Starting a Flow via webhook
The Webhook trigger starts a Flow when an outside system sends a request. This is how you connect ApptiveGrid to any other tool.
Don't confuse it with outgoing webhooks
| Direction | Set up in |
|---|---|
| Outside system → ApptiveGrid | Flow trigger Webhook — this page |
| ApptiveGrid → outside system | Webhooks in Space settings |
Setting it up
- Create a new Flow.
- In the Trigger tab, choose Webhook.
- Open the step — the address is shown there.
The section is called Link to start the Flow:
To start the Flow, send a POST request to the following URL:
Passing data along
Send POST request
Send data in JSON format via a POST request to the link above to start the Flow.
The submitted JSON data is available to all subsequent steps. → Data between steps
Registering it in an outside system
Use as webhook
Enter the URL as a webhook in other services. This automatically starts the workflow when the corresponding service triggers the webhook.
Practically anywhere a service asks for a "webhook URL" — form services, shop systems, payment providers, automation platforms, monitoring tools.
Testing
Test webhook
You can test the webhook by sending a sample JSON payload:
Enter sample data under JSON payload and click Test now.
Test with real data
For the sample payload, use as closely as possible what the outside system actually sends. Many services show an example in their own interface — copy it here.
Otherwise you build the Flow against a made-up structure, and it fails on the first real call.
Alternatively, the editor offers Start with test data: Provide sample data.
Security
The webhook URL is a credential
Anyone who knows the address can start the Flow — as many times as they like. There's no additional check on who's sending the request.
Treat it like a password:
- not in public repositories
- not in chats or on slides
- store it only in the target system
Consider what the Flow does
A Flow that creates entries or sends emails does so on every call. If the URL ends up in the wrong hands, or a faulty system calls it repeatedly, a correspondingly large number of operations follow.
Check the history regularly to make sure the number of runs is plausible.
All active access points of a Space are listed under External links at a glance — the type shown there is Start Flow.
Remove webhooks you no longer need
A webhook stays active as long as the Flow exists — even if the connecting system was shut down long ago. Go through the links overview regularly.
Typical uses
| Use case | Flow |
|---|---|
| Pick up an order from a shop | Shop calls the webhook, Flow creates an entry |
| Process a third-party form | Service calls the webhook, Flow distributes the data |
| Incident report from a monitoring system | System calls the webhook, Flow notifies and logs |
| Nightly import from another system | Script calls the webhook with data |
No time-based triggering
ApptiveGrid has no "every day at 8am" trigger. If you want to start a Flow on a schedule, an external system needs to call the webhook URL at the desired time.
The Wait step doesn't help here: it measures from the moment the step is reached, not up to a fixed time. → Router and Parallel