Web Hooks – GovOS

This article will walk through the basics of Web Hooks and how you can use them to process data

A webhook (also called a web callback or HTTP push API) is a way for an app to provide other applications with real-time information. A webhook delivers data to other applications as it happens, meaning you get data immediately. Unlike typical APIs where you would need to poll for data frequently in order to get it real-time.

The first step in consuming a webhook is giving us your URL to deliver requests to. This is most often done through a backend panel or an API.

Types of Web Hooks:

Submission Webhook: This will send the data upon Submission

Execution Webhook: This will send the data once the final signer has signed in a Signature Workflow and thus the document is marked as 'complete' by having had all signers sign.

Let’s take a look at a real case example:

Imagine you have a form with 3 signers (1 applicant and 2 approvers) with a submission webhook set to notify you when the signer 1 submits the form. And as soon as the signer 1 signs and submits, the webhook comes into play and automatically pushes the data to your system via HTTP server route. The data will be sent via POST request. In the body of the request you will be able to see the information about the submission details.

Once the data reaches your system, you can do whatever you want with it. It’s like a notification that your submission process has started. Now you can use it for sending emails, adding this data to your statistics, etc.

Web hooks are really useful when you need real time updates. Imagine that your form is a COVID-19 related unemployment payment application. With the help of the webhook you will get real time data about the number of applicants as soon as they submit the form, even though the other 2 approvers haven’t signed the form yet.

Then with an Execution Webhook you would be able to do all that is described above but as soon as the last signer in a workflow signs.

To set up Webhooks on form you will go into the Editor of the form and then click on Settings --> Advanced and scroll to the bottom of the Integrations section. You will then see an area where you can add your desired webhooks:

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