@octokit/webhooks

What is @octokit/webhooks?

@octokit/webhooks is a Node.js library for handling GitHub webhooks. It provides a simple and efficient way to listen for and respond to GitHub webhook events, making it easier to integrate GitHub with your applications.

What are @octokit/webhooks's main functionalities?

Webhook Event Handling

This feature allows you to handle specific GitHub webhook events, such as 'push'. The code sample demonstrates setting up a webhook listener for 'push' events and starting an HTTP server to listen for incoming webhook requests.

const { Webhooks } = require('@octokit/webhooks');
const webhooks = new Webhooks({ secret: 'mysecret' });

webhooks.on('push', ({ id, name, payload }) => {
  console.log(name, 'event received');
  console.log('Payload:', payload);
});

require('http').createServer(webhooks.middleware).listen(3000);

Webhook Signature Verification

This feature allows you to verify the signature of incoming webhook requests to ensure they are from GitHub. The code sample demonstrates how to verify a webhook signature using a secret.

const { verify } = require('@octokit/webhooks');

const payload = JSON.stringify({ foo: 'bar' });
const signature = 'sha256=abcdef1234567890';
const secret = 'mysecret';

const isValid = verify(secret, payload, signature);
console.log('Signature is valid:', isValid);

Webhook Event Routing

This feature allows you to route different webhook events to specific handlers. The code sample demonstrates setting up a general event handler for all events and a specific handler for 'issues.opened' events.

const { Webhooks } = require('@octokit/webhooks');
const webhooks = new Webhooks({ secret: 'mysecret' });

webhooks.on('*', ({ id, name, payload }) => {
  console.log(`Received event: ${name}`);
});

webhooks.on('issues.opened', ({ id, name, payload }) => {
  console.log('Issue opened:', payload.issue.title);
});

require('http').createServer(webhooks.middleware).listen(3000);

Other packages similar to @octokit/webhooks

express-github-webhook

express-github-webhook is a lightweight middleware for Express.js to handle GitHub webhooks. It is simpler and more focused on Express.js integration compared to @octokit/webhooks, which offers a broader range of features and integrations.

node-github-webhook

node-github-webhook is a basic Node.js library for handling GitHub webhooks. It provides a straightforward way to listen for webhook events but lacks some of the advanced features and flexibility of @octokit/webhooks.

github-webhook-handler

github-webhook-handler is a Node.js library for handling GitHub webhooks. It is similar to @octokit/webhooks in terms of functionality but is more minimalistic and does not offer the same level of integration and additional features.

README

@octokit/webhooks

GitHub webhook events toolset for Node.js

• Usage
• Local development
• API
  • Constructor
  • webhooks.sign()
  • webhooks.verify()
  • webhooks.verifyAndReceive()
  • webhooks.receive()
  • webhooks.on()
  • webhooks.onAny()
  • webhooks.onError()
  • webhooks.removeListener()
  • createNodeMiddleware()
  • Webhook events
  • emitterEventNames
• TypeScript
  • EmitterWebhookEventName
  • EmitterWebhookEvent
• License

@octokit/webhooks helps to handle webhook events received from GitHub.

GitHub webhooks can be registered in multiple ways

• In repository or organization settings on github.com.
• Using the REST API for repositories or organizations
• By creating a GitHub App.

Note that while setting a secret is optional on GitHub, it is required to be set in order to use @octokit/webhooks. Content Type must be set to application/json, application/x-www-form-urlencoded is not supported.

Usage

// install with: npm install @octokit/webhooks
import { Webhooks, createNodeMiddleware } from "@octokit/webhooks";
import { createServer } from "node:http";
const webhooks = new Webhooks({
  secret: "mysecret",
});

webhooks.onAny(({ id, name, payload }) => {
  console.log(name, "event received");
});

createServer(createNodeMiddleware(webhooks)).listen(3000);
// can now receive webhook events at /api/github/webhooks

Local development

You can receive webhooks on your local machine or even browser using EventSource and smee.io.

