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This guide shows you how to use ngrok to receive Hygraph webhooks on your localhost app. By integrating ngrok with Hygraph, you can:
  • Develop and test Hygraph webhooks locally without deploying to a public environment or setting up HTTPS.
  • Inspect and troubleshoot requests from Hygraph in real time via the inspection UI and API.
  • Modify and replay Hygraph webhook requests with a single click instead of reproducing events manually in your Hygraph account.
  • Secure your app with Hygraph webhook validation provided by ngrok. Invalid requests are blocked by ngrok before reaching your app.

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What you’ll need

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1. Start your app

For this tutorial, you can use the sample Node.js app on GitHub. To install the sample, run the following in a terminal: 
git clone https://github.com/ngrok/ngrok-webhook-nodejs-sample.git
cd ngrok-webhook-nodejs-sample
npm install
Then start the app: 
npm start
The app runs on port 3000 by default. You can confirm it’s running by visiting http://localhost:3000. The app logs request headers and body in the terminal and shows a message in the browser.

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2. Expose your app with ngrok

Once your app is running locally, you’re ready to put it online securely using ngrok.
The ngrok agent uses your authtoken to authenticate when you start a tunnel.
  • Start ngrok: 
    ngrok http 3000
  • Copy the URL ngrok displays. Your app is now exposed at that URL for use with Hygraph.

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3. Configure Hygraph to send webhooks

Hygraph can send webhook requests to your app when events occur in your account. To register for those events:
  • Sign in to Hygraph.
  • Click Webhooks and then Add Webhook.
  • In the webhook popup, enter a name in Name, enter your ngrok URL in URL (for example, https://1a2b-3c4d-5e6f-7g8h-9i0j.ngrok.app).
  • Select Asset in Content Model and click Add.

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Run webhooks with Hygraph and ngrok

Hygraph sends different request body contents depending on the event. To trigger new calls from Hygraph to your app:
  • On the Hygraph home page, click Assets and then + Add entry.
  • On the Assets page, click Upload, select a file, click Upload, and then Save & Publish.
Confirm your localhost app receives event notifications and logs both headers and body in the terminal. You can verify the webhook in Hygraph: go to Webhooks, click View Logs for your webhook, and open a message.

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Inspecting requests

ngrok’s Traffic Inspector captures all requests made through your ngrok endpoint to your localhost app. Select any request to view detailed information about both the request and response.
To avoid exposing secrets, accounts only collect traffic metadata by default. 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

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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. (Optional) Modify the request: 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.

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Secure webhook requests

ngrok can verify that incoming requests are from your Hygraph webhook so only that traffic reaches your app.
Webhook verification is limited to 500 validations per month on free accounts. If you need more, you can upgrade to Hobbyist or Pay-as-you-go. See TPU Pricing for details.
To add verification:
  • In Hygraph, go to Webhooks and click the pencil icon on your webhook tile.
  • In the popup, enter a secret at least 32 characters long in Secret key and click Update.
  • Create a Traffic Policy file named hygraph_policy.yml. Replace {your secret key} with the value you entered: 
    on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: verify-webhook
        config:
          provider: graphcms
          secret: "{your secret key}"
  • Restart ngrok with the policy file: 
    ngrok http 3000 --traffic-policy-file hygraph_policy.yml
  • Create a new asset in Hygraph to trigger the webhook.
Your app should receive the request and log it in the terminal.