Webhooks done right

Talking given at API Strategy & Practice Conference in Nashville in 2018

Thinking about a complete API strategy for your company could quickly become overwhelming. But you can divide and conquer. As starters, have you thought about your Webhook strategy? Wouldn't be easier to start by offering webhooks to your customers and after getting some usage data and do some research start planning your APIs?

Simply pinging your users when something happens seems like a no-brainer, right?
Thanks to webhooks you can quickly connect with other Saas applications and services, and it will even get you integrated with connectors like Zapier. But, what are the things you have to keep in mind when building a webhook strategy?

In this talk, we will go through recommendations to deliver the best Webhook experience inspired by services that are doing it right, both from a technical perspective and from a DX point of view how webhooks should be part of your overall API strategy.

Transcript

1. Webhooks done right Nicolas Grenié Developer Advocate @ Typeform 26 sept 2018 - API Strategy Nashville @picsoung @typeform
2. Nicolas Grenié @picsoung @picsoung
3. @picsoung
4. @picsoung
5. @picsoung
6. Let’s go fishing @picsoung
7. Spiders do it too @picsoung
8. Let’s agree on something
9. API Strategy: Start with webhook
10. Thanks to webhook you can integrate with 1000+ services @picsoung
11. What should happen on provider’s side? @picsoung
12. #1 Test webhook event @picsoung
13. #2 Let me inspect payload @picsoung
14. #3 Events history @picsoung
15. #4 Replay event @picsoung
16. #5 Retries if failed to deliver @picsoung
17. @picsoung #6 Notifications
18. @picsoung #7 Sign webhook payload https://api.slack.com/docs/verifying-requests-from-slack
19. @picsoung #8 Webhook API • Let me create/change Webhook via API • Add corresponding oAuth Scopes • Manage deliveries
20. @picsoung #9 More than one webhook • Specialize each webhook • Build complex workflow • Enable more integration
21. @picsoung #10 Many event types
22. Will serverless functions Kill Webhooks?
23. @picsoung Serverless is the future of webhooks
24. Takeaways
25. Takeaways Build Webhook first Dedicated DX effort Extend with native serverless
26. Questions? Nicolas Grenié (@picsoung) nicolas.grenie@typeform.com 26th Sept 2018 API Strategy Conference - Nashville, TN Images are from Unsplash https://unsplash.com/collections/3134634/apistrat-web hooks-done-right-slides Feedback? http://bit.ly/tf-apistrat