Hookshot

A self-hosted webhook relay service built with Rails 8. Receives webhooks, filters them based on configurable rules, and dispatches to multiple target endpoints.

Quick Start

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/mensfeld/hookshot.git
cd hookshot
bundle install
npm install

# Setup database and assets
rails db:create db:migrate
rails tailwindcss:build

# Start everything (web + background jobs)
./bin/dev

# Or start separately:
# rails server          # Web server on port 3000
# rails solid_queue:start  # Background job processor

Then:

1. Visit http://localhost:3000/admin/targets (login: admin / changeme)
2. Create a target with your destination URL
3. Send webhooks to http://localhost:3000/webhooks/receive

Features

• Webhook Reception: Accepts POST requests at /webhooks/receive and stores headers, payload, and metadata
• Multiple Targets: Configure multiple destination endpoints for webhook delivery
• Filtering: Route webhooks to specific targets based on header or payload content
• Background Processing: Reliable delivery with Solid Queue, including retries with exponential backoff
• Admin Dashboard: View webhooks, dispatches, and manage targets with a clean DaisyUI interface
• Replay: Re-dispatch any webhook to all active targets
• Health Check: /health endpoint for monitoring

Requirements

• Ruby 3.4+
• SQLite 3
• Node.js (for Tailwind CSS compilation)

Setup

# Install dependencies
bundle install
npm install

# Setup database
rails db:create db:migrate

# Compile assets
rails tailwindcss:build

# Start the server
rails server

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
TZ	UTC	Timezone for displaying timestamps (e.g., Europe/Warsaw, America/New_York)
HOOKSHOT_USER	admin	HTTP Basic Auth username for admin UI
HOOKSHOT_PASSWORD	changeme	HTTP Basic Auth password for admin UI
RETENTION_DAYS	30	Days to retain webhook data before cleanup

Background Jobs

Start Solid Queue to process webhook deliveries:

rails solid_queue:start

Or run everything with Foreman/Overmind using the Procfile.

Usage

Receiving Webhooks

Send any POST request to /webhooks/receive:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/webhooks/receive \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"event": "user.created", "data": {"id": 123}}'

Admin Dashboard

Access the admin UI at http://localhost:3000/admin/webhooks with HTTP Basic Auth.

• Webhooks: View received webhooks, inspect headers/payload, replay to targets
• Dispatches: Monitor delivery status, retry failed deliveries
• Targets: Configure destination endpoints with filters
• Jobs: Solid Queue dashboard at /jobs

Configuring Targets

Each target has:

• Name: Identifier for the target
• URL: Destination endpoint (must be HTTPS in production)
• Timeout: Request timeout in seconds (1-300)
• Active: Toggle to enable/disable delivery
• Custom Headers: Additional headers to send with each request
• Filters: Rules to determine which webhooks to deliver

Filters

Filters allow routing webhooks to specific targets. All filters must match for delivery.

Filter Types:

• Header: Match against request headers
• Payload: Match against JSON payload using dot notation (e.g., $.event)

Operators:

• Exists: Field is present
• Equals: Field equals exact value
• Matches: Field matches pattern (supports * wildcard)

Example: Only deliver webhooks where $.event equals user.created:

• Type: Payload
• Field: $.event
• Operator: Equals
• Value: user.created

API Endpoints

Method	Path	Auth	Description
POST	/webhooks/receive	None	Receive incoming webhooks
GET	/health	None	Health check endpoint
GET	/admin/*	Basic	Admin dashboard
GET	/jobs	Basic	Solid Queue dashboard

Delivery Headers

Each delivery includes these headers:

• Content-Type: Original webhook content type
• X-Hookshot-Webhook-Id: Internal webhook ID
• X-Hookshot-Delivery-Id: Internal delivery ID
• Any custom headers configured on the target

Retry Behavior

Failed deliveries are retried with exponential backoff:

• Up to 5 attempts
• Increasing delay between retries
• Client errors (4xx) are not retried
• Server errors (5xx) and timeouts are retried

Docker Deployment

Single container runs both web server and background job processor:

# Build image
docker build -t hookshot .

# Run with docker-compose
SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(rails secret) HOOKSHOT_PASSWORD=your-password docker-compose up -d

# Or run directly
docker run -d \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v hookshot_data:/rails/storage \
  -e SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(rails secret) \
  -e HOOKSHOT_PASSWORD=your-password \
  --name hookshot \
  hookshot

Data is persisted in the hookshot_data volume.

License

MIT - see LICENSE.md for details.