Using Webhooks as an Add-on Partner

Last updated September 20, 2022

Heroku webhooks provide subscription to HTTP notifications when things change. Add-on Partners may track many kinds of events relating to their resources on apps, domains, builds, releases, attachments, dynos, and more.

Webhook integration requires subscribing via the Platform API and implementing endpoints to receive events. This document provides details on how to subscribe and receive notifications.

Creating a Webhook Subscription

Before you will receive any events, you subscribe via:

POST api.heroku.com/addons/<uuid>/webhooks
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

{
  "authorization":  "Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include":  [
    "api:app",
  ],
  "level":  "sync",
  "url":  "https://myaddon.example.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
}

Replace <uuid> with the add-on instance uuid returned during resource provisioning request.

Webhook subscription requests include these parameters:

Required

  • include - One or more event types your server will receive. For instance, api:app events provide notification for changes to app name, web url, and more. See below for event options and details.
  • level - Delivery behavior, either notify or sync. notify provides a single “fire and forget” delivery attempt, while sync attempts multiple deliveries until successful or timed out.
  • url - URL for receiver

Specifics of the sync notification level are still under development. As of this writing, sync retries 180 times over roughly seven days. Retry delay increases exponentially until it reaches an hour, after which retries occur hourly until the timeout is reached. As deliveries are intended to be ordered, further deliveries for that subscription will be delayed during retries. If this causes the backlog to grow overly large, we may fail additional events. If the overall failure rate grows high enough we might also disable the subscription. Delivery status can be checked via the webhook-deliveries endpoint, described below.

Optional

  • authorization - A secret shared with the receiver. Deliveries will set this as Authorization header to allow protection from unauthorized posting. The example uses the Bearer authentication scheme, but a string of your choice is allowed.
  • secret - Value to sign delivery with. Deliveries will set the HMAC-SHA256 of the body using this secret as the Heroku-Webhook-Hmac-SHA256 header.

If the secret is omitted, a generated value will be returned in the Heroku-Webhook-Secret header. After creation, this value is not repeated, so it must be captured at this point. Otherwise you may PATCH the webhook to update the secret later.

Partner Event Includes

As of this writing, partners may include these events in subscriptions:

some events require additional permissions, request access to include following events:

These events will be sent when updates happen to the add-on or an app it is associated with, for details see Webhook Events for Partners

Managing Subscriptions

After creating subscriptions, you may need to review or delete them.

You can request the list of webhooks on an add-on:

GET api.heroku.com/addons/<uuid>/webhooks
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

[{
  "addon": {
    "id":  "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "name":  "acme-inc-primary-database"
  },
  "created_at":  "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "id":  "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include":  [
    "api:app",
  ],
  "level":  "sync",
  "url":  "https://myaddon.example.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "updated_at":  "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
}]

You can look up details for a particular webhook on an add-on:

GET api.heroku.com/addons/<uuid>/webhooks/<uuid>
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

{
  "addon": {
    "id":  "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "name":  "acme-inc-primary-database"
  },
  "created_at":  "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "id":  "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include":  [
    "api:app",
  ],
  "level":  "sync",
  "url":  "https://myaddon.example.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "updated_at":  "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
}

Finally, you can delete an existing webhook from an add-on:

DELETE api.heroku.com/addons/<uuid>/webhooks/<uuid>
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

{
  "addon": {
    "id":  "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "name":  "acme-inc-primary-database"
  },
  "created_at":  "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "id":  "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include":  [
    "api:app",
  ],
  "level":  "sync",
  "url":  "https://myaddon.example.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "updated_at":  "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
}

Receiving webhooks

When webhook events are matched, they will make a post request to your server. The Authorization header will match the authorization value from webhook creation and Heroku-Webhook-Hmac-SHA256 will contain the signature obtained from signing the body with the secret value from webhook creation. The result will be a request similar to this:

POST myaddon.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Authorization: Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Heroku-Webhook-Hmac-SHA256: cLM15U5x+jHEkANnVasRwBw2yEHu94pXdjcT9Hajc1M=