Go to smee.io and Start a new channel. Then copy the "Webhook Proxy URL" and

• enter it in the GitHub App’s "Webhook URL" input
• pass it to the EventSource constructor, see below

const webhookProxyUrl = "https://smee.io/IrqK0nopGAOc847"; // replace with your own Webhook Proxy URL
const source = new EventSource(webhookProxyUrl);
source.onmessage = (event) => {
  const webhookEvent = JSON.parse(event.data);
  webhooks
    .verifyAndReceive({
      id: webhookEvent["x-request-id"],
      name: webhookEvent["x-github-event"],
      signature: webhookEvent["x-hub-signature"],
      payload: JSON.stringify(webhookEvent.body),
    })
    .catch(console.error);
};

EventSource is a native browser API and can be polyfilled for browsers that don’t support it. In node, you can use the eventsource package: install with npm install eventsource, then import EventSource from "eventsource";)

API

• Constructor
• webhooks.sign()
• webhooks.verify()
• webhooks.verifyAndReceive()
• webhooks.receive()
• webhooks.on()
• webhooks.onAny()
• webhooks.onError()
• webhooks.removeListener()
• createNodeMiddleware()
• createWebMiddleware()
• Webhook events
• emitterEventNames

Constructor

new Webhooks({ secret /*, transform */ });

secret (String)	Required. Secret as configured in GitHub Settings.
transform (Function)	Only relevant for webhooks.on. Transform emitted event before calling handlers. Can be asynchronous.
log object	Used for internal logging. Defaults to console with debug and info doing nothing.

Returns the webhooks API.

webhooks.sign()

webhooks.sign(eventPayload);

eventPayload (String)

Required. Webhook request payload as received from GitHub

Returns a signature string. Throws error if eventPayload is not passed.

The sign method can be imported as static method from @octokit/webhooks-methods.

webhooks.verify()

webhooks.verify(eventPayload, signature);

eventPayload (String)	Required. Webhook event request payload as received from GitHub.
signature (String)	Required. Signature string as calculated by webhooks.sign().

Returns true or false. Throws error if eventPayload or signature not passed.

The verify method can be imported as static method from @octokit/webhooks-methods.

webhooks.verifyAndReceive()

webhooks.verifyAndReceive({ id, name, payload, signature });

id String	Unique webhook event request id
name String	Required. Name of the event. (Event names are set as X-GitHub-Event header in the webhook event request.)
payload String	Required. Webhook event request payload as received from GitHub.
signature (String)	Required. Signature string as calculated by webhooks.sign().

Returns a promise.

Verifies event using webhooks.verify(), then handles the event using webhooks.receive().

Additionally, if verification fails, rejects the returned promise and emits an error event.

Example

import { Webhooks } from "@octokit/webhooks";
const webhooks = new Webhooks({
  secret: "mysecret",
});
eventHandler.on("error", handleSignatureVerificationError);

// put this inside your webhooks route handler
eventHandler
  .verifyAndReceive({
    id: request.headers["x-github-delivery"],
    name: request.headers["x-github-event"],
    payload: request.body,
    signature: request.headers["x-hub-signature-256"],
  })
  .catch(handleErrorsFromHooks);

webhooks.receive()

webhooks.receive({ id, name, payload });

id String	Unique webhook event request id
name String	Required. Name of the event. (Event names are set as X-GitHub-Event header in the webhook event request.)
payload Object	Required. Webhook event request payload as received from GitHub.

Returns a promise. Runs all handlers set with webhooks.on() in parallel and waits for them to finish. If one of the handlers rejects or throws an error, then webhooks.receive() rejects. The returned error has an .errors property which holds an array of all errors caught from the handlers. If no errors occur, webhooks.receive() resolves without passing any value.

The .receive() method belongs to the event-handler module which can be used standalone.

webhooks.on()

webhooks.on(eventName, handler);
webhooks.on(eventNames, handler);

eventName String	Required. Name of the event. One of GitHub's supported event names, or (if the event has an action property) the name of an event followed by its action in the form of <event>.<action>.
eventNames Array	Required. Array of event names.
handler Function	Required. Method to be run each time the event with the passed name is received. the handler function can be an async function, throw an error or return a Promise. The handler is called with an event object: {id, name, payload}.

