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Use a webhook instead of repeatedly polling a document API: subscribe to the provider’s success and failure events, expose a public HTTPS receiver, authenticate every request, save the event before acknowledging it, and process it idempotently. Retrieve the generated file immediately when the provider supplies a temporary URL, then retain it in storage you control.
What a document-generation webhook does
A webhook is an event-triggered HTTP request sent to an endpoint that you configure. For document generation, the provider calls your application when a job succeeds or fails, so your system can react without asking for status on a timer. The exact event names, payload, authentication, response deadline and retry policy belong to the provider’s contract.
For example, PDFMonkey documents separate documents.generation.success and documents.generation.failure events, while DocSpring describes signed POST notifications for subscribed events. A success notification is not proof that your copy is safely stored: it may contain a short-lived download link that must be fetched promptly.
Design the receiver before subscribing
Choose the events and granularity
Subscribe to both success and failure events when the service offers them. Decide whether you need one notification per document or only a batch-complete event. Per-document events are useful for updating individual records; batch events reduce message volume when users only need an overall result. Event names and opt-in behavior differ, so copy them exactly from the selected provider’s documentation.
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Use a reachable HTTPS route
Your endpoint must be addressable from the provider’s network. Microsoft Graph, for example, requires a publicly accessible HTTPS URL. If the provider performs registration verification, support that handshake on the same route. Acrobat Sign documents an HTTPS GET verification request during registration; other services may use a challenge value or a signed test request.
Separate receipt from processing
Keep the HTTP handler small. Parse and authenticate the request, validate its shape, durably insert the event (or enqueue it), and return the provider’s required success status. Downloading a PDF, sending email or running database workflows belongs in a worker. Microsoft Graph says a 2xx response within three seconds counts as delivered and recommends queueing work and returning 202 Accepted when processing cannot finish in that window. That three-second rule applies to Graph, not every document provider.
Authenticate every notification
Never trust a request merely because it reached your URL. Apply the provider’s documented mechanism before writing business state.
- Signed requests: DocSpring documents signed POSTs. PDFMonkey says delivery uses Svix for retries and signature verification; use the Svix headers and secret exactly as documented, including timestamp and replay checks if required.
- Client identifiers: Acrobat Sign requires the
X-AdobeSign-ClientIdvalue and requires your successful response to echo that value. - Other schemes: Some APIs use a shared secret, mTLS, an allowlist, a challenge token or a combination. Do not substitute a generic HMAC recipe for a provider-specific requirement.
Reject invalid signatures, stale timestamps and malformed payloads without triggering expensive work. Keep secrets outside source control, rotate them according to the provider’s procedure, and log verification failures without recording secret material.
Persist first, acknowledge quickly
- Read the raw request body if signature verification requires bytes rather than parsed JSON.
- Verify the signature, client ID or challenge before acting on the event.
- Validate required fields and enforce a maximum body size.
- Insert the event into durable storage with a unique provider event ID, or enqueue it in a durable queue.
- Return the exact success status and response headers required by the provider.
- Let a worker perform downloads, state transitions and notifications.
Return an error only when you want the provider to retry. A fast 2xx response followed by a lost event is worse than a deliberate failure that invokes the provider’s retry mechanism. Confirm whether the service accepts 200, 202 or another code; Microsoft Graph’s guidance is not a universal acknowledgement contract.
Make processing idempotent
Retries and duplicate deliveries are normal failure modes. Use the provider’s event ID as a unique key where available. If no event ID exists, derive a stable key from the event type, document/job ID and provider update identifier. Store receipt and processing state separately so a worker can safely resume.
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- Make the database transition conditional (for example, update a job only when its version is newer).
- Use an idempotency key for downstream email, billing or queue operations.
- Do not overwrite a successful document with a later duplicate failure unless the provider’s state model explicitly permits that transition.
- Record attempts, last error, next retry time and completion time.
Adobe Acrobat Sign specifically discusses duplicate notifications and concurrency. Design for those conditions even when your first tests deliver each event only once.
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Success path
Confirm that the event refers to a job your system created, then retrieve the output using the provider’s API or supplied link. Verify the HTTP status and content type, stream the file to durable object storage, calculate any integrity metadata you need, and mark the job complete only after storage succeeds. PDFMonkey’s example success payload includes a download_url; do not assume every provider embeds a file or uses that field name.
