What Is Webhook?

An event delivered over HTTP

A webhook connects an event source to a receiving endpoint. For example, a platform can notify a workflow that a contact changed or a reply arrived. The event request carries information for the receiver to interpret. Its structure, authentication mechanism and delivery policy belong to that provider's contract; the generic term webhook does not define a universal payload or reliability guarantee.

This differs from polling, where a client repeatedly asks whether anything changed. Event delivery can reduce repeated queries, but it introduces its own operational questions. Can events arrive more than once or out of order? What happens when the endpoint is unavailable? How long does the sender retry? Check the actual documentation and observed behavior before building downstream assumptions around any of those answers.

A safe outbound integration boundary

Receiving a reply event should not automatically imply a qualified sales response. Verify the event source, interpret the event type and map it to the correct campaign and contact. Acknowledge receipt according to the provider's requirements while keeping downstream processing status separately visible. A successful HTTP response can mean the event was accepted for later work rather than proving the CRM has already been updated.

Track delivery and effects separately

Preserve a stable event identifier where available, the received timestamp and processing outcome. Apply an appropriate duplicate-handling strategy before repeating actions with external effects. Test recovery with a controlled event and inspect the actual target record, rather than relying only on the sender's delivered label. Avoid placing credentials or unnecessary personal information in logs used for routine troubleshooting.

Provider-specific signature verification, retry schedules and ordering guarantees should stay explicitly labeled as provider behavior. A reliable webhook workflow explains both whether an event arrived and whether its intended action completed, with a way to investigate failures without blindly replaying successful writes or initiating duplicate outreach.