A new Webhooks function has been made available in the MyCashflow API and will replace the old Webhooks extension in October 2022. Below, you can find more information about the webhook functionality and the new API.
What is a webhook?
Webhook is a technology that allows an online store to automatically send out information when triggered by an event. Traditionally, an API functions by responding to requests it receives from external applications. The Webhooks API works conversely: it automatically sends out information without receiving separate requests.
This is comparable to a situation where you want to buy a specific pair of shoes but in the nearest shoe shop they are sold out. To keep up with their availability, you could phone the shop every day to inquire whether they are back in stock, but it is more efficient to ask the shopkeeper to notify you as soon as a new lot of the shoes arrives. This is how webhooks work.
In an online store, the Webhooks API can be configured to, for example, send out information about each arriving order to an ERP application or to an external stock application.
To use the Webhooks API, you need to have some experience in programming. An integration needs to be developed for the online store to define the active webhook subscriptions, message contents and target addresses. There also needs to be an application in the target address receiving and processing the information sent by the Webhooks API. This may be a self-developed or ready-made application.
The removal of the old Webhooks extension
There has so far been a Webhooks extension available in MyCashflow, enabling the use of webhooks in your online store. The extension will be removed in October 2022. If you know that the Webhooks extension has been in use in your online store as the basis of integrations, contact the developers of the integrations to make sure they are prepared for the change.
Compared to the old Webhooks extension, the new Webhooks API is more extensive, flexible and actively developed. The Webhooks API also gives you more control over the information it sends out: for example, order messages can include information about the order's products and payments.
The update also brings changes in the data format used by the API. The old extension has used an XML format, but the new Webhooks API uses JSON, which means that the receiving application also needs to have support for the new data structure.
The Webhooks API is incorporated in the MyCashflow API, which means that the webhook functionality is available in MyCashflow Advanced plan and above.
See also our post on how to migrate from the old Webhooks to the new one.
Functions enabled by the new Webhooks API
Presently, the Webhooks API only enables webhook messages regarding new orders in the online store. However, the API will be developed actively and augmented with new functions. If you have any wishes concerning the Webhooks API, feel free to share them with us in our customer service chat, for example.
Additional information
In the MyCashflow API documentation, you can find detailed instructions on how to use the Webhooks API.
There is also the Zapier extension available in MyCashflow, which enables you to transmit data automatically from your online store to external systems.