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Webhooks

A webhook is an automated message from one system to another after certain criteria are met. In Braze, this criteria is usually the triggering of a custom event. Webhooks provide dynamic and flexible access to data and programmatic functionality, and empower you to set up customer journeys that streamline processes.

Prerequisites

Webhooks availability depends on your Braze package. Contact your account manager or customer success manager to get started.

Use cases

Webhooks are an excellent way to connect your systems together—after all, webhooks are how apps communicate. Here are some general scenarios where webhooks can be particularly useful:

  • Sending data to and from Braze
  • Sending messages to your customers via channels not directly supported by Braze
  • Posting to Braze APIs

Some more specific use cases include the following:

  • Create a lead-scoring workflow using webhooks and Canvas to qualify and route leads.
  • If a user unsubscribes from email, you could have a webhook update your analytics database or CRM with that same information, ensuring a holistic view of that user’s behavior.
  • Send transactional messages to users within Facebook Messenger or Line.
  • Send direct mail to customers in response to their in-app and web activity by using webhooks to communicate with third-party services like Lob.com.
  • If a gamer reaches a certain level or accrues a certain number of points, use webhooks and your existing API setup to send a character upgrade or coins directly to their account. If you send the webhook as part of a multichannel messaging campaign, you can send a push or other message to let the gamer know about the reward at the same time.
  • If you’re an airline, you can use webhooks and your existing API setup to credit a customer’s account with a discount after they’ve booked a certain number of flights.
  • Endless “If This Then That” (IFTTT) recipes–for instance, if a customer signs into the app through email, then that address can automatically be configured into Salesforce.

Webhook error handling and rate limiting

Braze retries webhook delivery only for certain HTTP responses (for example, 408, 429, and 5XX). Most other responses, including 401 Unauthorized and other 4XX errors, are not retried. Response headers such as Retry-After and X-Rate-Limit-* can influence backoff timing when a response is already eligible for retry; they do not cause Braze to retry errors that are outside the retriable set.

For the full response code table, retry limits, and timeout behavior, see Response codes and retry logic.

If the majority of webhook requests to a specific host are failing, Braze temporarily defers all send attempts to that host. Sending resumes after a defined cooldown period, allowing your system to recover.

Using webhooks with Braze partners

There are many ways to use webhooks, and with our technology partners (Alloys), you can use webhooks to level up your communication directly with your customers and users.

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