Event-Driven Workflows with Webhooks

Why Event-Driven Storage?

Traditional storage is passive—you put data in and pull data out. But modern applications need more:

• Process uploads immediately after they arrive
• Trigger workflows when files change
• Notify systems when data is deleted
• Build reactive data pipelines

ElasticLake webhooks make this easy.

How Webhooks Work

When enabled, ElasticLake sends HTTP POST requests to your endpoint whenever specified events occur in your buckets.

Supported Events

Setting Up Webhooks

Via Dashboard

1. Navigate to your bucket settings
2. Click "Webhooks" tab
3. Add endpoint URL
4. Select events to subscribe
5. Save and test

Via API

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.elasticlake.com/v1/webhooks',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_TOKEN'},
    json={
        'bucket': 'lake1--pond1--my-bucket',
        'endpoint': 'https://myapp.com/webhooks/storage',
        'events': ['object:created', 'object:deleted'],
        'secret': 'my-webhook-secret'
    }
)

Webhook Payload

When an event occurs, you'll receive:

{
  "event": "object:created",
  "timestamp": "2025-10-30T14:22:33Z",
  "bucket": "lake1--pond1--my-bucket",
  "object": {
    "key": "uploads/document.pdf",
    "size": 1048576,
    "etag": "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e",
    "contentType": "application/pdf"
  },
  "lake": "production",
  "pond": "documents"
}

Verifying Webhooks

Always verify webhook signatures:

import hmac
import hashlib

def verify_webhook(payload, signature, secret):
    expected = hmac.new(
        secret.encode(),
        payload.encode(),
        hashlib.sha256
    ).hexdigest()
    return hmac.compare_digest(f'sha256={expected}', signature)

# In your webhook handler
@app.route('/webhooks/storage', methods=['POST'])
def handle_webhook():
    signature = request.headers.get('X-ElasticLake-Signature')
    if not verify_webhook(request.data.decode(), signature, WEBHOOK_SECRET):
        return 'Invalid signature', 401

    event = request.json
    # Process event...
    return 'OK', 200

Use Case Examples

Image Processing Pipeline

def handle_upload(event):
    if event['object']['contentType'].startswith('image/'):
        # Trigger thumbnail generation
        generate_thumbnails.delay(
            bucket=event['bucket'],
            key=event['object']['key']
        )

Audit Logging

def handle_any_event(event):
    audit_log.create({
        'action': event['event'],
        'resource': f"{event['bucket']}/{event['object']['key']}",
        'timestamp': event['timestamp'],
        'metadata': event
    })

Data Pipeline Trigger

def handle_data_upload(event):
    if event['object']['key'].endswith('.csv'):
        # Trigger ETL job
        start_etl_pipeline(
            source=f"s3://{event['bucket']}/{event['object']['key']}"
        )

Best Practices

1. Respond quickly: Return 200 within 30 seconds
2. Process async: Queue heavy work for background processing
3. Handle retries: Webhooks retry on failure, make handlers idempotent
4. Monitor delivery: Check webhook logs for failures
5. Use HTTPS: Always use secure endpoints

Get Started

Webhooks are available on all plans. Check out our API documentation for complete details.

Ready to build event-driven applications? Start your free trial today.