Webhooks, without the code
A webhook is how one app tells another that something just happened. These notes explain the idea, the address you paste, what's in the message and how automation and AI tools use it.
All the notes
- What is a webhook?A webhook is an automatic message one app sends to another when something happens. Here's what it means when a tool says it can send or receive one.
- Webhook or API: what is the difference?Ask an app for data with an API, or let the app tell you with a webhook. Here's how to tell which one a tool is using and when each one fits.
- The webhook URL: what it is and who should see itThe long address you paste into an app to receive a webhook is a private endpoint. Here's what it is, where it comes from and how to look after it.
- What is inside a webhook messageA webhook message has headers, a JSON body and usually an event name. Here's what each part means and where to find it in an automation tool.
- Webhook steps in automation toolsHow Zapier, Make and n8n each start a workflow from a webhook, based on their own documentation, with the facts checked on 24 October 2026.
- Passing webhook data to an AI step safelyWhat should and shouldn't go from a webhook into an AI prompt, including how to keep customer data and secrets out and treat incoming text as untrusted.