Quick Guide to Implementing Webhooks in Sendy

Introduction

Hey there, fellow Javascript devs! Ready to supercharge your Sendy integration? Let's talk webhooks. These nifty little callbacks are your ticket to real-time updates and seamless user experiences. We'll be diving into how to set them up using the Sendy API, so buckle up!

Prerequisites

Before we jump in, make sure you've got:

• A Sendy installation (duh!)
• Your Sendy API credentials
• A Node.js environment ready to roll

Got all that? Great! Let's get our hands dirty.

Setting Up Webhook Endpoints

First things first, we need somewhere for those webhooks to land. Let's whip up a quick Express.js server:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => {
  console.log('Webhook received:', req.body);
  res.sendStatus(200);
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Webhook server running on port 3000'));

Simple, right? This sets up a /webhook endpoint that'll catch all our Sendy events.

Configuring Webhooks in Sendy

Now, let's tell Sendy where to send those webhooks. We'll use the Sendy API for this:

const axios = require('axios');

async function registerWebhook() {
  try {
    const response = await axios.post('https://your-sendy-url/api/webhooks/create', {
      api_key: 'your-api-key',
      event: 'subscribe',
      url: 'https://your-webhook-url.com/webhook'
    });
    console.log('Webhook registered:', response.data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error registering webhook:', error);
  }
}

registerWebhook();

Boom! You've just registered a webhook for subscription events.

Handling Webhook Events

Sendy can send various events like subscribe, unsubscribe, campaign_sent, etc. Here's how you might handle a subscription event:

app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => {
  const { event, data } = req.body;
  
  if (event === 'subscribe') {
    console.log('New subscriber:', data.email);
    // Do something cool with the new subscriber
  }
  
  res.sendStatus(200);
});

Securing Webhooks

Security first, folks! Let's add some signature verification:

const crypto = require('crypto');

function verifyWebhookSignature(req, secret) {
  const signature = req.headers['x-sendy-signature'];
  const hmac = crypto.createHmac('sha256', secret);
  const digest = hmac.update(JSON.stringify(req.body)).digest('hex');
  return signature === digest;
}

app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => {
  if (!verifyWebhookSignature(req, 'your-webhook-secret')) {
    return res.status(401).send('Invalid signature');
  }
  // Process the webhook...
});

Error Handling and Retry Logic

Sometimes things go wrong. Let's be prepared:

app.post('/webhook', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    await processWebhook(req.body);
    res.sendStatus(200);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error processing webhook:', error);
    res.status(500).send('Webhook processing failed');
    // Implement retry logic here
  }
});

async function processWebhook(data, retries = 3) {
  try {
    // Process the webhook data
  } catch (error) {
    if (retries > 0) {
      console.log(`Retrying... (${retries} attempts left)`);
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
      return processWebhook(data, retries - 1);
    }
    throw error;
  }
}

Testing Webhooks

Testing locally? No problem! Use ngrok to expose your local server:

ngrok http 3000

Then use the ngrok URL when registering your webhook with Sendy. Easy peasy!

Monitoring and Debugging

Keep an eye on those webhooks:

app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => {
  console.log('Webhook received:', JSON.stringify(req.body, null, 2));
  // Process the webhook...
});

Conclusion

And there you have it! You're now a Sendy webhook wizard. Remember, webhooks are powerful tools for creating responsive, user-centric applications. So go forth and webhook all the things!

Want to dive deeper? Check out the Sendy API docs for more advanced webhook goodness. Happy coding!