Skip to main content

Ad-hoc webhooks

Set up one-time webhooks for Actor runs initiated through the Apify API or from the Actor's code. Trigger events when the run reaches a specific state.


An ad-hoc webhook is a single-use webhook created for a specific Actor run when starting the run using the Apify API. The webhook triggers once when the run transitions to the specified state. Define ad-hoc webhooks using the webhooks URL parameter added to the API endpoint that starts an Actor or Actor task:

https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/[ACTOR_ID]/runs?token=[YOUR_API_TOKEN]&webhooks=[AD_HOC_WEBHOOKS]

replace AD_HOC_WEBHOOKS with a base64 encoded stringified JSON array of webhook definitions:

[
{
eventTypes: ['ACTOR.RUN.FAILED'],
requestUrl: 'https://example.com/run-failed',
},
{
eventTypes: ['ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED'],
requestUrl: 'https://example.com/run-succeeded',
payloadTemplate: '{"hello": "world", "resource":{{resource}}}',
},
];

Create an ad-hoc webhook dynamically

You can also create a webhook dynamically from your Actor's code using the Actor's add webhook method:

import { Actor } from 'apify';

await Actor.init();
// ...
await Actor.addWebhook({
eventTypes: ['ACTOR.RUN.FAILED'],
requestUrl: 'https://example.com/run-failed',
});
// ...
await Actor.exit();

For more information, check out the JavaScript SDK documentation or the Python SDK documentation.

To prevent duplicate ad-hoc webhooks in case of Actor restart, use the idempotency key parameter. The idempotency key must be unique across all user webhooks to ensure only one webhook is created for a given value. For example, use the Actor run ID as an idempotency key:

import { Actor } from 'apify';

await Actor.init();
// ...
await Actor.addWebhook({
eventTypes: ['ACTOR.RUN.FAILED'],
requestUrl: 'https://example.com/run-failed',
idempotencyKey: process.env.APIFY_ACTOR_RUN_ID,
});
// ...
await Actor.exit();