{
  "action": "update",
  "actor": {
    "email": "user-0436@example.com",
    "id": "096370c8-f3ad-4e20-a309-fb4f06ec0a89"
  },
  "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
  "id": "d472a8bb-1a3c-4f78-aad1-995e6d0022ec",
  "data": {
    "archived_at": null,
    "buildpack_provided_description": "Ruby/Rails",
    "build_stack": {
      "id": "5e854079-da33-475b-a209-77f527c0e2fb",
      "name": "cedar-14"
    },
    "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
    "id": "d4714cc8-aa56-4314-817c-0c6a66ff3d41",
    "git_url": "https://git.heroku.com/sample-app-0301.git",
    "maintenance": false,
    "name": "sample-app-0301",
    "owner": {
      "email": "user-0436@example.com",
      "id": "096370c8-f3ad-4e20-a309-fb4f06ec0a89"
    },
    "region": {
      "id": "7044c05a-0873-42c2-abbe-6841c5481ba7",
      "name": "us"
    },
    "organization": null,
    "space": null,
    "released_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
    "repo_size": 1048576,
    "slug_size": null,
    "stack": {
      "id": "5e854079-da33-475b-a209-77f527c0e2fb",
      "name": "cedar-14"
    },
    "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
    "web_url": "https://sample-app-0301.herokuapp.com/"
  },
  "previous_data": {
  },
  "published_at": null,
  "resource": "app",
  "sequence": null,
  "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
  "version": "application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3",
  "webhook_metadata": {
    "attempt": {
      "id": "8a44f820-2354-489d-9a11-a793cbf49979"
    },
    "delivery": {
      "id": "d244009a-670f-4340-88e9-789a4f9002d5"
    },
    "event": {
      "id": "d472a8bb-1a3c-4f78-aad1-995e6d0022ec",
      "include": "api:app"
    },
    "webhook": {
      "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
    }
  }
}

You should always respond with a 200 series status code to indicate delivery success. We will ignore the body of the response, so 204 with an empty body is ideal:

204 No Content

Introspecting deliveries

You can list what we have (or had) enqueued to deliver to you via:

GET api.heroku.com/addons/<uuid>/webhook-deliveries/<uuid>
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

[
  {
    "created_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
    "event": {
      "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
    },
    "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "status": "pending",
    "updated_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
    "webhook": {
      "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
    }
  }
]

By looking at status, which will be one of failure, pending or success and checking the most recent updated_at value you can check to see how many deliveries are queued and how successful delivery has been.

Introspecting events

Examples

When subscribing, you may include one or more include values. Here are some concrete examples of specific includes you might use and what to expect from each.

App Webhooks

To keep track of app details, such as app name changes, subscribe to api:app events via:

POST api.heroku.com/addons/:uuid/webhooks
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

{
  "authorization":  "Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include":  [
    "api:app",
  ],
  "level":  "sync",
  "url":  "https://myaddon.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
}

The response would look something like this:

200 OK
Heroku-Webhook-Secret: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789ab

{
  "addon": {
    "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "name": "acme-inc-primary-database"
  },
  "created_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include": [
    "release"
  ],
  "level": "notify",
  "updated_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "url": "example"
}

For subsequent formation changes, you would receive something like:

POST myaddon.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Authorization: Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Heroku-Webhook-Hmac-SHA256: cLM15U5x+jHEkANnVasRwBw2yEHu94pXdjcT9Hajc1M=

{
  "action": "update",
  "actor": {
    "email": "user-0436@example.com",
    "id": "096370c8-f3ad-4e20-a309-fb4f06ec0a89"
  },
  "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
  "id": "d472a8bb-1a3c-4f78-aad1-995e6d0022ec",
  "data": {
    "archived_at": null,
    "buildpack_provided_description": "Ruby/Rails",
    "build_stack": {
      "id": "5e854079-da33-475b-a209-77f527c0e2fb",
      "name": "cedar-14"
    },
    "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
    "id": "d4714cc8-aa56-4314-817c-0c6a66ff3d41",
    "git_url": "https://git.heroku.com/sample-app-0301.git",
    "maintenance": false,
    "name": "sample-app-0301",
    "owner": {
      "email": "user-0436@example.com",
      "id": "096370c8-f3ad-4e20-a309-fb4f06ec0a89"
    },
    "region": {
      "id": "7044c05a-0873-42c2-abbe-6841c5481ba7",
      "name": "us"
    },
    "organization": null,
    "space": null,
    "released_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
    "repo_size": 1048576,
    "slug_size": null,
    "stack": {
      "id": "5e854079-da33-475b-a209-77f527c0e2fb",
      "name": "cedar-14"
    },
    "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
    "web_url": "https://sample-app-0301.herokuapp.com/"
  },
  "previous_data": {
  },
  "published_at": null,
  "resource": "app",
  "sequence": null,
  "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:14Z",
  "version": "application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3",
  "webhook_metadata": {
    "attempt": {
      "id": "8a44f820-2354-489d-9a11-a793cbf49979"
    },
    "delivery": {
      "id": "d244009a-670f-4340-88e9-789a4f9002d5"
    },
    "event": {
      "id": "d472a8bb-1a3c-4f78-aad1-995e6d0022ec",
      "include": "api:app"
    },
    "webhook": {
      "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
    }
  }
}

You should respond with a 200 series status code to indicate delivery success. We will ignore the body of the response, so in most cases you should respond something like this:

204 No Content

Release Webhooks

To keep track of app releases, similar to existing deployhooks, you can subscribe to api:release events via:

POST api.heroku.com/addons/:uuid/webhooks
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

{
  "authorization":  "Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include":  [
    "api:release",
  ],
  "level":  "sync",
  "url":  "https://myaddon.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
}

The response would look something like this:

