Webhooks

Webhooks allow you to receive real-time notifications when certain events happen. For example:

• Systems not directly responsible for making an API request may still need to know about the response to that request. How can they be told about the response?
• Some PrintNode events, like changes to a computer's connected state, are not the result of a direct API request. How can you know when these events occur?
• Multiple events may be returned from a single direct API call over an extended period, e.g. the various states a PrintJob progresses through as it is received by the Server, published to a Client, executed and completed. It isn't feasible for a synchronous API request to wait to receive all the responses. How can you efficiently listen for them?

Webhooks solve these problems by letting you register a URL that PrintNode will notify any time certain events happen. When an event occurs, PrintNode will make an HTTP request to the URL, providing all the relevant data about the event in the request body.

Some typical use cases for webhooks include:

• Tracking the connected or disconnected state of your computers in real time.
• Confirming that your documents were successfully downloaded and printed.
• Monitoring the activity of your PrintNode accounts.

Webhooks are much more efficient than polling the HTTP API. Instead of wasting thousands of requests per hour, you simply receive a notification whenever an event you are interested in occurs. The latency and bandwidth usage are dramatically reduced and you are much less likely to bump into the API rate limit.

You can create and manage webhooks through the PrintNode Web Application or via our API.