Understanding How Webhooks Work On Identitypass

Webhooks are a simple way to make your online accounts “speak/communicate” with one another and receive automatic notifications when something new occurs. It enables you to send real-time data from one application to another when a specific event occurs. Webhooks are sometimes referred to as “reverse APIs” because communication is initiated by the application sending the information rather than the application accepting it. Unlike traditional APIs, webhooks do not require you to poll for data frequently to receive real-time results; instead, you get notified automatically when a specific event occurs.

If you want to push data from one app to another automatically, you’ll need to know how to use webhooks in many cases. A webhook is programmed so that the receiving application provides a webhook URL, which functions similarly to a phone number the other application can call when an event occurs. However, it is more complicated than a phone number because event data is sent to the webhook URL in JSON or XML format. This data is referred to as the “payload.” A webhook notifies you whenever someone checks in, allowing you to run any processes you have in your application once this event is triggered. The data is further transmitted through the application where the event occurred to the receiving application that handles the data.

In this article, we will break it down further and show you how to set up your webhook so your apps and Identitypass products can communicate.

How Does Webhook work on Identitypass?

When you integrate any of Identitypass’ endpoints into your app/website and activate your webhook URL, Identitypass sends webhooks to your webhook URL whenever a specific verification event occurs. This enables you to take the necessary action on your app/website, which could include instantly verifying and onboarding a customer based on the nature of the event and data received.

After successfully integrating Identitypass’s APIs and configuring a webhook URL, you can receive various webhook events on your web service. When particular actions occur in Identitypass, an event is triggered, sending a structured payload to your configured webhook URL.

Benefits of using Webhooks

Convenience

Webhooks are a convenient way to send information to other applications without having to set up complicated processes or risk missing crucial information. This action is equivalent to receiving an alert when something changes in an application rather than checking it regularly, reducing wait times and enabling real-time data transfers. These instant transfers make your work more efficient because you can use a webhook in your code to deliver data rather than creating a longer process.

Automation

Webhooks allow you to automate data transfer processes more efficiently. Because a webhook can instantly share data, it aids in the creation of events that you want to repeat when the same triggering event occurs multiple times. For example, on Identitypass, if you verify a customer’s ID and don’t get an instant response, your request status will be set to “pending.” The data will be confirmed once the service is back up and sent directly to your webhook URL/link.

Smooth Integration

When you’re developing a new app and want to use webhooks to connect with existing apps, it’s usually a simple process because many apps support webhooks integration. This process is helpful if you want to build an app that includes notifications, messages, or events based on the activity of other apps.

Steps to Setting Up Webhooks On Identitypass

You must first configure a webhook on Identitypass before receiving any webhook events on your servers. When a specific event occurs, you will be able to receive data responses via a webhook URL. In this case, Identitypass will be the application that sends this data, while your app will receive it. As a business owner, you can always customize how your webhook works. Let’s take you through how to configure your webhook on Identitypass.

• Log in to your dashboard.

• Navigate to Settings from the sidebar

• Click on the Merchant Profile tab.

• Edit the Webhook URL: This is where you input your reachable webhook endpoint. We will send the verification response data directly to this webhook link.

• Save your update

Authorization and Security for Identitypass Webhook

Every webhook event sent to your URL contains two headers. Whenever we send a webhook response to our customers, it comes with two titles:

• X-Identitypass Signature: This is a base64 encoding of your public key and is permanently attached to the data sent to your webhook URL.
• Token: This is a unique verification reference generated by Identitypass. This token will make it easier for you to verify that the source of your response data is Identitypass.

You can use these two headers to confirm that the data coming to the endpoint are from our system, and we also recommend you verify the host of every request and make sure it is coming from our API BASE URL.

How to Set up Webhook For Developers

As a developer, you can seamlessly set up webhooks using any of our SDKs. Our library SDKs support any programming language, including React JS and React Native. With these, you can embed our widget into your website/tech stack. Your customers will now directly get onboarded and verify their identities from your website/app through our verification widget pop-up without necessarily coming through us. Please find all information on our documentation page.

Are you interested in integrating any of our products? Sign up on Identitypass or reach out to us at [email protected].

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any feedback or feature requests that would help us better serve your needs. Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on our latest announcements.