify the authenticity of webhook requests.
- Consider validating the IP address of the sender (if the source system provides a list of IPs).
- Error Handling:
- Log errors for debugging.
- Respond with appropriate status codes (e.g., 400 for bad requests, 500 for server errors).
- Retries:
- Many systems retry webhook delivery if the initial attempt fails.
- Ensure your endpoint can handle duplicate requests.
- Testing:
- Use tools like Postman, ngrok, or Webhook.site to test your webhook endpoint during development.
- Performance:
- If processing is time-consuming, consider queuing tasks and responding immediately to avoid timeouts.
