clerk-webhooks

Webhooks

Always output complete, working, copy-paste-ready webhook handlers. Never output stubs, placeholders, or partial implementations. Include verifyWebhook(req) in every handler.

CRITICAL: Always Verify Webhooks

NEVER skip signature verification, even for notification-only handlers. Always use verifyWebhook(req) from @clerk/nextjs/webhooks. This uses the CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET env var automatically.

CRITICAL: Make Webhook Route Public

Webhook routes MUST be excluded from Clerk middleware protection. Without this, Clerk returns 401.

// proxy.ts (Next.js <=15: middleware.ts)
import { clerkMiddleware, createRouteMatcher } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'

const isPublicRoute = createRouteMatcher(['/api/webhooks(.*)'])

export default clerkMiddleware((auth, req) => {
  if (!isPublicRoute(req)) auth().protect()
})

Complete Webhook Handler (Next.js App Router)

// app/api/webhooks/route.ts
import { verifyWebhook } from '@clerk/nextjs/webhooks'
import { NextRequest } from 'next/server'
import { db } from '@/lib/db'

export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
  // ALWAYS verify - never skip, even for notification-only handlers
  let evt
  try {
    evt = await verifyWebhook(req) // uses CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET automatically
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Webhook verification failed:', err)
    return new Response('Verification failed', { status: 400 })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'user.created') {
    const { id, email_addresses, first_name, last_name } = evt.data
    const email = email_addresses[0]?.email_address
    const name = `${first_name ?? ''} ${last_name ?? ''}`.trim()
    await db.users.create({ data: { clerkId: id, email, name } })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'user.updated') {
    const { id, email_addresses, first_name, last_name } = evt.data
    const email = email_addresses[0]?.email_address
    await db.users.update({ where: { clerkId: id }, data: { email, first_name, last_name } })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'user.deleted') {
    const { id } = evt.data
    await db.users.delete({ where: { clerkId: id } })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'organizationMembership.created') {
    const { organization, public_user_data, role } = evt.data
    const orgId = organization.id
    const userId = public_user_data.user_id
    await db.teamMembers.create({ data: { orgId, userId, role } })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'organizationMembership.deleted') {
    const { organization, public_user_data } = evt.data
    const orgId = organization.id
    const userId = public_user_data.user_id
    await db.teamMembers.delete({ where: { orgId_userId: { orgId, userId } } })
  }

  return new Response('OK', { status: 200 })
}

Full Example: Welcome Email (Resend) + Slack Notification on user.created

ALWAYS use this COMPLETE pattern — never stub it out:

// app/api/webhooks/route.ts
import { verifyWebhook } from '@clerk/nextjs/webhooks'
import { NextRequest } from 'next/server'
import { Resend } from 'resend'

const resend = new Resend(process.env.RESEND_API_KEY)

export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
  // Step 1: ALWAYS verify the webhook signature - NEVER skip this
  let evt
  try {
    evt = await verifyWebhook(req) // uses CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET env var
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Webhook verification failed:', err)
    return new Response('Verification failed', { status: 400 })
  }

  // Step 2: Listen for user.created event
  if (evt.type === 'user.created') {
    // Step 3: Extract user email and name from webhook payload
    const { id, email_addresses, first_name, last_name } = evt.data
    const email = email_addresses[0]?.email_address
    const name = `${first_name ?? ''} ${last_name ?? ''}`.trim()

    // Step 4: Call Resend API to send welcome email
    await resend.emails.send({
      from: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
      to: email,
      subject: 'Welcome!',
      html: `<p>Hi ${name}, welcome to our app!</p>`,
    })

    // Step 5: Post notification to Slack channel
    await fetch(process.env.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL!, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        text: `New user signed up: ${name} (${email})`,
      }),
    })
  }

  // Always return 200 to acknowledge receipt
  return new Response('OK', { status: 200 })
}

Also include proxy.ts (Next.js <=15: middleware.ts) to make the route public:

// proxy.ts (Next.js <=15: middleware.ts)
import { clerkMiddleware, createRouteMatcher } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'
const isPublicRoute = createRouteMatcher(['/api/webhooks(.*)'])
export default clerkMiddleware((auth, req) => {
  if (!isPublicRoute(req)) auth().protect()
})

Full Example: Organization Membership Sync to Database

// app/api/webhooks/route.ts
import { verifyWebhook } from '@clerk/nextjs/webhooks'
import { NextRequest } from 'next/server'
import { db } from '@/lib/db' // your database client

export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
  // ALWAYS verify signature - never skip, even for simple handlers
  let evt
  try {
    evt = await verifyWebhook(req) // uses CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET env var
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Webhook verification failed:', err)
    return new Response('Verification failed', { status: 400 })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'organization.created') {
    const { id, name } = evt.data
    await db.workspaces.create({
      data: { orgId: id, name, createdAt: new Date() },
    })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'organizationMembership.created') {
    // Extract organization ID, user ID, and role from payload
    const { organization, public_user_data, role } = evt.data
    const orgId = organization.id
    const userId = public_user_data.user_id

    // Add to team_members table
    await db.team_members.create({
      data: { orgId, userId, role },
    })