Failure path
Store the provider’s failure code and human-readable context, mark the job failed, and expose an actionable message to operators or users. PDFMonkey documents a failure_cause field in failure notifications. Do not treat a missing download URL as a successful generation.
Temporary links
Assume a URL can expire. PDF-API.io documents a temporary output URL that expires after 15 minutes and says its pdf.created payload may contain either base64 PDF data or a URL. Download immediately, or call the provider’s retrieval API when that is the supported approach. Adobe recommends considering an API retrieval after a signed-document event in some cases. The lifetime and retrieval method are provider-specific.
Retries, dead letters and reconciliation
| Provider | Documented behavior | Engineering implication |
|---|---|---|
| DocSpring | Exponential-backoff retries for up to three days; disabling after three days of continuous failure. | Keep the endpoint healthy and monitor for a disabled subscription; reconcile events after recovery. |
| Microsoft Graph | Retries can continue for up to four hours; slow endpoints may be throttled or notifications dropped. | Acknowledge within the stated three-second window and queue work. |
| PDF-API.io | Up to three retries with exponential backoff; temporary URL validity of 15 minutes. | Persist the event and fetch the output before the link expires. |
| PDFMonkey | Svix handles retries and signature verification for its documented generation events. | Use Svix verification and inspect its delivery tooling and current limits. |
These are provider claims, not a universal schedule. Build a dead-letter queue or replay table for events that exhaust retries. Run a reconciliation job that queries unfinished document jobs, compares them with received event IDs, and safely re-enqueues missing work. Monitor subscription status, HTTP error rates, verification failures, queue age and download failures.
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POST /webhooks/documents
verify provider signature or client identifier
validate event type and document ID
INSERT event(event_id, payload, received_at) ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING
enqueue event_id
return provider-required 2xx
worker(event_id)
load event
if success: download or retrieve output, persist it, mark complete
if failure: persist cause, mark failed
record attempt and outcomeKeep the raw payload (subject to privacy and retention rules), normalized fields, authentication result and processing history. Encrypt documents and webhook data at rest, restrict worker credentials, and redact personal data from logs.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Common failures and fixes
Verification handshake fails
Cause: the GET challenge route is missing, the response format is wrong, or the client identifier is not echoed. Fix: implement the provider’s registration flow exactly and test it from outside your network.
Events never arrive
Cause: the URL is private, DNS or TLS is invalid, the event was not subscribed, or the provider disabled the subscription after repeated failures. Fix: inspect provider delivery logs, verify the subscription and certificate chain, and check firewall and WAF rules.
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Duplicate files or emails appear
Cause: a retry or concurrent worker processed the same event twice. Fix: enforce a unique event key and make every side effect idempotent.
Downloads return 404 or 410
Cause: the temporary URL expired or was fetched with the wrong authorization. Fix: download in the worker immediately after receipt, or use the provider’s authenticated retrieval API and retain your own copy.
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Cause: PDF retrieval or business logic runs inside the request. Fix: persist and enqueue first, then return the permitted 2xx response. Use the provider’s actual deadline rather than assuming three seconds.
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Testing and operations checklist
- Test registration verification and normal POST delivery from an external network.
- Test invalid signatures, unknown event types, oversized bodies and malformed JSON.
- Deliver the same event twice and concurrently; confirm one business result.
- Force a worker timeout and verify safe retry without duplicate side effects.
- Use a short-lived test output URL to prove immediate retrieval and durable storage.
- Exercise both success and failure events, including missing optional fields.
- Alert on sustained non-2xx responses, queue growth, disabled subscriptions and repeated download errors.
- Document a replay and reconciliation procedure for exhausted retries.
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How to compare webhook providers
Before committing, compare event names and granularity, verification method, accepted response codes and timeout, retry duration and exhaustion behavior, event IDs, payload size, inline-versus-linked output, URL lifetime, delivery logs, replay controls and subscription auto-disable rules. Recheck these details in the provider’s current documentation because contracts change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I remove polling completely?
Only for events the provider reliably delivers. Keep a reconciliation query or replay path for missed, expired or exhausted notifications.
Should the webhook endpoint download the PDF?
No. Persist or enqueue the validated event, acknowledge within the provider’s deadline, and let a worker retrieve the file.
What should happen when a failure event arrives?
Record the provider’s error context, mark the job failed, and expose a retry or support action appropriate to your application.
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