Build Stripe-like Webhooks

Stripe's webhook system is the gold standard. Here's how to build something similar with HookSniff.

What Makes Stripe Webhooks Great?

Event types — Clear naming: payment_intent.succeeded payment_intent.succeeded
Idempotency — Events have unique IDs for deduplication
Signatures — HMAC-SHA256 verification with timestamp
Retries — Automatic retries with exponential backoff
Dashboard — Full delivery visibility with replay
API — Programmatic access to events and delivery status

HookSniff gives you all of this out of the box.

Step 1: Define Event Types

Use the resource.action pattern:

order.created
order.updated
order.cancelled
payment.succeeded
payment.failed
user.created
user.updated
invoice.paid
invoice.overdue

Step 2: Create Endpoints for Customers

When a customer registers for webhooks, create an endpoint:

curl -X POST https://hooksniff-api-1046140057667.europe-west1.run.app/v1/endpoints \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer hr_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://customer.com/webhooks",
    "description": "Customer order notifications",
    "event_filter": "order.*"
  }'

The response includes a signing_secret — share this with your customer for signature verification.

Step 3: Send Events

When something happens in your app, send an event:

curl -X POST https://hooksniff-api-1046140057667.europe-west1.run.app/v1/webhooks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer hr_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: order-12345-created" \
  -d '{
    "endpoint_id": "ep_abc123",
    "event": "order.created",
    "data": {
      "id": "ord_12345",
      "customer_id": "cus_789",
      "total": 99.99,
      "currency": "USD",
      "items": [
        { "product_id": "prod_1", "quantity": 2, "price": 49.99 }
      ],
      "created_at": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z"
    }
  }'

Step 4: Give Customers the Portal

Embed the HookSniff portal so customers can manage their own webhooks:

<script src="https://cdn.hooksniff.com/portal.js"></script>
<script>
  HookSniffPortal.init({
    apiKey: 'hr_live_CUSTOMER_KEY',
    containerId: 'webhook-portal',
    theme: 'light',
    branding: {
      logo: 'https://yourapp.com/logo.svg',
      primaryColor: '#6366f1',
    },
  });
</script>
<div id="webhook-portal"></div>

Step 5: Document for Customers

Give your customers:

Signing secret — For verifying webhook signatures
Event types list — What events you send
Payload format — What the data looks like
Verification code — Example code in their language
Portal link — Where they can manage endpoints and view deliveries

Copy the verification examples from the Security page for your docs. Security