Webhook Integration
Table of Contents
Overview
Implement robust webhook systems for event-driven architectures, enabling real-time communication between services and third-party integrations.
When to Use
- Third-party service integrations (Stripe, GitHub, Shopify)
- Event notification systems
- Real-time data synchronization
- Automated workflow triggers
- Payment processing callbacks
- CI/CD pipeline notifications
- User activity tracking
- Microservices communication
Quick Start
Minimal working example:
import crypto from "crypto";
import axios from "axios";
interface WebhookEvent {
id: string;
type: string;
timestamp: number;
data: any;
}
interface WebhookEndpoint {
url: string;
secret: string;
events: string[];
active: boolean;
}
interface DeliveryAttempt {
attemptNumber: number;
timestamp: number;
statusCode?: number;
error?: string;
duration: number;
}
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)
Reference Guides
Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:
| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| Webhook Sender (TypeScript) | Webhook Sender (TypeScript) |
| Webhook Receiver (Express) | Webhook Receiver (Express) |
| Webhook Queue with Bull | Webhook Queue with Bull |
| Webhook Testing Utilities | Webhook Testing Utilities |
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Use HMAC signatures for verification
- Implement idempotency with event IDs
- Return 200 OK quickly, process asynchronously
- Implement exponential backoff for retries
- Include timestamp to prevent replay attacks
- Use queue systems for reliable delivery
- Log all delivery attempts
- Provide webhook testing tools
- Document webhook payload schemas
- Implement webhook management UI
- Allow filtering by event types
- Support webhook versioning
❌ DON'T
- Send sensitive data in webhooks
- Skip signature verification
- Block responses with heavy processing
- Retry indefinitely
- Expose internal error details
- Send webhooks to localhost (in production)
- Forget timeout handling
- Skip rate limiting