Webhooks

Webhooks let you automatically trigger actions on other services when something happens with your comments. The most common use case is triggering a site rebuild when a new comment is submitted.

What Are Webhooks?

A webhook is a way for JamComments to send a message to another service when a specific event occurs. Instead of that service constantly asking “any new comments?” (polling), JamComments proactively says “hey, a new comment was just submitted!” (pushing).

When Webhooks Fire

Webhooks are triggered when:

• A new comment is submitted on your site
• A comment’s status changes (approved, rejected, etc.)
• You toggle certain settings (like removing branding)

Setting Up a Webhook

1. Go to your site’s settings in the JamComments dashboard
2. Scroll to the Webhooks section
3. Click Add Webhook
4. Enter a name (for your reference) and the URL to call

That’s it! From now on, JamComments will send a POST request to that URL whenever a comment event occurs.

Common Use Cases

Trigger a Site Rebuild

Most Jamstack hosts let you trigger new builds via a special URL. This means when someone leaves a comment, your site automatically rebuilds and the comment appears without you doing anything.

Vercel:

1. Go to your project settings
2. Find “Git” → “Deploy Hooks”
3. Create a hook and copy the URL
4. Paste it into JamComments

Netlify:

1. Go to Site settings → Build & deploy → Build hooks
2. Create a build hook and copy the URL
3. Paste it into JamComments

Cloudflare Pages:

1. Go to your project settings
2. Find “Builds & deployments” → “Build hooks”
3. Create a hook and copy the URL
4. Paste it into JamComments

Notify a Slack Channel

You can send comment notifications to Slack using their incoming webhooks:

1. Create a Slack app with incoming webhooks enabled
2. Copy the webhook URL
3. Paste it into JamComments
4. New comments will appear as Slack messages

Call a Custom Endpoint

If you have your own server or serverless function, you can have JamComments call it directly. This lets you build custom workflows like:

• Sending custom email notifications
• Updating a database
• Posting to social media
• Running moderation checks

Webhook Payload

When JamComments calls your webhook URL, it sends a JSON payload with information about what happened:

{
  "event": "comment.created",
  "site": {
    "domain": "your-site.com",
    "name": "My Blog"
  },
  "comment": {
    "id": 123,
    "content": "Great article!",
    "author": "Jane Doe",
    "path": "/posts/my-post",
    "status": "pending"
  }
}

The event field tells you what happened:

• comment.created — New comment submitted
• comment.approved — Comment was approved
• comment.rejected — Comment was rejected

Testing Webhooks

Not sure if your webhook is working? Here are a few ways to test:

1. Use a webhook testing service like webhook.site — it gives you a temporary URL that shows exactly what JamComments sends
2. Check your hosting provider’s build logs — if using a deploy hook, you should see new builds starting
3. Submit a test comment in development mode — webhooks won’t fire in development mode, so use production

Multiple Webhooks

You can create as many webhooks as you need for a single site. Each webhook fires independently, so if one fails, the others still run.

Webhook Reliability

JamComments makes a best-effort attempt to deliver webhooks. If your endpoint returns an error (non-2xx status), JamComments may retry a few times but cannot guarantee delivery.

For critical workflows, consider:

• Making your webhook handler idempotent (safe to call multiple times)
• Having a backup plan in case webhooks fail
• Monitoring your endpoint’s availability