Events

Events fire HTTP requests to a webhook URL when a database row changes, a cron trigger fires, or a one-off scheduled event arrives. The webhook target can be any HTTP endpoint — an Nhost Function, an incoming webhook (e.g. Slack), or any external API. The default method is POST, but request transformations can change it to GET, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE.

How It Works

flowchart LR
    A["Row Insert/Update/Delete"] --> D["HTTP Request"]
    B["Cron Schedule"] --> D
    C["One-Off Schedule"] --> D
    D --> E["Nhost Function"]
    D --> F["Nhost Run Service"]
    D --> G["External API, e.g. Slack, Teams"]

When to Use Each Type

Type	Fires When	Use Case	Payload Contains
Event Trigger	A row is inserted, updated, or deleted	Notifications on data changes, audit logs, downstream syncs	Old and new row data
Cron Trigger	A cron trigger fires on schedule	Periodic cleanup, report generation, digest emails	Custom JSON you define
One-Off Scheduled Event	A specific date/time arrives	Deferred reminders, scheduled broadcasts, timed publishing	Custom JSON you define

Webhook Targets

Events call any HTTP endpoint. Common targets:

• Nhost Functions — build async business workflows (notifications, data processing, external syncs). Functions receive automatic access to NHOST_WEBHOOK_SECRET and the Nhost SDK for querying your database and calling other services. See the Nhost SDK guide for details on using the admin client inside functions.
• Nhost Run services — call any custom container running on Nhost Run. Useful when your webhook handler needs a specific runtime, framework, or long-running process that doesn’t fit into a serverless function.
• External services — send directly to Slack, PagerDuty, or any API that accepts webhooks. Use request/payload transformations to match the target API’s expected format.

Shared Concepts

• All three event types support configurable retry count, interval, and timeout
• All three support custom HTTP headers on the webhook request
• All three are configured from the dashboard under Events
• Event triggers and cron triggers support request and payload transformations

Configuration

Event Triggers

Fire webhooks when database rows are inserted, updated, or deleted

Cron Triggers

Call webhooks on a recurring schedule

One-Off Scheduled Events

Fire a webhook once at a specific date and time

Transformations

Reshape the outgoing webhook request to match any target API

Retry Configuration

Configure retry count, interval, timeout, and tolerance

Guides

Webhook Security

Protect your endpoints with a shared secret

Community Notifications

Notify members on data changes with an event trigger

Stale Todo Cleanup

Detect stale todos on a schedule with a cron trigger

Broadcast Notifications

Send a broadcast with a one-off scheduled event