Stripe uses webhooks to notify your application when events happen in your account, such as successful payments, subscription changes, disputes, and payouts. Stripe webhooks are critical for building reliable payment flows.
Stripe webhooks are HTTP POST requests that Stripe sends to your server when specific events occur in your account. Rather than continuously polling the Stripe API for updates, webhooks deliver real-time notifications the moment something happens — a payment completes, a user signs up, a deployment finishes, or any other tracked event.
Debugging these webhooks can be challenging because they originate from Stripe's servers, not your browser. You can't simply open DevTools to inspect them. That's where WebhookVault comes in — capture every Stripe webhook, inspect the full payload and headers, and replay them to your local development server.
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| checkout.session.completed | Fired when a customer completes a Checkout Session payment |
| payment_intent.succeeded | Fired when a PaymentIntent successfully completes a payment |
| invoice.payment_failed | Fired when a subscription invoice payment attempt fails |
| customer.subscription.deleted | Fired when a customer's subscription is canceled |
Follow these steps to start capturing and debugging Stripe webhooks using WebhookVault.
Sign up for a free WebhookVault API key and create an endpoint to capture Stripe webhooks.
curl -X POST https://webhookvault.anethoth.com/api/v1/endpoints \
-H "Authorization: Bearer wv_your_key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name": "Stripe Webhooks"}'
# Response:
# {"url": "https://webhookvault.anethoth.com/hook/abc123", "inspect_url": "https://webhookvault.anethoth.com/inspect/abc123"}Go to the Stripe Dashboard > Developers > Webhooks Click 'Add endpoint' and paste your WebhookVault URL Select the events you want to receive (e.g., checkout.session.completed) Save the webhook signing secret for signature verification
Once Stripe sends a webhook, you can inspect every detail through the WebhookVault API or web inspector.
curl https://webhookvault.anethoth.com/api/v1/endpoints/abc123/requests \
-H "Authorization: Bearer wv_your_key"
# Returns all captured Stripe webhook requests with full headers, body, and metadataReplay any captured Stripe webhook to your local development server for testing.
curl -X POST https://webhookvault.anethoth.com/api/v1/endpoints/abc123/requests/1/replay \
-H "Authorization: Bearer wv_your_key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "http://localhost:3000/webhook"}'
# The original Stripe webhook is replayed to your local serverHere is an example of a typical Stripe webhook payload. Use WebhookVault to capture real payloads from your Stripe account for accurate testing.
{
"id": "evt_1OqGkR2eZvKYlo2C8V1n7eZ5",
"object": "event",
"type": "checkout.session.completed",
"data": {
"object": {
"id": "cs_test_a1b2c3",
"object": "checkout.session",
"amount_total": 2000,
"currency": "usd",
"customer": "cus_P1a2b3c4",
"payment_status": "paid",
"status": "complete"
}
},
"livemode": false,
"created": 1706000000
}Here are the most common issues developers encounter when working with Stripe webhooks, and how to resolve them.
Stripe signs every webhook with a secret. Make sure you're using the correct webhook signing secret (whsec_...) from your Stripe dashboard, not your API key.
Stripe does not guarantee event ordering. Always fetch the latest object state from the API rather than relying solely on webhook data.
Stripe may send the same event multiple times. Implement idempotency by tracking the event ID and skipping duplicates.
Stripe retries failed deliveries for up to 3 days with exponential backoff. Check your handler for unhandled exceptions.
Stripe webhooks are HTTP callbacks that Stripe sends to your server when specific events occur. Instead of polling the Stripe API for changes, webhooks push real-time notifications to your application, making your integration more efficient and responsive.
Use WebhookVault to capture Stripe webhooks in the cloud, then replay them to your localhost. Create a WebhookVault endpoint, configure Stripe to send webhooks to it, and use the replay API to forward captured requests to http://localhost:3000/webhook (or your local port).
Most webhook providers, including Stripe, sign their webhook payloads to prove authenticity. Check the Stripe documentation for the specific signature header and verification algorithm. Use WebhookVault to capture and inspect the raw headers to debug signature verification issues.
Unlike ngrok, WebhookVault captures and stores every webhook request with full headers and payloads. You can replay any Stripe webhook to your local server as many times as needed, inspect historical requests, and share webhook data with your team. No tunnel to maintain or port to expose.
Create a free WebhookVault endpoint in seconds. Capture, inspect, and replay Stripe webhooks with zero configuration.
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