jackboxpartypack-gamepicker/docs/api/guides/webhooks-and-events.md

# Webhooks and Events

A narrative guide to the Jackbox Game Picker event notification system: webhooks (HTTP callbacks) and WebSocket (persistent real-time connections). Both deliver event data about session and game activity.

---

## 1. Two Notification Systems

The API offers two complementary ways to receive event notifications:

| System | Model | Best for |
|--------|-------|----------|
| **Webhooks** | HTTP POST callbacks to your URL | Server-to-server, external integrations |
| **WebSocket** | Persistent bidirectional connection | Real-time UIs, dashboards, live tools |

Both systems emit the same kinds of events (e.g. `game.added`) but differ in how they deliver them.

---

## 2. When to Use Which

### Use Webhooks when:

- **Server-to-server** — Discord bots, Slack, logging pipelines, external APIs
- **Stateless** — Your endpoint receives a POST, processes it, and returns. No long-lived connection
- **Behind firewalls** — Your server can receive HTTP but may not hold open WebSocket connections
- **Async delivery** — You’re fine with HTTP round-trip latency and want delivery logged and auditable

### Use WebSocket when:

- **Real-time UI** — Dashboards, admin panels, live session viewers
- **Instant updates** — You need push-style notifications with minimal latency
- **Persistent connection** — Your app keeps a live connection and subscribes to specific sessions
- **Best-effort is fine** — WebSocket is push-only; there’s no built-in delivery log for events

---

## 3. Webhook Setup

Webhooks are registered via the REST API. See [Webhooks endpoints](../endpoints/webhooks.md) for full CRUD details.

### Create a Webhook

`POST /api/webhooks` with:

- `name` — Display name (e.g. `"Discord Bot"`)
- `url` — Callback URL (must be a valid HTTP/HTTPS URL)
- `secret` — Shared secret for signing payloads (HMAC-SHA256)
- `events` — Array of event types that trigger this webhook (e.g. `["game.added"]`)

**Example:**

```bash
curl -X POST "http://localhost:5000/api/webhooks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Discord Bot",
    "url": "https://my-server.com/webhooks/jackbox",
    "secret": "mysecret123",
    "events": ["game.added"]
  }'
```

The `events` array defines which events fire this webhook. Currently, the codebase triggers webhooks for **`game.added`** when a game is added to a session. The `triggerWebhook` function in `backend/utils/webhooks.js` is invoked from `sessions.js` on that event.

### Update, Enable/Disable, Delete

- **Update:** `PATCH /api/webhooks/{id}` — Change `name`, `url`, `secret`, `events`, or `enabled`
- **Disable:** `PATCH /api/webhooks/{id}` with `"enabled": false` — Stops delivery without deleting config
- **Delete:** `DELETE /api/webhooks/{id}` — Removes webhook and its logs

---

## 4. Webhook Delivery

### How it works

When an event occurs (e.g. a game is added), the server:

1. Finds all enabled webhooks subscribed to that event
2. Sends an async HTTP POST to each webhook URL
3. Logs each delivery attempt in `webhook_logs` (status, error, payload)

### Payload format

Each POST body is JSON:

```json
{
  "event": "game.added",
  "timestamp": "2026-03-15T20:30:00.000Z",
  "data": {
    "session": { "id": 3, "is_active": true, "games_played": 2 },
    "game": {
      "id": 42,
      "title": "Quiplash 3",
      "pack_name": "Jackbox Party Pack 7",
      "min_players": 3,
      "max_players": 8,
      "manually_added": false
    }
  }
}
```

Headers include:

- `Content-Type: application/json`
- `X-Webhook-Event: game.added`
- `X-Webhook-Signature: sha256=<hmac>` — Use your `secret` to verify the payload

### View delivery logs

`GET /api/webhooks/{id}/logs` returns recent delivery attempts (status, error message, payload).

### Test a webhook

`POST /api/webhooks/test/{id}` sends a dummy `game.added` event to the webhook URL. Delivery runs asynchronously; check logs for status.

---

## 5. WebSocket Events

The WebSocket server runs at `/api/sessions/live` on the same host and port as the HTTP API. See [WebSocket protocol](../websocket.md) for connection, authentication, and subscription details.

### Event types and audience

| Event | Broadcast to | Triggered by |
|-------|--------------|--------------|
| `session.started` | All authenticated clients | `POST /api/sessions` |
| `game.added` | Session subscribers | `POST /api/sessions/{id}/games` |
| `session.ended` | Session subscribers | `POST /api/sessions/{id}/close` |
| `player-count.updated` | Session subscribers | `PATCH /api/sessions/{sessionId}/games/{sessionGameId}/player-count` |

`session.started` goes to every authenticated client. The others go only to clients that have subscribed to the relevant session via `{ "type": "subscribe", "sessionId": 3 }`.

### Envelope format

All events use this envelope:

```json
{
  "type": "<event-type>",
  "timestamp": "2026-03-15T20:30:00.000Z",
  "data": { ... }
}
```

`data` contains event-specific fields (session, game, player count, etc.) as described in [WebSocket protocol](../websocket.md).

---

## 6. Comparison

| Feature | Webhooks | WebSocket |
|---------|----------|-----------|
| **Connection** | Stateless HTTP | Persistent |
| **Auth** | Secret in config | JWT per connection |
| **Events** | `game.added` | `session.started`, `game.added`, `session.ended`, `player-count.updated` |
| **Latency** | Higher (HTTP round trip) | Lower (push) |
| **Reliability** | Logged, auditable | Best-effort |

---

## 7. Example: Discord Bot

Use a webhook to post game additions to a Discord channel. You’ll need:

1. A webhook created in the Game Picker API pointing to your server
2. A small server that receives the webhook and forwards to Discord’s Incoming Webhook

**Webhook receiver (Node.js):**

```javascript
const crypto = require('crypto');

app.post('/webhooks/jackbox', express.json(), (req, res) => {
  const signature = req.headers['x-webhook-signature'];
  const payload = JSON.stringify(req.body);

  // Verify HMAC-SHA256 using your webhook secret
  const expected = 'sha256=' + crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', process.env.WEBHOOK_SECRET)
    .update(payload)
    .digest('hex');

  if (signature !== expected) {
    return res.status(401).send('Invalid signature');
  }

  if (req.body.event === 'game.added') {
    const { session, game } = req.body.data;
    const discordPayload = {
      content: `🎮 **${game.title}** added to session #${session.id} (${game.min_players}-${game.max_players} players)`
    };

    fetch(process.env.DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify(discordPayload)
    }).catch(err => console.error('Discord post failed:', err));
  }

  res.status(200).send('OK');
});
```

Register the Game Picker webhook with your server’s URL (e.g. `https://my-bot.example.com/webhooks/jackbox`), set `events` to `["game.added"]`, and use the same `secret` in your server’s `WEBHOOK_SECRET`.

---

## Cross-references

- **[Webhooks endpoints](../endpoints/webhooks.md)** — Full CRUD, request/response schemas, errors
- **[WebSocket protocol](../websocket.md)** — Connection, auth, subscriptions, event payloads