Replaying Webhooks

Send captured webhooks to your local development server to test your webhook handlers.

Why Replay Webhooks?

Webhook replay is essential for local development because:

  • No public URL needed: Your localhost isn't accessible from the internet, but replay sends webhooks directly to it
  • Reproduce issues: Replay the exact webhook that caused a bug to debug it
  • Test repeatedly: Send the same webhook multiple times without triggering real events
  • Modify and test: Edit the webhook payload before replaying to test edge cases

Replay Methods

1. CLI Replay (Recommended)

The HookReplay CLI is an interactive application that connects to the server and receives replay requests. This is the recommended method because it handles authentication and connection management automatically.

terminal 
# Start the CLI
hookreplay

# Configure your API key (only needed once)
config api-key YOUR_API_KEY

# Connect to the server
connect

# The CLI will output:
# ✓ Connected! Waiting for replay requests...

With the CLI connected, click "Replay" on any captured request in the web dashboard and specify your localhost URL. The webhook will be instantly forwarded to your local server.

2. Direct Replay (Web Dashboard)

If your destination URL is publicly accessible (e.g., a staging server), you can replay directly from the web dashboard without the CLI.

Note

Direct replay requires your destination URL to be accessible from HookReplay's servers. For localhost, use the CLI.

Replay Workflow

Start and connect the CLI

Run hookreplay, configure your API key with config api-key YOUR_KEY, then run connect.

Open the request detail

Navigate to a captured request in the web dashboard.

Review the request

Inspect the headers and body. Optionally edit them before replaying.

Click "Replay" and specify target URL

Click the Replay button and enter your localhost URL (e.g., http://localhost:3000/webhook).

View the result

The CLI shows the response from your server, and the replay history is saved in the dashboard.

Editing Before Replay

The request detail page includes editors for the request body and headers. You can modify these before replaying to test different scenarios:

  • Test edge cases: Change values to simulate unusual inputs
  • Fix data issues: Correct malformed payloads
  • Test error handling: Send invalid data to test your error handlers
Save Versions

After editing, save your changes as a version with a comment so you can replay the same modification later.

Replay History

Each request tracks its replay history, showing:

  • When the replay was triggered
  • The destination URL
  • The HTTP status code returned
  • Response time
  • Any errors that occurred

This helps you track which webhooks you've tested and what the results were.

Free Plan Limits

Free plan users get 3 trial replays to test the feature. After that, upgrade to Pro for unlimited replays.

Unlimited Replays with Pro

Pro users can replay webhooks unlimited times. Upgrade now