The .on() method belongs to the event-handler module which can be used standalone.

webhooks.onAny()

webhooks.onAny(handler);

handler Function

Required. Method to be run each time any event is received. the handler function can be an async function, throw an error or return a Promise. The handler is called with an event object: {id, name, payload}.

The .onAny() method belongs to the event-handler module which can be used standalone.

webhooks.onError()

webhooks.onError(handler);

If a webhook event handler throws an error or returns a promise that rejects, an error event is triggered. You can use this handler for logging or reporting events. The passed error object has a .event property which has all information on the event.

Asynchronous error event handler are not blocking the .receive() method from completing.

handler Function

Required. Method to be run each time a webhook event handler throws an error or returns a promise that rejects. The handler function can be an async function, return a Promise. The handler is called with an error object that has a .event property which has all the information on the event: {id, name, payload}.

The .onError() method belongs to the event-handler module which can be used standalone.

webhooks.removeListener()

webhooks.removeListener(eventName, handler);
webhooks.removeListener(eventNames, handler);

eventName String	Required. Name of the event. One of GitHub's supported event names, or (if the event has an action property) the name of an event followed by its action in the form of <event>.<action>, or '*' for the onAny() method or 'error' for the onError() method.
eventNames Array	Required. Array of event names.
handler Function	Required. Method which was previously passed to webhooks.on(). If the same handler was registered multiple times for the same event, only the most recent handler gets removed.

The .removeListener() method belongs to the event-handler module which can be used standalone.

createNodeMiddleware()

import { createServer } from "node:http";
import { Webhooks, createNodeMiddleware } from "@octokit/webhooks";

const webhooks = new Webhooks({
  secret: "mysecret",
});

const middleware = createNodeMiddleware(webhooks, { path: "/webhooks" });
createServer(async (req, res) => {
  // `middleware` returns `false` when `req` is unhandled (beyond `/webhooks`)
  if (await middleware(req, res)) return;
  res.writeHead(404);
  res.end();
}).listen(3000);
// can now receive user authorization callbacks at POST /webhooks

The middleware returned from createNodeMiddleware can also serve as an Express.js middleware directly.

webhooks Webhooks instance	Required.
path string	Custom path to match requests against. Defaults to /api/github/webhooks.
log object	Used for internal logging. Defaults to console with debug and info doing nothing.

createWebMiddleware()

import { Webhooks, createWebMiddleware } from "@octokit/webhooks";

const webhooks = new Webhooks({
  secret: "mysecret",
});

const middleware = createWebMiddleware(webhooks, { path: "/webhooks" });

// Example usage in Deno
Deno.serve({ port: 3000 }, middleware);

The middleware returned from createWebMiddleware can also be used in serverless environments like AWS Lambda, Cloudflare Workers, and Vercel.

webhooks Webhooks instance	Required.
path string	Custom path to match requests against. Defaults to /api/github/webhooks.
log object	Used for internal logging. Defaults to console with debug and info doing nothing.

Webhook events

See the full list of event types with example payloads.

If there are actions for a webhook, events are emitted for both, the webhook name as well as a combination of the webhook name and the action, e.g. installation and installation.created.

