How to Test Datadog Webhooks

This guide covers everything you need to test Datadog webhooks — how to inspect the raw payload, verify the signature, forward events to localhost, and reproduce any delivery in your local development environment without needing a real Datadog event.

How to Test Datadog Webhooks with WebhookWhisper

1. Create a free endpoint — click Create Live Endpoint above to get a permanent public HTTPS URL (no account required to try)
2. Register the URL in Datadog — paste the WebhookWhisper URL into Datadog's webhook settings
3. Trigger a test event — use the one-click test payload sender or trigger a real event in Datadog
4. Inspect the request — see the full headers, raw body, and Datadog signature header in real time
5. Forward to localhost — add a forwarding rule to relay the event to your local handler (e.g. http://localhost:3000/webhooks/datadog)

Datadog Webhook Signature Verification

Datadog signs webhook deliveries using Custom token. The signature is sent in the DD-API-KEY (custom) header. Always verify this signature before processing the payload to ensure the request came from Datadog and was not tampered with in transit.

Node.js Verification

const crypto = require('crypto')
const express = require('express')
const app = express()

app.post('/webhooks/datadog',
  express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }),
  (req, res) => {
    const secret = process.env.DATADOG_WEBHOOK_SECRET
    const signature = req.headers['dd-api-key (custom)']

    // Compute expected HMAC — always use raw body, never parsed JSON
    const expected = crypto
      .createHmac('sha256', secret)
      .update(req.body)
      .digest('hex')

    if (!crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(signature || ''), Buffer.from(expected))) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' })
    }

    const event = JSON.parse(req.body)
    // Process event here — respond first, process async for slow operations
    res.json({ received: true })
  }
)

Python (FastAPI) Verification

import hashlib, hmac, os
from fastapi import FastAPI, Request, HTTPException

app = FastAPI()

@app.post('/webhooks/datadog')
async def webhook(request: Request):
    secret = os.environ['DATADOG_WEBHOOK_SECRET'].encode()
    raw_body = await request.body()
    signature = request.headers.get('dd-api-key (custom)', '')

    expected = hmac.new(secret, raw_body, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()

    if not hmac.compare_digest(signature, expected):
        raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail='Invalid signature')

    payload = await request.json()
    return {'received': True}

Common Datadog Webhook Errors

Forward Datadog Webhooks to Localhost

Use WebhookWhisper to receive Datadog webhook events at a public HTTPS URL and relay them to your local development server — no tunnel, no CLI install, no public server required.

1. Create a WebhookWhisper endpoint and paste it into Datadog's webhook settings
2. In the Forwarding tab, set target URL to http://localhost:3000/webhooks/datadog
3. Every Datadog event appears in the inspector and hits your local handler simultaneously
4. Use event replay (Pro) to re-send any captured event without triggering a new action in Datadog

FAQ

Do I need a Datadog account to test webhooks?

No. WebhookWhisper includes a one-click Datadog sample payload so you can fire a realistic test event and verify your handler without a Datadog account or triggering a real Datadog action.

How do I find my Datadog webhook secret?

The webhook signing secret is shown in Datadog's developer settings or webhook configuration page. Each webhook endpoint gets its own secret — do not share secrets between endpoints.

What is the Datadog webhook timeout?

Most providers timeout after 5–30 seconds. If your handler does slow operations (database writes, external API calls), respond with HTTP 200 immediately and process the event in a background job to avoid triggering Datadog's retry logic.