Webhooks format
Here are the format of webhooks you will get if you subscribed via webhooks:
When an incident is added or updated:
{"meta": {"unsubscribe": "","documentation": ""},"page": {"id": "","status_indicator": "","status_description": "","url": ""},"incident": {"backfilled": false,"created_at": "","impact": "","name": "","resolved_at": "","status": "","updated_at": "","id": "","url": "","incident_updates": [{"id": "","incident_id": "","body": "","status": "","created_at": "","updated_at": ""}]}}
When a maintenance is added or updated:
{"meta": {"unsubscribe": "","documentation": ""},"page": {"id": "","status_indicator": "","status_description": "","url": ""},"maintenance": {"backfilled": false,"created_at": "","impact": "","name": "","resolved_at": "","status": "","updated_at": "","id": "","url": "","duration": "","maintenance_updates": [{"id": "","maintenance_id": "","body": "","status": "","created_at": "","updated_at": ""}]}}
When a component is updated:
{"meta": {"unsubscribe": "https://<status-page-domain>/unsubscribe?id=${subscriber.id}&token=${subscriber.unsubscribeToken}","documentation": ""},"page": {"id": "","status_indicator": "","status_description": "","url": ""},"component_update": {"created_at": "","new_status": "","component_id": ""},"component": {"created_at": "","id": "","name": "","status": ""}}
Possible status page statuses:
UPHASISSUESUNDERMAINTENANCE
Possible component statuses:
OPERATIONALUNDERMAINTENANCEDEGRADEDPERFORMANCEPARTIALOUTAGEMAJOROUTAGE
Possible incident statuses:
INVESTIGATINGIDENTIFIEDMONITORINGRESOLVED
Possible maintenance statuses:
NOTSTARTEDYETINPROGRESSCOMPLETED
Webhook Payload Verification
It is Highly recommended to validate the webhook payload in the webhook endpoint.
We sign webhook payloads with a secret and include the signature as a header named x-instatus-webhook-signature. This signature allows you to verify the webhook came from Instatus.
Steps To Verify Webhook
- Save your Webhook Secret that you generated while subscribing to the webhook (You can find it subscribing through a webhook to a page, you can also customize it there).

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Create a new endpoint on your server that will receive the webhook.
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Compare the signature with your server's generated signature to validate.
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If the signatures match, process the webhook.
Code Example
import crypto from 'crypto'import express from 'express'const app = express()app.use(express.json())const WEBHOOK_SECRET = 'your-webhook-secret'function isVerifiedPayload(payload, signature, secret) {const hmac = crypto.createHmac('sha256', secret)const digest = hmac.update(JSON.stringify(payload)).digest('hex')return crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(digest), Buffer.from(signature))}app.post('/endpoint/to/webhook', (req, res) => {const payload = req.bodyconst signature = req.header('x-instatus-webhook-signature')if (!signature) {return res.status(400).send('Signature missing')}if (!isVerifiedPayload(payload, signature, WEBHOOK_SECRET)) {return res.status(401).send('Invalid signature')}// Process the valid webhookres.status(200).send('Webhook received')})app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Server running on port 3000'))
Why Verification Matters
- Ensures Authenticity: Guarantees that the webhook originates from our platform.
- Prevents Tampering: Detects changes to the payload.
- Improves Security: Protects against replay attacks and unauthorized access.