How A Webhook Proxy Tool Can Transform Your Workflow

Introduction

In the world of web development, integrating, and testing webhooks is a task that developers often encounter. Webhooks, user-defined HTTP callbacks, are essential for creating interactive and responsive applications. However, testing these webhooks locally can be a difficult task due to the inherent limitations of the local development environment.

At Ayrshare, a key capability of our social media API is webhook calling, eg scheduled post status (notifying you when a scheduled post is published) or direct message notifications. So it’s important to give our users an easy way to build and test their webhooks. This is where Ayrshare’s Node.js-based Webhook Proxy Tool comes into play, providing a comprehensive solution for local webhook testing.

Understanding Webhooks

In order to enjoy the use of the Webhook Relay Tool, which is a webhook relay, it is important to understand what webhooks are and why they are important in modern web development. A webhook is a way for an application to provide real-time information to other applications when a certain event occurs. Unlike standard APIs where you need to constantly poll data, webhooks are automated calls from server to server, making them very efficient for real-time updates.

Local Assessment Challenge

The main obstacle to local webhook testing stems from the fact that the development server on the local machine is not naturally accessible from the Internet. This limitation means that external services cannot send webhook events to the local server, hindering the testing and development process. Traditional solutions involve complex network configurations to expose web services or tunnel services for external connections, which can be difficult and not always secure.

Introducing Webbhook Relay Proxy Tool

Our Webhook Proxy Tool is a webhook relay built using Node.js, a popular JavaScript runtime known for its efficiency and scalability, and can be run from the command line. This tool acts as a bridge between the public Internet and your local development environment, allowing you to easily test webhooks without changing your network settings, needing a public IP, or deploying your app ahead of time.

Features at a Glance

• Effortless Transfer: Route requests from a temporary public URL to your local server.
• Real Time Logging: Captures and displays all requests in both console and log files.
• Custom Port Settings: Variable to configure the port where the relay proxy server is running.
• Clear Log Option: Allows you to restart each test session by deleting old logs.
• User Friendly Design: Simple command line interface for ease of use.

Tool Setup

System Requirements

• Node.js (version 18 or higher) with NPM installed.

Step by Step Installation Guide

1. Extract the Repository: Get Webbhook Proxy GitHub repository: git clone
2. Install Dependencies: Run npm install in the project directory to install the required packages.

Usage Guide

Run the tool with command line arguments:

• Use -webhook [URL] to specify the local server URL.
• The -log flag enables logging to the console and to a file.
• Specify a custom port using -port [number].
• Select -clear-logs to clear the previous logs for the new session.

Command Example

node webhook-proxy.js --webhook  --log --port 3002

What does this command line do?; configures the tool to forward requests to , enables logging, listens on port 3002, and starts with a clean log file.

If you don’t want to forward the request and just log into the default port 3000, use:

node webhook-proxy.js --log

Example Answer

Here is a sample working response: node webhook-proxy.js –webhook –log

Webhook proxy is now listening at 
All requests on this endpoint will be forwarded to your webhook url: 

Process Id: ps82Gq4NRJ2ceY8rb9rbp
Received at 2023-11-27T22:05:57.060Z
HTTP Method: GET
Query: /fun?type=sun
Body:
{}

Process Id: ps82Gq4NRJ2ceY8rb9rbp
Webhook Response:
Looking good.

Process Id: 0YCuMfTg9L_KBUu4Lwx61
Received at 2023-11-27T22:06:19.715Z
HTTP Method: POST
Query: /
Body:
{ "fun": "sun" }

Process Id: 0YCuMfTg9L_KBUu4Lwx61
Webhook Response:
Looking good.

Two calls are made, GET and POST. Each has its own Process Id, which can be used to match the original call and webhook response.

How It Benefits Developers

Simple Tests

Developers can test webhooks in real time without running their own system, making the development process faster and more efficient.

Easy Debugging

With detailed logging, it becomes easier to track and fix issues, leading to smoother development.

No Complex Configuration Needed

The tool eliminates the need for complexly configured networks or external tunneling services, making it a hassle-free solution. We use the localtunnel NPM package to create a proxy tunnel to each other, but you can use other proxies like ngrok.

Enhanced Security

Testing within a local area reduces the risks associated with exposing a development server to the public Internet. Also, if you want to integrate directly with the Facebook Graph API, you will need to set up a tunnel on your local machine.

Putting it together

The Webhook Proxy Tool is a great webhook transfer tool that we’ve found useful for our own development and for our users. By bridging the gap between local development environments and the public Internet, it provides an efficient, effective, and secure way to test webhooks.

About Ayrshare

Ayrshare is a social media API that allows you to publish posts, get analytics, manage comments, and send direct messages to social media directly from your platform. Read more in our social media API documentation.