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What does "webhook" mean in programming?

webhook is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.

Definition

A mechanism for one service to notify another of an event by making an HTTP request to a URL when something happens, rather than the receiving service having to poll. 'Push' instead of 'pull'. Stripe, GitHub, and Twilio all use webhooks to notify your application of events like payments, pushes, and SMS delivery.

Example

"Stripe sends a webhook to our /payments/webhook endpoint when a payment succeeds. We use that to update the order status."

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