200 OK
Heroku-Webhook-Secret: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789ab

{
  "addon": {
    "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "name": "acme-inc-primary-database"
  },
  "created_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include": [
    "release"
  ],
  "level": "notify",
  "updated_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "url": "example"
}

For subsequent formation changes, you would receive something like:

POST myaddon.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Authorization: Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Heroku-Webhook-Hmac-SHA256: cLM15U5x+jHEkANnVasRwBw2yEHu94pXdjcT9Hajc1M=

{
  "action": "create",
  "actor": {
    "email": "heroku-postgresql@addons.heroku.com",
    "id": "f87b5e7e-4631-46cc-9912-9fcdbbb6c985"
  },
  "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:29Z",
  "id": "b6a68e77-8c13-41c8-b30c-b50cca7a608a",
  "data": {
    "addon_plan_names": [
      "heroku-postgresql:hobby-dev"
    ],
    "app": {
      "id": "44dc9c7a-771c-4a9e-bfe9-a8dbc1c55f4d",
      "name": "sample-app-0339"
    },
    "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:29Z",
    "description": "Update DATABASE by heroku-postgresql",
    "status": "succeeded",
    "id": "5f1463a4-0210-43ba-b906-52599e246482",
    "slug": null,
    "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:29Z",
    "user": {
      "email": "heroku-postgresql@addons.heroku.com",
      "id": "f87b5e7e-4631-46cc-9912-9fcdbbb6c985"
    },
    "version": 3,
    "current": true
  },
  "previous_data": {
  },
  "published_at": null,
  "resource": "release",
  "sequence": null,
  "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:50:29Z",
  "version": "application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3",
  "webhook_metadata": {
    "attempt": {
      "id": "8a44f820-2354-489d-9a11-a793cbf49979"
    },
    "delivery": {
      "id": "d244009a-670f-4340-88e9-789a4f9002d5"
    },
    "event": {
      "id": "b6a68e77-8c13-41c8-b30c-b50cca7a608a",
      "include": "api:release"
    },
    "webhook": {
      "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
    }
  }
}

You should respond with a 200 series status code to indicate delivery success. We will ignore the body of the response, so in most cases you should respond something like this:

204 No Content

Formation Webhooks (extra permission required)

To keep track of the quantity and size of running dynos that are attached to an add-on instance, subscribe to api:formation events via:

POST api.heroku.com/addons/:uuid/webhooks
Accept: application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3

{
  "authorization":  "Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include":  [
    "api:formation",
  ],
  "level":  "sync",
  "url":  "https://myaddon.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
}

The response would look something like this:

200 OK
Heroku-Webhook-Secret: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789ab

{
  "addon": {
    "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "name": "acme-inc-primary-database"
  },
  "created_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
  "include": [
    "release"
  ],
  "level": "notify",
  "updated_at": "2015-01-01T12:00:00Z",
  "url": "example"
}

For subsequent formation changes, you would receive something like:

POST myaddon.com/webhooks/01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Authorization: Bearer 01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef
Heroku-Webhook-Hmac-SHA256: cLM15U5x+jHEkANnVasRwBw2yEHu94pXdjcT9Hajc1M=

{
  "action": "update",
  "actor": {
    "email": "user-0297@example.com",
    "id": "2530e242-a531-4d37-99ab-d8997e2335d0"
  },
  "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:49:29Z",
  "id": "89d9e649-1ecf-464e-a15d-86c15365fc40",
  "data": {
    "app": {
      "id": "b225a8d2-1602-42c3-a1a2-98c3c266cc0d",
      "name": "sample-app-0197"
    },
    "command": "ruby server.rb",
    "created_at": "2016-10-26T22:49:29Z",
    "id": "13f27e47-df06-48a1-92be-f521babd9060",
    "type": "web",
    "quantity": 0,
    "size": "1X",
    "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:49:29Z"
  },
  "previous_data": {
    "quantity": 1
  },
  "published_at": null,
  "resource": "formation",
  "sequence": null,
  "updated_at": "2016-10-26T22:49:29Z",
  "version": "application/vnd.heroku+json; version=3",
  "webhook_metadata": {
    "attempt": {
      "id": "8a44f820-2354-489d-9a11-a793cbf49979"
    },
    "delivery": {
      "id": "d244009a-670f-4340-88e9-789a4f9002d5"
    },
    "event": {
      "id": "89d9e649-1ecf-464e-a15d-86c15365fc40",
      "include": "api:formation"
    },
    "webhook": {
      "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef"
    }
  }
}

You should respond with a 200 series status code to indicate delivery success. We will ignore the body of the response, so in most cases you should respond something like this:

204 No Content

FAQ

Are collaborator webhooks sufficient to mirror user access of our add-on with the Heroku app?

No. For apps owned by enterprise and team accounts, you also would need to track user roles. We do not expose this functionality as a webhook yet. See this article for a polling-based approach.

Note that mirroring permissions is usually only necessary if you are giving access to your add-on via an additional authentication beyond the Heroku-provided Add-on SSO.

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