How to Test GitHub Webhooks: Complete Guide

GitHub Webhook Basics

GitHub webhooks power a lot of engineering automation: CI/CD triggers, deployment bots, issue sync, release workflows, and notifications. The request usually looks straightforward until a branch is force-pushed, a PR changes state, or GitHub resends a delivery you were not expecting.

Real deliveries matter for this reason. GitHub payloads vary slightly across event actions, and those small differences are often what break brittle handlers.

Key GitHub Webhook Events

Step-by-Step: Test GitHub Webhooks with Requex.me

1. Get your test URL: Visit requex.me and copy your unique webhook URL.
2. Configure GitHub: Go to your repository → Settings → Webhooks → Add webhook. Paste your Requex URL in the "Payload URL" field. Set Content type to application/json. Choose which events to receive.
3. Set a secret: Enter a webhook secret (any random string). You'll use this to verify signatures in production.
4. Trigger an event: Make a commit, open a PR, or create an issue. The webhook payload appears instantly in your Requex dashboard.
5. Inspect the payload: Click on the request to review the full JSON body, the X-GitHub-Event header, the signature header, and the delivery ID GitHub assigns.

GitHub Webhook Signature Verification

GitHub signs each webhook delivery using your secret. The signature is sent in the X-Hub-Signature-256 header as a SHA-256 HMAC hex digest.

// Node.js verification
const crypto = require('crypto');

function verifyGitHubSignature(payload, signature, secret) {
  const expected = 'sha256=' + crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', secret)
    .update(payload)
    .digest('hex');
  
  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(
    Buffer.from(signature),
    Buffer.from(expected)
  );
}

// Usage in Express
app.post('/webhooks/github', express.raw({type: '*/*'}), (req, res) => {
  const sig = req.headers['x-hub-signature-256'];
  if (!verifyGitHubSignature(req.body, sig, process.env.GITHUB_WEBHOOK_SECRET)) {
    return res.status(401).send('Invalid signature');
  }
  
  const event = req.headers['x-github-event'];
  const payload = JSON.parse(req.body);
  
  switch(event) {
    case 'push':
      console.log('Push to', payload.ref);
      break;
    case 'pull_request':
      console.log('PR', payload.action, payload.pull_request.title);
      break;
  }
  
  res.status(200).send('OK');
});

GitHub-Specific Tips

Node.js GitHub Webhook Handler

The code examples above are in Node.js. For a complete guide with Express middleware, HMAC verification, and event routing patterns, see the Node.js webhook testing guide.