Website & Business Automation
Webhook Retries: Prevent Duplicate Tasks and Customer Messages
Design webhook consumers to recognise repeated events, preserve business actions and surface failed deliveries. Test retries safely before going live.
In this guide
A webhook is a notification between systems, not proof that an action happened exactly once. A delivery can be repeated after a timeout even when the receiver already saved the first request.
Separate receiving from completing
The endpoint should authenticate the source using its supported mechanism, validate the event and decide whether it has already been handled. Store a stable provider event identifier where available. A browser-controlled reference should not authorise a sensitive action.
Choose what “duplicate” means
The same delivery arriving twice is different from a customer legitimately requesting two quotes. Use event identity and workflow state rather than matching only message text. For payments, retain the gateway's verified order and transaction handling; do not replace it with a generic automation trigger.
- Define retryable and permanent failures.
- Record processing status without logging secrets.
- Use bounded retries and a review queue.
- Keep repeated delivery from sending repeated confirmations.
- Provide a controlled way to replay a failed event.
Run a repeat-delivery test
For a test enquiry, deliver the identical event twice. Confirm that one enquiry and one intended staff task exist. Then send a different event for the same contact and verify that the legitimate second action is preserved. Keep the test isolated from live customer notifications.
Ask for operational evidence
A useful handover includes sample event states, how failures are noticed and who can retry them. Successful HTTP delivery is only one part of the story. The meaningful outcome is a correct business record and a recoverable exception when something goes wrong.
Need help putting this into practice?
Tell Nithu what your website needs and which systems are involved. The next step is a review of the requirements and an agreed scope, with any paid tools or ongoing costs explained before work.