@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

GitHub webhooks can be registered in multiple ways

1. In repository or organization settings on github.com.
2. Using the REST API for repositories or organizations
3. By installing a GitHub App.

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

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.

Example

// install with: npm install @octokit/webhooks
const WebhooksApi = require('@octokit/webhooks')
const webhooks = new WebhooksApi({
  secret: 'mysecret'
})

webhooks.on('*', ({id, name, payload}) => {
  console.log(name, 'event received')
})

require('http').createServer(webhooks.middleware).listen(3000)
// can now receive webhook events at port 3000

API

1. Constructor
2. webhooks.sign()
3. webhooks.verify()
4. webhooks.verifyAndReceive()
5. webhooks.receive()
6. webhooks.on()
7. webhooks.removeListener()
8. webhooks.middleware()
9. Webhook events
10. Special events
    1. * wildcard event
    2. error event

Constructor

new WebhooksApi({secret[, path]})

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.
path (String)	Only relevant for webhooks.middleware. Custom path to match requests against. Defaults to /.

Returns the webhooks API.

webhooks.sign()

weebhooks.sign(eventPayload)

eventPayload (Object)

Required. Webhook request payload as received from GitHub

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

Can also be used standalone.

webhooks.verify()

weebhooks.verify(eventPayload, signature)

eventPayload (Object)	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.

Can also be used standalone.

webhooks.verifyAndReceive()

weebhooks.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 Object	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 return promise and emits an error event.

Example

const WebhooksApi = require('@octokit/webhooks')
const webhooks = new WebhooksApi({
  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-github-signature']
}).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 receiver 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.
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 receiver 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.
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 receiver module which can be used standalone.

webhooks.middleware()

webhooks.middleware(request, response[, next])

request Object	Required. A Node.js http.ClientRequest.
response Object	Required. A Node.js http.ServerResponse.
next Function	Optional function which invokes the next middleware, as used by Connect and Express.

Returns a requestListener (or middleware) method which can be directly passed to http.createServer(), Express and other compatible Node.js server frameworks.

Can also be used standalone.

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
commit_comment	.created
create
delete
deployment
deployment_status
fork
gollum
installation	.created .deleted
installation_repositories	.added .removed
issue_comment	.created .edited .deleted
issues	.assigned .unassigned .labeled .unlabeled .opened .edited .milestoned .demilestoned .closed .reopened
label	.created .edited .deleted
marketplace_purchase	.purchased .cancelled .changed
member	.added .edited .deleted
membership	.added .removed
milestone	.created .closed .opened .edited .deleted
org_block	.blocked .unblocked
organization	.member_added .member_removed .member_invited
page_build
ping
project	.created .edited .converted .moved .deleted
project_card	.created .edited .closed .reopened .deleted
project_column	.created .edited .moved .deleted
public
pull_request	.assigned .unassigned .review_requested .review_request_removed .labeled .unlabeled .opened .edited .closed .reopened .synchronize
pull_request_review	.submitted .edited .dismissed
pull_request_review_comment	.created .edited .deleted
push
release	.published
repository	.created .deleted .archived .unarchived .publicized .privatized
status
team	.created .deleted .edited .added_to_repository .removed_from_repository
team_add
watch	.started

Special events

Besides the webhook events, there are special events emitted by @octokit/webhooks.

* wildcard event

The * event is emitted for all webhook events listed above.

webhooks.on('*', (event) => {
  console.log(`"${event.name}" event received"`)
})

error event

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

• id: The unique webhook event request id
• name: The name of the event
• payload: The event request payload

webhooks.on('error', (error) => {
  console.log(`Error occured in "${error.event.name} handler: ${error.stack}"`)
})

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

License

MIT