Redelivering Webhooks
This guide explains Clearout's webhook retry logic and redelivery system. When webhook deliveries fail, Clearout automatically retries with exponential backoff to ensure reliable delivery of your webhook events.
Retry Overview
Clearout automatically retries failed webhook deliveries to ensure your application receives important event notifications. The retry system uses exponential backoff to handle temporary failures while avoiding overwhelming your server.
When Retries Occur
Webhook retries are triggered when:
HTTP Error Responses - Your endpoint returns 4xx or 5xx status codes
Connection Timeouts - Your server doesn't respond within 30 seconds
Network Issues - Temporary network connectivity problems
Server Unavailability - Your webhook endpoint is temporarily down
Retry Limits
The number of retry attempts depends on your account type
Request Timeout
Each webhook request has a maximum timeout of 30 seconds. If your endpoint doesn't respond within this time, the request will be considered failed and retried.
Retry Schedule
Clearout uses exponential backoff for webhook retries, with delays that increase after each failed attempt:
1st
Immediate
0 minutes
2nd
5 minutes
5 minutes
3rd
10 minutes
15 minutes
4th
20 minutes
35 minutes
5th
40 minutes
1 hour 15 min
6th
80 minutes
2 hours 35 min
7th
160 minutes
5 hours 15 min
8th
320 minutes
10 hours 35 min
9th
640 minutes
21 hours 15 min
Exponential Backoff
The retry delays approximately double with each attempt, providing time for temporary issues to resolve while preventing overloading your server with rapid retries.
Failure Handling
When all retry attempts are exhausted, the webhook delivery is permanently marked as failed:
Permanent Failure
No More Retries - After the maximum number of attempts, no further retries will be made
Failed Status - The webhook delivery is marked as permanently failed
Event Logs - The failure is recorded in your webhook delivery logs
Manual Retry
Manual retry functionality is not currently available. Once a webhook delivery is permanently failed, it cannot be manually retriggered through the dashboard.
Monitoring
You can monitor webhook delivery status through the Clearout dashboard:
Event Logs
Access Logs - Click the "View Event Logs" button in the webhook table
Delivery Status - View success/failure status for each webhook delivery attempt
Response Details - See HTTP status codes, response times, and error messages
JSON Payloads - View the complete payload that was sent to your endpoint
Event Details
Click on any event in the logs to view detailed information including delivery status, response details, and the complete JSON payload.
Monitoring Recommendations
Regular Checks - Monitor your webhook delivery logs regularly for failed deliveries
Success Rate Tracking - Track your webhook delivery success rate over time
Alert Setup - Consider setting up external monitoring for your webhook endpoints
Performance Monitoring - Monitor response times to identify performance issues
Best Practices
Webhook Endpoint Reliability
Fast Response - Return HTTP 200 status codes quickly (within 30 seconds)
Idempotency - Handle duplicate webhook deliveries gracefully
Error Handling - Implement proper error handling for webhook processing
Queue Processing - Use message queues for asynchronous webhook processing
Duplicate Delivery Handling
Event ID Tracking - Use the
event_idfield to track processed eventsDatabase Deduplication - Store processed event IDs to prevent duplicate processing
Idempotent Operations - Design your webhook handlers to be idempotent
Performance Optimization
Async Processing - Process webhook data asynchronously when possible
Connection Pooling - Use connection pooling for database operations
Resource Management - Ensure adequate server resources for webhook processing
Monitoring - Implement comprehensive monitoring and alerting
Next Steps
Now that you understand webhook retry behavior, check out our FAQ for answers to common questions about webhooks.
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