Webhook API Documentation
Document webhook-based integrations with event definitions, HMAC signature verification, delivery guarantees, retry policies, and consumer guidance. The structured webhook editor captures what architects need to express about push-based event notifications.
Webhooks are HTTP callback mechanisms where a system pushes event notifications to a subscriber's URL when specific events occur. They are ubiquitous in modern platforms: Stripe, GitHub, Slack, Twilio, SendGrid, Shopify, and virtually every SaaS product offers webhooks as the primary integration mechanism. The dedicated webhook documentation workflow captures security verification, delivery guarantees, retry policies, and event definitions in a structured, publishable format.
Core Concepts
Webhook API documentation is organised around a root API definition and individual event definitions that describe each webhook event type.
What Architects Document
Webhook documentation addresses the questions that consuming teams and integration architects ask when building against a webhook provider.
Security Verification Methods
NeoArc supports documenting seven verification method types that cover the full spectrum of webhook security patterns.
Delivery Configuration
Webhook reliability depends on clear documentation of retry behaviour, timeouts, and failure handling.
E-Commerce Webhooks Example
The following example demonstrates a complete webhook API specification for an e-commerce platform with four event types across three categories.
Webhook API
The root API definition for the e-commerce webhooks, including security, delivery, and registration configuration.
Order Events
Order lifecycle events fire as orders progress from creation through fulfilment.
Payment Events
Payment events fire when the payment gateway processes a capture or decline.
Inventory Events
Inventory events fire when stock levels change for any reason: sales, returns, or manual adjustments.
Consumer Guidance
Well-documented webhook APIs include clear guidance for consuming teams on how to build reliable integrations.
File Structure
Webhook definitions are stored as JSON files in your workspace under the Integration Design directory.
Comparison with Async Event APIs
Webhooks and async event APIs serve similar purposes but differ in transport, consumer model, and operational characteristics.
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