Monitor Webhooks in Express

Debug webhook issues in real-time

View this guide for other frameworks

Next.js Nuxt Express Laravel Rails Django Go

The problem

Webhooks are essential but notoriously hard to debug in Express. A third-party service sends data to your endpoint. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it does not. And when it fails, you are left guessing what went wrong.

The typical debugging flow is painful: check your logs, search for the request, try to reconstruct the payload, figure out why your route handlers did not handle it correctly. If the webhook does not retry, you might lose that data entirely.

Testing webhooks locally in your Express development environment is another headache. You need tunnels, mock payloads, and a lot of patience. Production issues are even worse because you cannot easily reproduce them.

The solution

Quicklog captures every webhook payload as it arrives at your Express app. You see the full request body, headers, and any processing results. When something fails, you have the complete picture.

Create a channel for each webhook source. Stripe events go to one channel, Clerk to another. You can filter, search, and trace issues across your entire webhook infrastructure.

Add your own context too. Log what your route handlers did in response to each webhook. Now you can see not just what arrived, but what happened next. Debugging becomes tracing a clear timeline instead of hunting through scattered Express logs.

Why monitor this?

See webhook payloads in real-time
Debug integration issues faster
Track processing success and failure

Quick setup

Install the SDK:

Terminal

npm install @quicklogio/node

Add tracking to your Express app:

JavaScript

const { Quicklog } = require('@quicklogio/node')

const quicklog = new Quicklog({ apiKey: process.env.QUICKLOG_API_KEY })

// Monitor Webhooks
await quicklog.track({
  channel: 'webhooks',
  event: 'webhook.received',
  description: `${user.name} (${user.email}) - describe what happened`,
  userId: user.id,
  metadata: {
    // Add relevant context here
  }
})

Express tips

Use express.raw({ type: "application/json" }) for webhook routes only
Create a shared webhook verification middleware for signature validation
Log raw request bodies to Quicklog before JSON parsing for debugging

Monitor Webhooks as an operational analytics workflow

This guide is built for teams that need actionable saas analytics, not just passive reports. By instrumenting monitor webhooks in Express, you create a reliable signal that product, growth, and support can use in real time.

In Quicklog, these events become part of a shared timeline with user context, channel grouping, and trend visibility. That makes it easier to connect day-to-day operations with larger product analytics saas goals like activation quality, retention improvement, and faster troubleshooting.

If you are evaluating saas analytics tools, this use case is a strong baseline because it combines technical implementation with clear business outcomes. It also supports adjacent workflows such as analytical crm and webhook event monitoring without requiring a separate analytics stack.

Ready to monitor webhooks?

Set up in under 5 minutes. See events in your dashboard instantly.

Get started for free See more Express guides