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My webhook isn't receiving articles

When your endpoint turns a post away or doesn't answer in time, the article is still live on your feed. Fix the endpoint, then press Try again.

Written By Damian

Last updated About 2 hours ago

Your endpoint didn't take the post: it turned it away (for example, because its signature check failed), redirected it, or kept failing to answer in time through every try. The article is still live on your feed. Fix the endpoint, then press Try again under it in the sidebar's Needs you list, and CitedSEO sends what it missed again.

How you can tell

The sidebar's Needs you list names the endpoint by its address: "… didn't reach example.com" for one article, or "3 articles didn't reach example.com" for more, with "It's live on your feed." CitedSEO also tells you once, by email and anywhere else you get alerts, unless you turned off Something needs fixing in Settings › Notifications.

If Needs you says "Your webhook at example.com needs adding again" instead, press Add it again, add the same address in Settings › Webhooks, and put its new signing secret in your code.

Why it happens

How CitedSEO treats your endpoint's answer:

Your endpointWhat CitedSEO does
Answers 2xxDelivered.
Doesn't answer within 15 seconds, or answers 408, 429 or a 5xxTries again a few times, then lets it go.
Answers any other 4xxDoesn't try again. Your endpoint said no.
Answers with a redirectDoesn't follow it, and doesn't try again. A post goes only to the address you gave.

Common causes:

  • The signature check fails. Check it against the raw request body, not one parsed and written out again, and with the signing secret for this endpoint. Adding the same address again makes a new secret, so your code needs the newest one.
  • The address redirects, for example to a version with or without www or a trailing slash. Make the address you gave answer the post itself.
  • The work takes too long. Answer 2xx first, then do the work.

The developer docs cover each one: Retries and duplicates and Verify the signature.

Send them again

  1. Fix the endpoint.
  2. Press Try again under it in Needs you. CitedSEO says "I'll send them again shortly", and sends each article it missed within about 15 minutes. If the endpoint turns them away again, it's back in Needs you.

Adding the same address again in Settings › Webhooks also sends what it missed, and gives it a new signing secret to put in your code.

Tip: A webhook is a nudge; the feed is the record. If your endpoint was down for a while, your code can read the feed to catch up.

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