Use custom integrations to send data via webhooks to LGL

Introduction

IMPORTANT NOTE: Custom integrations are an advanced feature that usually require software development. If you are not, or don't have access to, a web developer, this feature is not recommended.

Webhooks are a method by which one software application sends information to another software application, triggered by some action.

You can write data to your Little Green Light (LGL) account through a custom integration using webhooks. In order for this to be possible, the software service pushing the data needs to be enabled for webhooks that send a flat, key-value pair type data structure. Another option is for a developer to write code to post form data using key value pairs to the webhook endpoint.

Here are the steps involved:

Find a software service that can push data via webhooks
Set up a custom integration in LGL
Copy the “endpoint” URL into the software service
Test the integration

1. Find a software service that can push data via webhooks

A large and growing number of software services offer webhooks. To find out if a software service offers webhooks, try searching for the name of the software and webhooks, for example, “Facebook webhooks”. The first result for this search is:

Be aware that not all webhooks are created equal. Some may simply send a confirmation message that an action occurred but not pass through other useful details. Others expect you to use a combination of webhooks and an API to be able to pull in information.

Some examples of software offering webhooks of one kind or another include:

- Facebook

- Google Drive (and Forms and Sheets)

- Eventbrite

- Campaign Monitor

- Stripe

- Gravity Forms

2. Set up a custom integration in LGL

Once you find a service that can send a webhook, you will need to set up a webhooks endpoint in your LGL account. You can do that in Settings > Integration Settings by selecting the custom integration you want to set up.

For example, if you wanted to set up a webhook endpoint, click the Webhooks endpoint option and then click the + Add new integration button:

Upon saving, LGL will show you the new integration and the URL for the webhook endpoint.

From this area, you can:

Edit the name of your integration and the fields it is integrating
Update the mapping of where each field should go in your LGL account

When editing the mapping, you can set your preferences, including matching preferences, just as you can when importing files via the Flex Importer. Also like the Flex Importer, you can select which LGL fields should receive each data field that your integrated software is sending over:

3. Copy the “endpoint” URL into the software service

Now that we have our endpoint set up in LGL, we need to return to the other software service and tell it where to send the webhook-driven data.

The specifics of how you will set this up in the other software will vary from one service to another. You may need to obtain developer credentials.

The one thing you’ll have to do for sure is paste the URL for your LGL webhook endpoint into the software service that’s sending the data. Your URL will look something like the following (note the word "listener" at the end of the URL, which is another term used for "endpoint").

https://prefix.littlegreenlight.com/integrations/d34079f9-24b1-431e-beca-89a68c080673/listener

How do the various sets of data fields all connect?

The custom integration lets you map data from one set of fields (from the source application) into your LGL fields. The illustration below shows how the custom integration listens for data fields, and then pushes them into the appropriate fields in LGL.

When you set up your custom integration, you’re taking care of steps B and C in the diagram below. In step B, you are setting up your webhook endpoint and identifying the exact field names it will receive from the other software. In step C, you are mapping those fields into your LGL account.

4. Test the integration

Now it’s time to test the integration and see what happens. How you test will vary depending on the software you’ve integrated. On the LGL side, the place to look for results is in your Integration Queue. If the webhook has sent data successfully, you’ll see new records waiting for review in the Integration Queue (unless you checked the “Do not require review” box during the integration mapping).