Webhook Steps

Outbound Webhook steps in workflows allow for extending workflows beyond Egnyte. These steps can be added alongside todo, review, and approval steps. When the Outbound Webhook step is reached, it will make an HTTP POST request to the webhook URL to notify the third-party application.

Common use cases for Outbound Webhook steps are:

• Sending custom notifications via Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email
• Updating external databases or spreadsheets
• Converting files
• Executing AI workflows

Users can use Outbound Webhook steps with any application that accepts inbound requests, but the most common webhook receivers are:

• Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solutions such as Microsoft Power Automate, Make, or Zapier
• Public Cloud Serverless Functions from AWS, Azure, or Google
• Custom applications

How to Add an Outbound Webhook Step to a Workflow

Users can set up an Outbound Webhook step within the Template Steps Setup section of a Workflow Template.

Note: Workflow Templates can be accessed in the Workflows -> Configuration Settings. This article specifically covers instructions for configuring an Outbound Webhook step only. Refer to  Workflow Templates Overview for the complete setup of a Workflow Template.

Follow these steps to add an Outbound Webhook step within a Workflow Template.

• Within the Template Steps Setup section, select the Outbound Webhook option for the step type.
• Enter the Step name with up to 128 characters. The Step name can be set to editable or non-editable when a workflow is created from a template. Select Allow edits option to make it editable at the workflow instance. 
• Enter a Description with up to 512 characters. The description can be set to editable or non-editable when a workflow is created from a template. Select Allow edits option to make it editable at the workflow instance. 
• Enter the endpoint URL of the external system in the Endpoint field. A Webhook endpoint is a URL (https://) that receives webhook event notifications and can trigger an action based on the payload sent in the message.
• To include an authentication header, enable the Use authentication header option by using a toggle switch. Once enabled, enter the required authentication header in the provided field. 

By default, Outbound Webhook steps will be marked as complete as soon as the 3rd party app receives the Webhook call. When the Wait for Completion Signal option is enabled, the step will stay in progress until the 3rd party application makes a separate API call to Egnyte to indicate that it is complete. If no completion signal is received within 24 hours, the step will automatically be marked as Failed.

• Set the workflow condition by choosing one of the following options from If webhook request does not pass during the 24 hours, then dropdown list:

• Mark step as “Failed” and cancel workflow - This selection will mark the Webhook step as “Failed” and cancel the workflow when the webhook request does not pass within 24 hours.
• Mark step as “Failed” and continue workflow execution - This selection will mark the Webhook step as “Failed” and workflow execution will continue to the next step or workflow will be marked completed if this is the last step of the workflow when the webhook request does not pass within 24 hours.

 

Technical Notes

• The provided endpoint must be an HTTPS URL with a valid TLS certificate. Egnyte will make a POST request to this URL when the step is executed.
• The POST body is a JSON object that includes the details of the workflow, the details of the file associated with the workflow, and the callback URL (if the completion signal is enabled). The request has a Content-Type HTTP request header of application/json.
• If the endpoint returns a success HTTP response code (e.g., 200, 204, etc.) within 60 seconds, the Webhook will be considered as received
• If the endpoint returns an error HTTP response code (e.g., 400, 404, 500, etc.), the webhook will be considered as not received
• If the endpoint is not reachable or takes more than 60 seconds to respond, the webhook will be considered as not received
• When a Webhook is not received, Egnyte will perform automatic retries using exponential backoff over a 24 hour period
• The optional Authentication header will be passed as is. Users can provide any value in this field such as an encoded HTTP Basic Authentication, a Bearer Token, or any other value.
• When using the Completion Signal option, the user must make an HTTP POST call to the callback URL using the Egnyte Public API. Users can get a developer key from https://developers.egnyte.com/. The auth token used for the request must include the Egnyte.filesystem scope.