Event	Actions
branch_protection_configuration	disabled enabled
branch_protection_rule	created deleted edited
check_run	completed created requested_action rerequested
check_suite	completed requested rerequested
code_scanning_alert	appeared_in_branch closed_by_user created fixed reopened reopened_by_user
commit_comment	created
create
custom_property	created deleted promote_to_enterprise updated
custom_property_values	updated
delete
dependabot_alert	auto_dismissed auto_reopened created dismissed fixed reintroduced reopened
deploy_key	created deleted
deployment	created
deployment_protection_rule	requested
deployment_review	approved rejected requested
deployment_status	created
discussion	answered category_changed closed created deleted edited labeled locked pinned reopened transferred unanswered unlabeled unlocked unpinned
discussion_comment	created deleted edited
fork
github_app_authorization	revoked
gollum
installation	created deleted new_permissions_accepted suspend unsuspend
installation_repositories	added removed
installation_target	renamed
issue_comment	created deleted edited
issues	assigned closed deleted demilestoned edited labeled locked milestoned opened pinned reopened transferred typed unassigned unlabeled unlocked unpinned untyped
label	created deleted edited
marketplace_purchase	cancelled changed pending_change pending_change_cancelled purchased
member	added edited removed
membership	added removed
merge_group	checks_requested destroyed
meta	deleted
milestone	closed created deleted edited opened
org_block	blocked unblocked
organization	deleted member_added member_invited member_removed renamed
package	published updated
page_build
personal_access_token_request	approved cancelled created denied
ping
project	closed created deleted edited reopened
project_card	converted created deleted edited moved
project_column	created deleted edited moved
projects_v2	closed created deleted edited reopened
projects_v2_item	archived converted created deleted edited reordered restored
projects_v2_status_update	created deleted edited
public
pull_request	assigned auto_merge_disabled auto_merge_enabled closed converted_to_draft demilestoned dequeued edited enqueued labeled locked milestoned opened ready_for_review reopened review_request_removed review_requested synchronize unassigned unlabeled unlocked
pull_request_review	dismissed edited submitted
pull_request_review_comment	created deleted edited
pull_request_review_thread	resolved unresolved
push
registry_package	published updated
release	created deleted edited prereleased published released unpublished
repository	archived created deleted edited privatized publicized renamed transferred unarchived
repository_advisory	published reported
repository_dispatch	sample
repository_import
repository_ruleset	created deleted edited
repository_vulnerability_alert	create dismiss reopen resolve
secret_scanning_alert	created publicly_leaked reopened resolved validated
secret_scanning_alert_location	created
secret_scanning_scan	completed
security_advisory	published updated withdrawn
security_and_analysis
sponsorship	cancelled created edited pending_cancellation pending_tier_change tier_changed
star	created deleted
status
sub_issues	parent_issue_added parent_issue_removed sub_issue_added sub_issue_removed
team	added_to_repository created deleted edited removed_from_repository
team_add
watch	started
workflow_dispatch
workflow_job	completed in_progress queued waiting
workflow_run	completed in_progress requested

emitterEventNames

A read only tuple containing all the possible combinations of the webhook events + actions listed above. This might be useful in GUI and input validation.

import { emitterEventNames } from "@octokit/webhooks";
emitterEventNames; // ["check_run", "check_run.completed", ...]

TypeScript

The types for the webhook payloads are sourced from @octokit/openapi-webhooks-types, which can be used by themselves.

In addition to these types, @octokit/webhooks exports 2 types specific to itself:

Note that changes to the exported types are not considered breaking changes, as the changes will not impact production code, but only fail locally or during CI at build time.

[!IMPORTANT] As we use conditional exports, you will need to adapt your tsconfig.json by setting "moduleResolution": "node16", "module": "node16".

See the TypeScript docs on package.json "exports".
See this helpful guide on transitioning to ESM from @sindresorhus

⚠️ Caution ⚠️: Webhooks Types are expected to be used with the strictNullChecks option enabled in your tsconfig. If you don't have this option enabled, there's the possibility that you get never as the inferred type in some use cases. See octokit/webhooks#395 for details.

EmitterWebhookEventName

A union of all possible events and event/action combinations supported by the event emitter, e.g. "check_run" | "check_run.completed" | ... many more ... | "workflow_run.requested".

EmitterWebhookEvent

The object that is emitted by @octokit/webhooks as an event; made up of an id, name, and payload properties. An optional generic parameter can be passed to narrow the type of the name and payload properties based on event names or event/action combinations, e.g. EmitterWebhookEvent<"check_run" | "code_scanning_alert.fixed">.

License

MIT