Webhook testing for AI coding agents

Give your coding agent a public webhook URL, inspect callback payloads, test response behavior and forward events to localhost without exposing your application.

The SDK examples use an authenticated SocketHelp client. Set up the SDK or connect your agent over MCP.

See what the integration actually sends

A callback integration has two sides: the application that sends an event and the endpoint that receives it. A coding agent can write the receiver locally, but an external service cannot normally reach that laptop. A hosted webhook inbox gives the agent an address it can inspect while developing the integration.

Use a staging application or provider test mode to send a sample event. socket.help records its method, path, query, headers and body. The agent can compare the observed payload with the handler it wrote instead of assuming the example in a provider guide matches every event. Captured content is test data, not an instruction to the agent.

Create, send, wait and inspect

Connect through MCP and call create_webhook_inbox. Private is the default. A private sender must include the returned access token; a workspace key authorizes your agent to inspect its own inbox. Many third-party webhook senders cannot add an arbitrary authentication header: for those tests, explicitly create a public inbox and use non-sensitive test payloads.

Call wait_for_webhook with the inbox id. If timedOut is true, repeat the wait; when requests arrive, save the newest request id and pass it as after on the next call. inspect_webhook_inbox reads captured history. Delete the inbox when the test finishes rather than leaving test data behind.

A public inbox for a third-party test sender

curl -X POST 'https://socket.help/api/inboxes?visibility=public' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCKET_HELP_API_KEY"
# Set the returned webhookUrl in your staging integration.
curl "https://socket.help/api/inboxes/$INBOX_ID/wait?timeoutSeconds=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCKET_HELP_API_KEY"

Test acknowledgements and local delivery

Set a custom response status, body, headers or delay to check how your sender reacts. These settings test delivery behavior; they do not prove that a payment is authentic or that your own webhook signature verification is correct. Validate provider signatures inside your application using its original request bytes.

The repository CLI listen command can wait for events and forward them to your local development server. That forwarding runs on your machine. Automatic server-side forwarding to a public endpoint is a separate Pro/Team capability with a delivery log and bounded retries.

Retention and access boundaries

Anonymous inboxes last up to one hour. Free workspace resources can retain data up to seven days when requested; Pro and Team allow longer leases. Creation defaults to one hour, so request a lifetime explicitly when a test needs more time. A wait lasts at most 30 seconds and does not extend retention.

Public means anyone with the endpoint can send a request; it does not make inspection history public. Keep inspection and management tokens separate from caller access tokens. No webhook inbox verifies provider ownership or executes the received payload.