Webhooks are a great way to allow systems to communicate and share data seamlessly making integrations much more efficient and real-time.
They can often be quite technical so we recommend getting assistance from an IT specialist before start setting up one in Journeys.
So, what are Webhooks?
Webhooks work by listening for certain events. When an event occurs, the webhook sends data to a specified URL.
They are like automated notifications. Instead of you having to check if something happened, the app tells you right away.
Two common examples:
1. Waiting for contract to be signed by all parties in an e-signing software
Trigger: A new employee and a supervisor have been sent an employee contract for signing. When both parties have signed the contract, we want to be notified to continue with the process.
Webhook Action: E-signing software sends a POST request to a specified URL with the details of the updated task.
2. Task status is updated from "In progress to "Done" in a task management system e.g. Jira & Asana
Trigger: An existing task related to an HR project has its status updated from "In progress" to "Done" in Jira.
Webhook Action: Task management system sends a POST request to a specified URL with the details of the updated task.
Journeys & Webhooks
In Journeys, like with custom integrations, you can create Webhooks that can then be used as actions in your journey processes.
One example would be a very simple journey that create an issue, of any type in Jira.
The first action creates the issue in Jira, after that is completed the journey waits on the section action until Jira notifies us via the Webhook that the task status has been updated to 'Done'.
The great thing about this is that this will happen in real time, so the same second as the task is marked as 'Done', the journey progresses to the third action (Send email).
Setting up and managing Webhooks
Webhooks are created and managed under Integrations in the Organization settings.
You can view a more detailed example of how to set up an Webhook HERE