Triggering workflows

Three ways to start a WEXTL workflow run from the outside — an inbound webhook URL, a schedule, or a one-off run — and how to pick between them.

Getting a webhook URL

A workflow's inbound webhook URL is issued by the platform, not something you construct yourself. Get it one of two ways:

From the canvas — add a Webhook trigger node and open its settings; the minted URL is shown there, ready to copy.
Via the API or MCP — call create_webhook (or POST /api/v1/workflows/{id}/webhook with the trigger node's id) and read url from the response: { "webhookId": "wh_...", "url": "https://..." }. Calling it again for the same node is idempotent — it returns alreadyBound: true with the SAME url instead of minting a duplicate.

json

{
  "data": {
    "webhookId": "wh_01HXEXAMPLE",
    "url": "https://eu1.wextl.com/hooks/wh_01HXEXAMPLE"
  }
}

Inbound webhook URL

POSTing to a workflow's webhook URL starts a run immediately, with the request body available to the workflow as its trigger payload. The URL requires no bearer token — anyone who has it can trigger the workflow, so treat it like a secret.

bash

curl -X POST https://eu1.wextl.com/hooks/wh_01HXEXAMPLE \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"example": "payload"}'

Payload format

The webhook receiver accepts JSON bodies. The parsed body is exposed to every node in the run as the trigger's output — map individual fields the same way you would map any other node's output.

Webhook vs. schedule vs. run-once

Pick the trigger that matches when you want the workflow to run:

Webhook — an external system decides when to run (an event just happened elsewhere).
Schedule — you decide the cadence (every hour, every weekday morning).
Run-once (via Authentication'd REST API or MCP — start_run / POST /api/v1/workflows/{id}/runs) — you decide the exact moment, e.g. kicking off a run from a script or an AI agent.

Testing a webhook

The fastest way to confirm the trigger and field mappings behave the way you expect, before wiring up the real sender:

POST a sample payload to the webhook URL with curl (or any HTTP client).
Check the run in your run history to confirm the trigger and field mappings behave the way you expect.

References

WEXTL® webhook trigger and delivery implementation.
Our users' real webhook-triggered automations.
Standard inbound-webhook conventions used across the industry.