What are Webhooks-A Comprehensive Guide For Begineers.
2022 passed and 2023 is a hectic year ahead. You are a busy person at your work with your hands full already. You wish to run a magazine publisher around your town but it's obvious that you can't be available 24/7 and keep a track of subscriptions.
While looking for an assistant, your criteria are, the information about the magazine's subscribers and its details should be dropped to you even when haven't asked for it!- Is it too much to ask?
Mr Webley Shubooks was exactly what he asked for!
As soon as someone subscribes to the magazine membership, he automatically sends you a message saying, "Ms Claire Eriskson from Belgium has signed up for your Premium plan. Here are her details!"
Ta-da, and it's done!
Sometimes you overlook certain features in an application assuming they are good for nothing to use. One such feature is Webhooks, if you are questioning whether are they of any benefit, the answer is yes!
What are Webhooks?
Webhooks, also known as a “reverse API”, are a way for an application to provide other applications with real-time information. Fundamentally, it's a message that's delivered from one application to another whenever something occurs, such as when new data is added or altered.
When a client places an order or makes a payment, for example, webhooks are triggered based on those events. The trigger instructs the webhooks to communicate its data to the destination server.
For instance, your bank's SMS as soon as a transaction takes place, either an amount has been credited to or debited from your bank account.
How do Webhooks work?
Webhooks enable applications to pass data back and forth with minimal effort. Webhooks have to be configured according to a certain set of events for them to work.
An HTTP POST request will be sent through Webhooks as soon as a pre-configured event triggers it to a specified URL. Provided it is public and belongs to the receiving system or application which has been configured as an endpoint for webhooks so notifications can be received by the system.
Considering the previous bank's example again, as soon as your salary has been credited to your account, your bank's webhooks trigger to send an SMS to your pre-configured phone number and notify you about it.
When to use Webhooks?
Webhooks are particularly useful when you need to monitor an API or website in real time.
Developers can benefit high-time from webhooks. As they will be instantly notified about any changes occurred in the system, causing them to do quick fix efficiently in any situation.
Furthermore, because they are triggered by both successful and unsuccessful events, webhooks can confirm that a certain event transpired. This is very useful when dealing with data integrity problems and payment failures .
Considering the banks' webhooks again, when a credit card payment fails your bank returns an error code - also called a decline code - which gives more information about the failed charge attempt.
Common Applications for Webhooks
Webhooks are often used in integrations between different services, such as between a website and a CRM system. They are highly versatile and can be used in many different applications.
Here are a few of them,
- Real-time notifications: Webhooks can be used to send notifications to other systems or applications when specific events occur. Adding to the banks, webhooks can be used to trigger functions in cloud services, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Lambda, allowing developers to perform complex operations without needing to set up their servers.
- Automating workflows: Webhooks can be used to trigger actions in other systems or applications. For example, sending notifications when a specific event occurs or updating data in a database.
- Payment processing: A merchant can utilise webhooks to get notified when a payment is made so they can execute it and update the order status.
- Customer engagement: Webhooks can be used to notify customers of important events like shipments, deliveries, and more.
- Data collection and analysis: Webhooks can be used to collect data from other systems and analyze it for insights.
MYFUNDBOX is a subscription billing platform to help businesses handle recurring billing and revenue management operations integrated with payment processing decacorns like Stripe, GoCardless, and Mollie.
In partnership with Google Cloud, MYFUNDBOX provides a single platform to enable customer-preferred payments globally.
With MYFUNDBOX's webhooks, your customer's payment or order details will be instantly and automatically registered in your destined system provided you have pre-configured it according to your requirements.
Checkout MYFUNDBOX's webhooks here!
REFERENCE:
- https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-webhook
- https://www.twilio.com/docs/glossary/what-is-a-webhook
