Webhook: what is it and when can I use it?

The notions of API and webhook are gradually becoming part of the business jargon, particularly with the democratisation of Nocode.

And yet, they can be complicated to understand. That's what we're going to try and explain in this article. We'll also talk about how to configure a webhook in general time and on Discord. And how to use the webhook in infrastructure development.

Webhook: What is it?

Often called "Reverse API" or "HTTP callback", the webhook is a tool that allows to trigger an action when a certain event occurs.

To get into the technical side of things, the webhook is actually an HTTP POST request that will send information (data) via a URL for a specific event.

This data is usually sent in a JSON data structure - which allows the tools to process it.

What are the use cases?

There are many use cases. Here are some examples:

• Create a new contact in your CRM and send a Slack notification to the sales team when a user fills out a form on your site.
• Create an invoice and send an automated email when a user buys a product on your site.
• Sending a notification to the Customer Success team when a user's trial period ends.

As you can see, webhooks are an indispensable tool today for automating high value-added tasks based on an event, otherwise known as a "trigger".

The advantages of using a webhook

Webhooks offer many advantages for developers and users of information systems. Here are five main points:

• Process automation: Webhooks automate processes by sending data in real time as soon as an event occurs. This eliminates the need to schedule regular information requests to check whether an event has occurred.
• Real-time efficiency: Webhooks provide information as soon as an event occurs. This means you get real-time data, which can be crucial for some applications.
• Resource savings: Instead of constantly making requests to check for updates, webhooks send data only when there's something new. This reduces the load on your servers and saves resources.
• Customizable: Webhooks are highly customizable. You can define the type of events for which you wish to receive notifications, and the data you wish to receive.
• Easy integration: Webhooks facilitate the integration of different software systems. They can be used to connect applications, services or platforms that were not originally designed to work together.

Webhook vs API: What's the difference?

It is true that one can quickly get lost among these different concepts. The webhook and the API are similar in the sense that they both allow data to be passed between two tools.

The difference is more in the "how". We saw in the previous section that the webhook was event-based. TheAPI isrequest-based. Here, we are going to query a tool to retrieve data - in the form of a GET request. This is called "polling".

Note that there are four types of requests: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE. But this is not so important for the purpose of this article.

APIs are preferred when you have to manage constant changes in data. Indeed, each time you poll the service, new information will be retrieved. One example is data from advertising campaigns such as Facebook Ads or Google Ads.

Using an API would not make sense compared to webhooks for invoice generation. Indeed, the objective here is to trigger an action instantly rather than polling the service at regular intervals to find out whether a customer has purchased a product or not.

Here is an illustration to help you visualise the mechanism and the difference.

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The uses are totally different so it is not relevant to compare the two. It all depends on the purpose and the type of data you want to manipulate.

How do I configure a webhook?  

Setting up a webhook depends on the system you're using. However, the general process is similar on most platforms. Here are the general steps for configuring a webhook:

1. Identify the tool or platform that will send data via the webhook. Make sure this tool or platform supports webhooks.
2. In the tool or platform that sends the data, look for settings or configurations related to webhooks. This may be in the application settings or in a section dedicated to integrations.
3. Create a new webhook endpoint in the tool or platform. This involves specifying a specific URL that will receive the data sent by the webhook. Typically, you'll also need to specify additional information such as name, description, and possibly security parameters such as an authentication key.
4. Configure events or triggers that determine when data should be sent via the webhook. You can specify specific conditions or events that trigger the sending of data. For example, this could be the creation of a new record, the modification of existing data, or the performance of a specific action.
5. If necessary, configure authentication for the webhook. Some webhooks require authentication to ensure that only authorized applications can receive data. In this case, you may need to generate an authentication key or configure additional security parameters.
6. Once the webhook is set up, make sure you test its operation. You can use webhook testing tools or perform manual tests by triggering the appropriate events in the tool or platform.
7. When data is sent via the webhook, it is usually transmitted using a specific data structure, such as JSON. Make sure you understand the data format and how to extract and process it in your receiving application or system.

We'll now take a look at how to set up a webhook on discord.

How do I set up a webhook on discord?

Here are the steps:

1. Open Discord: Open your Discord application and go to the server where you want to set up the webhook.
2. Access server settings: Right-click on the server name at the top left of the screen and select "Server settings".
3. Access the Webhooks section: in the left-hand menu, find and select the "Webhooks" option.
4. Create a new Webhook: Click on the "Create Webhook" button. You will be redirected to a new page for configuring your Webhook.
5. Configure your Webhook:
6. Name: Give your Webhook a name. This will be the name that appears every time the Webhook posts a message.
7. Channel: Select the channel on which you want Webhook to post messages.
8. Avatar: You can also upload an image to represent your Webhook.
9. Copy the Webhook URL: Once you've finished configuring your Webhook, copy the Webhook URL that is generated. You'll use this URL to send messages via the Webhook.
10. Save your changes: Click on the "Save" button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Webhooks for infrastructure development

Webhooks are generally used to facilitate interactions between two programs or applications, but they can also be used to automate IaC (Infrastructure-as-code) processes and implement GitOps methods.

IaC process

Infrastructure-as-Code, or IaC, is a method of managing and provisioning IT infrastructures using machine-readable definition files, rather than physical hardware configurations or interactive configuration tools.

In other words, it's all about writing code (which can be verified in a version control system) to define and manage your infrastructure, instead of using graphical user interfaces or manual commands.

Here are a few key points about IaC:

1. Automation: IaC automates the configuration process, making infrastructure deployment faster and less prone to human error.
2. Consistency: The infrastructure is defined using a high-level language, guaranteeing consistency and reproducibility.
3. Versioning: Like any other code, IaC can be put into a version control system. This makes it possible to track changes, revert to a previous version if necessary, and collaborate more easily.
4. Documentation: The code itself becomes a form of infrastructure documentation. It describes precisely what has been deployed.
5. Continuous integration and deployment: IaC integrates well with software development practices such as continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), enabling smoother infrastructure updates and modifications.

Tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Chef, Puppet and AWS CloudFormation are commonly used to implement IaC.

GitOps processes

GitOps is an infrastructure implementation method that uses Git version control systems as a single source of truth for infrastructure and applications. GitOps is often associated with Kubernetes, but the concept can be applied to other systems too.

Here are some key points about GitOps :

1. Git-based deployments: In a GitOps approach, all changes to infrastructure and applications are made via commits to a Git repository. This means that all changes are traceable, reversible and subject to peer review.
2. Automation: GitOps tools constantly monitor the Git repository and automatically apply changes to infrastructure or applications. This leads to a high level of automation and a reduction in manual errors.
3. Consistency and reproducibility: Because everything is defined in code and stored in Git, it's easy to reproduce infrastructure and applications in different environments. This helps maintain consistency and facilitates testing and deployment.
4. Recoverability: In the event of a problem, it's easy to return to a previous state of the infrastructure or applications using Git. This improves recoverability and reduces recovery time in the event of an incident.
5. Security and compliance: All modifications are logged in Git, providing a complete audit trail of who did what and when. This can help meet security and compliance requirements.

Webhook and Nocode tools ?

All this sounds good, but how does it work in practice?

For years, these tools have been called upon purely and hardly by code. Data has become so important to businesses that Python has now become the most popular language for developers. It is now the language that data engineers use to query and interrogate tools, retrieve data and automate processes.

But fortunately, the Nocode and low-code tools quickly caught up to offer users a much more accessible method of achieving the same results.

We can take the example of Zapier, Make (ex-Integromat) or n8n, the open source automation solution - which offers webhook modules.