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Coinbase Webhooks

TL;DR

To integrate Coinbase webhooks with ngrok:

  1. Launch your local webhook. npm start
  2. Launch ngrok. ngrok http 3000
  3. Configure Coinbase webhooks with your ngrok URL.
  4. Secure your webhook requests with verification.

This guide covers how to use ngrok to integrate your localhost app with Coinbase by using Webhooks. Coinbase webhooks can be used to notify an external application whenever specific events occur in your Coinbase account.

By integrating ngrok with Coinbase, you can:

  • Develop and test Coinbase webhooks locally, eliminating the time in deploying your development code to a public environment and setting it up in HTTPS.
  • Inspect and troubleshoot requests from Coinbase in real-time via the inspection UI and API.
  • Modify and Replay Coinbase Webhook requests with a single click and without spending time reproducing events manually in your Coinbase account.
  • Secure your app with Coinbase validation provided by ngrok. Invalid requests are blocked by ngrok before reaching your app.

Step 1: Start your app​

For this tutorial, we'll use the sample NodeJS app available on GitHub.

To install this sample, run the following commands in a terminal:

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This will get the project installed locally.

Now you can launch the app by running the following command:

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The app runs by default on port 3000.

You can validate that the app is up and running by visiting http://localhost:3000. The application logs request headers and body in the terminal and responds with a message in the browser.

Step 2: Launch ngrok​

Once your app is running successfully on localhost, let's get it on the internet securely using ngrok!

  1. If you're not an ngrok user yet, just sign up for ngrok for free.

  2. Download the ngrok agent.

  3. Go to the ngrok dashboard and copy your Authtoken.
    Tip: The ngrok agent uses the auth token to log into your account when you start a tunnel.

  4. Start ngrok by running the following command:

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  5. ngrok will display a URL where your localhost application is exposed to the internet (copy this URL for use with Coinbase). ngrok agent running

Step 3: Integrate Coinbase​

To register a webhook on your Coinbase account follow the instructions below:

  1. Access the Coinbase homepage and sign in using your Coinbase account.

  2. On the Home page, click your avatar icon on the top right corner of the page and then click Settings.

  3. On the Settings page, click the API tab and then click New API Key.

  4. On the New API Key popup, click all under the Accounts section, click Select all under the Permissions section, and enter the URL provided by the ngrok agent to expose your application to the internet in the Notification URL field (i.e. https://1a2b-3c4d-5e6f-7g8h-9i0j.ngrok.app). coinbase URL to Publish

  5. Cilck Create, and then copy the value of the API Key and API Secret that appear on the API Key details popup.

Run Webhooks with Coinbase and ngrok​

Coinbase sends different request body contents depending on the event that is being triggered. You can trigger new calls from Coinbase to your application by following the instructions below.

  1. Access the Coinbase homepage, sign in using your Coinbase account, and then click Trade on the left menu.

  2. On the Trade page, click Simple on the top menu, and then click Buy to buy one of the assets that appear on the screen.

  3. On the Buy popup, enter the monetary amount, click Preview Buy, and then click Buy now.

    Confirm your localhost app receives the create-project event notification and logs both headers and body in the terminal.

Inspecting requests​

ngrok's Traffic Inspector captures all requests made through your ngrok endpoint to your localhost app. Click on any request to view detailed information about both the request and response.

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By default, accounts only collect traffic metadata to avoid exposing secrets. You must enable full capture in the Observability section of your account settings to capture complete request and response data.

Use the traffic inspector to:

  • Validate webhook payloads and response data
  • Debug request headers, methods, and status codes
  • Troubleshoot integration issues without adding logging to your app

Replaying requests​

Test your webhook handling code without triggering new events from your service using the Traffic Inspector's replay feature:

  1. Send a test webhook from your service to generate traffic in your Traffic Inspector.

  2. Select the request you want to replay in the traffic inspector.

  3. Choose your replay option:

    • Click Replay to send the exact same request again
    • Select Replay with modifications to edit the request before sending

  4. Modify the request (optional): Edit any part of the original request, such as changing field values in the request body.

  5. Send the request by clicking Replay.

Your local application will receive the replayed request and log the data to the terminal.

Secure webhook requests​

The ngrok signature webhook verification feature allows ngrok to assert that requests from your Coinbase webhook are the only traffic allowed to make calls to your localhost app.

Note: This ngrok feature is limited to 500 validations per month on free ngrok accounts. For unlimited, upgrade to Pro or Enterprise.

This is a quick step to add extra protection to your application.

  1. Create a file named coinbase_policy.yml:

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    Note: Replace {your api secret} with the value you copied during the webhook registration.

  2. Restart your ngrok agent by running the following command:

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  3. Access Coinbase and buy an asset.

Verify that your local application receives the request and logs information to the terminal.