Most webhook examples are boring: “When a record is created, send a notification.” Yawn.
But once you realise a webhook is just a simple HTTP door anyone or anything can knock on, the fun starts. Here are seven unexpected ways to use them with InfoLobby that actually solve real problems.
1. Turn Pings Into Proof of Life
Set up a table of expected events — server backups, cron jobs, nightly reports — and have each one call a webhook when done.
Then let InfoLobby’s automations hunt for what didn’t happen.
If “backup complete” never arrives by 3 a.m., you get an alert.
It’s like building a smoke detector for silence.
2. Build a Shadow Compliance Cop
Ask vendors or partners to ping a webhook when they submit their monthly docs.
Your table logs each submission and flags the ones that never arrived.
No chasing, no guessing — just an automated “hey, you forgot this” report.
3. Give Dumb Devices a Brain
A $20 Raspberry Pi or IoT sensor can’t run a full API client, but it can hit a webhook.
Have it fire data — temperature, door opened, light on — straight into InfoLobby.
From there you can trigger alerts, log historical trends, or build dashboards without a single extra service.
4. Use Webhooks as a Poor Man’s Cron
If you don’t want to run a scheduler in your app, let a cron job just ping a webhook every hour or day.
InfoLobby receives it and runs automations — generate reports, clean data, email summaries.
It’s scheduling without the scheduling infrastructure.
5. Track Human Actions Without a UI
Turn everyday actions into tracked events.
Generate a webhook URL as a QR code on the office door — every scan logs a check-in.
Or send contractors a link they click after finishing a job.
No login, no app, just a webhook call.
6. Spy on External Systems
Wrap other apps in a webhook layer to make them visible.
When your payment processor issues a refund, ping InfoLobby.
When payroll runs, ping InfoLobby.
Now you have a complete audit trail in your own database without touching those external APIs.
7. Build a Heartbeat Monitor for Everything
Webhooks aren’t just about events — they’re about expectations.
Have every service ping a webhook every few minutes.
If any heartbeat goes missing twice in a row, InfoLobby sounds the alarm.
It’s the simplest uptime monitoring system you’ll ever build.
The Big Shift:
Webhooks aren’t just for reacting to new things. They’re a way to detect missing things — the silent failures that break production at 2 a.m. or leave you wondering if that backup ever ran. Once you start thinking in terms of “absence detection,” a webhook stops being a toy and becomes an early-warning system.