What is a Webhook?
A webhook is an event-driven communication mechanism where one system sends an HTTP POST request to a pre-configured URL whenever a specific event occurs. Instead of your application repeatedly asking "has anything changed?" (polling), the source system proactively pushes data to you the instant something happens.
Think of it like the difference between refreshing your inbox every five minutes and having push notifications enabled. Webhooks are the push notification of the API world.
How Webhooks Work
Webhooks vs. Polling
| Aspect | Webhooks | Polling |
|---|---|---|
| Latency | Near-instant | Depends on poll interval |
| Resource usage | Efficient — only fires when events occur | Wasteful — constant requests even when nothing changes |
| Complexity | Requires a publicly accessible endpoint | Simpler to implement initially |
| Reliability | Depends on retry logic | Guaranteed to eventually fetch data |
| Scalability | Scales well for high-event-volume sources | Can hit rate limits with frequent polling |
Common Webhook Use Cases
Securing Webhooks
Webhook endpoints are publicly accessible URLs, making security critical:
为什么重要
Webhooks enable real-time automation that reacts instantly to events across your stack. Without them, you are stuck polling APIs on a schedule, wasting resources and introducing delays that can range from seconds to minutes. For time-sensitive workflows like payment processing or alerting, that delay is unacceptable.
Autonoly 如何解决
Autonoly provides managed webhook endpoints out of the box — no need to set up your own server. Register an Autonoly webhook URL in any service, and incoming events automatically trigger your workflows. Autonoly handles signature verification, payload parsing, retry acknowledgment, and passes the event data directly into your automation pipeline.
了解更多示例
Triggering an order fulfillment workflow the instant a Shopify purchase is completed
Automatically creating a support ticket in Jira when a customer submits a form on your website
Sending a Slack notification when a GitHub pull request is merged into the main branch
常见问题
What happens if my webhook endpoint is down when an event fires?
Most webhook providers implement automatic retries with exponential backoff. They will attempt to redeliver the event over a period of hours or days. You should design your endpoint to be idempotent so that processing the same event twice does not cause issues.
How is a webhook different from an API?
An API is a request-response interface where your application initiates the call. A webhook is a reverse mechanism — the external service initiates the call to your application when an event happens. Webhooks are built on top of HTTP (the same protocol APIs use) but flip the direction of communication.