    // Create workspace record for new member
    await db.workspaces.create({
      data: { orgId, userId, createdAt: new Date() },
    })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'organizationMembership.deleted') {
    // Extract organization ID and user ID from payload
    const { organization, public_user_data } = evt.data
    const orgId = organization.id
    const userId = public_user_data.user_id

    // Remove from team_members table
    await db.team_members.delete({
      where: { orgId, userId },
    })

    // Remove workspace record
    await db.workspaces.deleteMany({
      where: { orgId, userId },
    })
  }

  // Return 200 status on success
  return new Response('OK', { status: 200 })
}

Express.js Webhook Handler

CRITICAL: Use express.raw() NOT express.json() for webhook routes. Signature verification requires the raw body bytes. express.json() parses the body and breaks verification.

import express from 'express'
import { Webhook } from 'svix'

const app = express()

// WRONG - breaks verification because it parses the body:
// app.use(express.json())

// CORRECT - use raw body for webhook route only:
app.post('/webhooks/clerk', express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }), async (req, res) => {
  const webhookSecret = process.env.CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET!

  const wh = new Webhook(webhookSecret)
  let evt: any
  try {
    // Svix verifies using raw body bytes + svix headers
    evt = wh.verify(req.body, {
      'svix-id': req.headers['svix-id'] as string,
      'svix-timestamp': req.headers['svix-timestamp'] as string,
      'svix-signature': req.headers['svix-signature'] as string,
    })
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Webhook verification failed:', err)
    return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Verification failed' })
  }

  if (evt.type === 'user.created') {
    const { id, email_addresses, first_name, last_name } = evt.data
    const email = email_addresses[0]?.email_address
    const name = `${first_name ?? ''} ${last_name ?? ''}`.trim()
    console.log(`New user: ${name} (${email})`)
  }

  if (evt.type === 'user.updated') {
    const { id, email_addresses } = evt.data
    const email = email_addresses[0]?.email_address
    console.log(`User updated: ${id}, email: ${email}`)
  }

  if (evt.type === 'user.deleted') {
    const { id } = evt.data
    console.log(`User deleted: ${id}`)
  }

  // Return 200 status on success
  return res.status(200).json({ received: true })
})

Payload Field Reference

User events (user.created, user.updated, user.deleted)

const {
  id,                  // Clerk user ID
  email_addresses,     // array; [0].email_address is primary email
  first_name,
  last_name,
  image_url,
  public_metadata,
} = evt.data

Organization events (organization.created, organization.updated, organization.deleted)

const {
  id,    // org ID
  name,  // org name
  slug,
} = evt.data

Organization Membership events (organizationMembership.created, organizationMembership.updated, organizationMembership.deleted)

const {
  organization,        // { id, name, ... }
  public_user_data,    // { user_id, first_name, last_name, ... }
  role,                // e.g. 'org:admin', 'org:member'
} = evt.data
// Access: organization.id, public_user_data.user_id, role

Supported Events (Full Catalog)

User: user.created user.updated user.deleted

Session: session.created session.ended session.pending session.removed session.revoked

Organization: organization.created organization.updated organization.deleted

Organization Membership: organizationMembership.created organizationMembership.updated organizationMembership.deleted

Organization Domain: organizationDomain.created organizationDomain.updated organizationDomain.deleted

Organization Invitation: organizationInvitation.accepted organizationInvitation.created organizationInvitation.revoked

Communication: email.created sms.created

Invitation: invitation.accepted invitation.created invitation.revoked

Waitlist: waitlistEntry.created waitlistEntry.updated

Permission: permission.created permission.updated permission.deleted

Role: role.created role.updated role.deleted

Subscription: subscription.created subscription.updated subscription.active subscription.pastDue

Subscription Item: subscriptionItem.created subscriptionItem.active subscriptionItem.updated subscriptionItem.canceled subscriptionItem.upcoming subscriptionItem.ended subscriptionItem.abandoned subscriptionItem.incomplete subscriptionItem.pastDue subscriptionItem.freeTrialEnding

Payment: paymentAttempt.created paymentAttempt.updated

Webhook Reliability

Retries: Svix retries failed webhooks on a set schedule (see Svix Retry Schedule). Return 2xx to succeed, 4xx/5xx to retry. Use the svix-id header as an idempotency key to deduplicate retried events.

Replay: Failed webhooks can be replayed from Dashboard.

Common Pitfalls

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Verification fails (Next.js)	Wrong import or usage	Use @clerk/nextjs/webhooks, pass req directly
Verification fails (Express)	Using express.json()	Use express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }) for webhook route
Route not found (404)	Wrong path	Use /api/webhooks or preserve existing path
Not authorized (401)	Route is protected by middleware	Make route public in clerkMiddleware()
No data in DB	Async job pending	Wait/check logs
Duplicate entries	Only handling user.created	Also handle user.updated
Timeouts	Handler too slow	Queue async work, return 200 first

Testing & Deployment

Local: Use ngrok to tunnel localhost:3000 to internet. Add ngrok URL to Dashboard endpoint.

Production: Update webhook endpoint URL to production domain. Copy CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET to production env vars.

See Also

• clerk-setup - Initial Clerk install
• clerk-orgs - Org membership events
• clerk-backend-api - Sync via direct API calls