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Typeform Webhooks

TL;DR

To integrate Typeform webhooks with ngrok:

  1. Launch your local webhook. npm start
  2. Launch ngrok. ngrok http 3000
  3. Configure Typeform webhooks with your ngrok URL.
  4. Secure your webhook requests with verification.

This guide covers how to use ngrok to integrate your localhost app with Typeform by using Webhooks. Typeform webhooks can be used to notify an external application whenever specific events occur in your Typeform account.

By integrating ngrok with Typeform, you can:

  • Develop and test Typeform webhooks locally, eliminating the time in deploying your development code to a public environment and setting it up in HTTPS.
  • Inspect and troubleshoot requests from Typeform in real-time via the inspection UI and API.
  • Modify and Replay Typeform Webhook requests with a single click and without spending time reproducing events manually in your Typeform account.
  • Secure your app with Typeform validation provided by ngrok. Invalid requests are blocked by ngrok before reaching your app.

Step 1: Start your app​

For this tutorial, we'll use the sample NodeJS app available on GitHub.

To install this sample, run the following commands in a terminal:

git clone https://github.com/ngrok/ngrok-webhook-nodejs-sample.git
cd ngrok-webhook-nodejs-sample
npm install

This will get the project installed locally.

Now you can launch the app by running the following command:

npm start

The app runs by default on port 3000.

You can validate that the app is up and running by visiting http://localhost:3000. The application logs request headers and body in the terminal and responds with a message in the browser.

Step 2: Launch ngrok​

Once your app is running successfully on localhost, let's get it on the internet securely using ngrok!

  1. If you're not an ngrok user yet, just sign up for ngrok for free.

  2. Download the ngrok agent.

  3. Go to the ngrok dashboard and copy your Authtoken.
    Tip: The ngrok agent uses the auth token to log into your account when you start a tunnel.

  4. Start ngrok by running the following command:

    ngrok http 3000

  5. ngrok will display a URL where your localhost application is exposed to the internet (copy this URL for use with Typeform). ngrok agent running

Step 3: Integrate Typeform​

To register a webhook on your Typeform account follow the instructions below:

  1. Access Typeform and sign in using your Typeform account.

  2. On your workspace click one of the forms you have listed. Note: If you don't have a form created, click Create typeform, click Create it for me, and then click Publish.

  3. On your form page, click Connect on the top menu, click the WEBHOOKS tab, and then click Add a webhook.

  4. On the Add a webhook popup, enter the URL provided by the ngrok agent to expose your application to the internet in the Endpoint field (i.e. https://1a2b-3c4d-5e6f-7g8h-9i0j.sa.ngrok.io). URL to Publish

  5. Click Save Webhook.

  6. On the Webhook page, click the Webhook switch to turn it on, click Edit, enter 12345 in the Secret field, and then click Save changes. URL to Publish

Run Webhooks with Typeform and ngrok​

Typeform sends a post request to your application whenever someone submits a new typeform. You can trigger new calls from Typeform to your application by following the instructions below.

  1. In the same browser, access Typeform admin console, click the name of your typeform, click Share on the top menu, click Copy link and then open this link in a new web browser tab or window.

  2. Answer the questions in your typeform, and then click Submit at the end of the form flow.

    Confirm your localhost app receives the create-project event notification and logs both headers and body in the terminal.

Alternatively, you can verify the log of the webhook call in Typeform:

  1. Access the Typeform admin console, click the name of your typeform, click Connect on the top menu, click the WEBHOOKS tab, and then click View deliveries. Webhook Logs

Inspecting requests​

When you launch the ngrok agent on your local machine, you can see two links:

  • The URL to your app (it ends with ngrok-free.app for free accounts or ngrok.app for paid accounts when not using custom domains)
  • A local URL for the Web Interface (a.k.a Request Inspector).

The Request Inspector shows all the requests made through your ngrok tunnel to your localhost app. When you click on a request, you can see details of both the request and the response.

Seeing requests is an excellent way of validating the data sent to and retrieved by your app via the ngrok tunnel. That alone can save you some time dissecting and logging HTTP request and response headers, methods, bodies, and response codes within your app just to confirm you are getting what you expect.

To inspect Typeform's webhooks call, launch the ngrok web interface (i.e. http://127.0.0.1:4040), and then click one of the requests sent by Typeform.

From the results, review the response body, header, and other details:

ngrok Request Inspector

Replaying requests​

The ngrok Request Inspector provides a replay function that you can use to test your code without the need to trigger new events from Typeform. To replay a request:

  1. In the ngrok inspection interface (i.e. http://localhost:4040), select a request from Typeform.

  2. Click Replay to execute the same request to your application or select Replay with modifications to modify the content of the original request before sending the request.

  3. If you choose to Replay with modifications, you can modify any content from the original request. For example, you can modify the title field inside the body of the request.

  4. Click Replay.

Verify that your local application receives the request and logs the corresponding information to the terminal.

Secure webhook requests​

The ngrok signature webhook verification feature allows ngrok to assert that requests from your Typeform webhook are the only traffic allowed to make calls to your localhost app.

Note: This ngrok feature is limited to 500 validations per month on free ngrok accounts. For unlimited, upgrade to Pro or Enterprise.

This is a quick step to add extra protection to your application.

  1. Restart your ngrok agent by running the command, replacing {your webhook secret} with the value of the secret attribute you provided in the webhook registration (See Integrate ngrok and Typeform.):

    ngrok http 3000 --verify-webhook typeform --verify-webhook-secret {your webhook secret}

  2. Access your form URL, answer the questions of your typeform, and then click Submit at the end of the form flow.

Verify that your local application receives the request and logs information to the terminal.