Webhooks are crucial for streamlining your overall operations. They enable your apps and systems to communicate in real-time with your community, automating data transfer and notifications to keep you and your community updated efficiently.
Returning.AI offers two types of webhooks:
Incoming Webhooks: Receive data from external systems, enabling seamless cross-platform syncing.
Outgoing Webhooks: Send community data to external systems when specific triggers activate.
Here are some examples of how Webhooks can be integrated into your community:
Sending automated congratulatory messages whenever a member achieves a new level, tier, or badge
Monitor your community by sending notifications to your internal communications platforms whenever messages are sent in important channels (e.g. #VIP, #Help Support)
Ensure community safety by informing your team and ensuring they can respond immediately to alerts, words, and actions taken against misconduct.
Create an FAQ bot by triggering an outgoing webhook in Returning.AI whenever specific keywords are detected. The webhook sends the query to ActivePieces, which routes it to an AI assistant like OpenAI for processing. The AI generates a response, which ActivePieces sends back to your community using an incoming webhook, providing instant answers to member questions.
To set up webhooks, first go to the Integration tab of your community settings. Then, click the plus button beside the desired webhook type to create a new one.
Incoming Webhooks
Incoming webhooks allow you to receive and integrate data from external apps directly into your community. Then, you can incorporate that data into automated messages that your Webhook posts within chosen channels.
To create an incoming webhook, click the plus icon next to "Incoming Webhooks." After creating the webhook, click "Copy URL" to copy its URL and paste it into the designated settings of the external service you want to integrate. This allows the service to send data directly to your community.
Click "Catch" to capture data from the external application. Ensure at least one data entry has been sent for the webhook to process. The received data will populate a dropdown menu in your message template settings, allowing you to craft automated messages using the data. For instance, a template like "Welcome to the community [User Displayname]" will dynamically insert each user's display name when the webhook is triggered, personalizing the message before it’s sent out.
Once your webhook’s functionality is set up, you can customize its appearance in your community.
Webhook ID Name: Assign a name that helps you easily identify the webhook's purpose in your settings.
Webhook Profile Image: Upload a profile photo to represent your webhook visually.
Custom Display Name: Set the name displayed for your webhook in your community. This is what members will see in chatrooms.
Custom Username: Assign a unique username for your webhook. This is displayed when your webhook is mentioned or replied to.
Message Language: Select the language your messages are written in. This helps AI translations process webhook messages.
Highlight Background: Toggle this option to highlight webhook messages with a blue background for visibility.
Webhook Label: Enable this to display a "webhook" label in the chat header.
Custom Role: Assign a role to the webhook, which will show on its profile card and above its name in chatrooms.
Post To Channels: Choose the specific channels for your automated messages.
Normal Message Type: Enable treating webhook messages as normal posts, allowing them to trigger outgoing webhooks.
With everything configured, your incoming webhook is ready to post automated messages in the selected community channels whenever it receives data from your external services.
Outgoing Webhooks
Outgoing webhooks send data from your community to external applications. Tools like Zapier, ActivePieces, and Pabbly Connect can receive this data and integrate it into your workflows or processes.
To create an outgoing webhook, click the plus icon next to "Outgoing Webhooks." After creating it, copy the Request URL from your external application and paste it into the "Request URL" section. Next, select the trigger event that will send data to the external application. Depending on the event, you can further specify a specific user or word(s) that will activate the trigger.
Once your webhook’s functionality is set up, you can further customize its functionality.
Webhook ID Name: Assign a name that helps you easily identify the webhook's purpose in your settings.
Secret (Optional): Secure your webhook by defining a secret token.
Request format: Choose how you want your requests to be formatted.
From: If your trigger event is channel-based, select the channels that you want your webhook to monitor for trigger events.
Once everything is set up, your outgoing webhook will send data to your external services when a trigger event occurs. You can track these deliveries by clicking the green "Recent Deliveries" button in the top right corner of your settings.