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Alex Kane
Alex Kane

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Save any webhook data to a database automatically with n8n — free workflow JSON

#n8n #automation #webdev #database

Every webhook is a data goldmine you're probably wasting.

When Stripe charges a customer, when GitHub pushes a commit, when Typeform receives a response — your app fires a webhook. That data arrives once, gets processed, and disappears.

Most developers handle webhooks reactively: catch the event, do the thing, move on. But every webhook is also a record — a timestamped, structured snapshot of what happened in your business.

Here's a 4-node n8n workflow that saves every incoming webhook to a Postgres database automatically. Set it up once, and you'll have a queryable log of every webhook event your systems generate.

What the workflow does

Node 1 — Webhook trigger

A persistent HTTP endpoint that accepts POST requests. Any service that supports webhooks — Stripe, GitHub, Shopify, Typeform, Twilio, HubSpot, or your own app — can send events here. The URL stays the same forever; no polling needed.

Node 2 — Code: extract and normalize

A JavaScript Code node that pulls the fields you care about and standardizes them into a consistent shape, regardless of which service sent the webhook:

const payload = $input.first().json;\nconst body = payload.body || payload;\nreturn [{\n  json: {\n    source: payload.headers?.['x)-github-event'] ? 'github'\n          : payload.headers?.['stripe-signature'] ? 'stripe'\n          : payload.headers?.['x)webhook-source'] || 'unknown',\n    event_type: body.type || body.event || body.action || 'raw',\n    payload: JSON.stringify(body),\n    received_at: new Date().toISOString()\n  }\n}];\n```

\n\nFor Stripe you'd use `body.type` (e.g. `payment_intent.succeeded`). For GitHub, `body.action` and `body.repository.name`. For Typeform, `body.form_response.answers`. The Code node lets you handle all of them in one place.

### Node 3 — Postgres: INSERT
Writes the normalized record to your database. Supports Postgres, MySQL, SQLite — or swap for Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion if you don't have a database yet.

### Node 4 — Respond to Webhook
Returns HTTP 200 immediately after the database write. Best practice: always respond within 5 seconds or the sender will retry and create duplicate records.

---

## Setup (10 minutes)

1. **Import the JSON** into n8n (New Workflow → Import from clipboard)
2. **Create the table** in your database:



```sql
CREATE TABLE webhook_log (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  source TEXT,
  event_type TEXT,
  payload JSONB,
  received_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW()
);
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  1. Connect your Postgres credential in Node 3
  2. Copy your webhook URL from Node 1 — looks like https://your-n8n.com/webhook/webhook-to-db
  3. Activate the workflow — it starts listening immediately
  4. Paste the URL into Stripe, GitHub, Typeform, or any other source

Test it: send a test event, then run SELECT * FROM webhook_log to confirm the row appeared.

Full workflow JSON 

{
  "name": "Webhook to Database",
  "nodes": [
    {"parameters":{"httpMethod":"POST","path":"webhook-to-db","responseMode":"responseNode","options":{}},"id":"wb1","name":"Receive Webhook","type":"n8n-nodes-base.webhook","typeVersion":2,"position":[240,300]},
    {"parameters":{"jsCode":"const payload = $input.first().json;\nconst body = payload.body || payload;\nreturn [{\n  json: {\n    source: payload.headers?.['x-github-event'] ? 'github'\n          : payload.headers?.['stripe-signature'] ? 'stripe'\n          : payload.headers?.['x-webhook-source'] || 'unknown',\n    event_type: body.type || body.event || body.action || 'raw',\n    payload: JSON.stringify(body),\n    received_at: new Date().toISOString()\n  }\n}];"},"id":"wb2","name":"Extract Fields","type":"n8n-nodes-base.code","typeVersion":2,"position":[460,300]},
    {"parameters":{"operation":"executeQuery","query":"INSERT INTO webhook_log (source, event_type, payload, received_at) VALUES ('{{ $json.source }}', '{{ $json.event_type }}', '{{ $json.payload }}'::jsonb, '{{ $json.received_at }}'::timestamp) RETURNING id"},"id":"wb3","name":"Save to Database","type":"n8n-nodes-base.postgres","typeVersion":2.3,"position":[680,300]},
    {"parameters":{"respondWith":"json","responseBody":"={"ok": true, "id": {{ $json.id }}}"},"id":"wb4","name":"Return 200 OK","type":"n8n-nodes-base.respondToWebhook","typeVersion":1.1,"position":[900,300]}
  ],
  "connections": {
    "Receive Webhook":{"main":[[{"node":"Extract Fields","type":"main","index":0}]]},
    "Extract Fields":{"main":[[{"node":"Save to Database","type":"main","index":0}]]},
    "Save to Database":{"main":[[{"node":"Return 200 OK","type":"main","index":0}]]}
  },
  "settings":{"executionOrder":"v1"},
  "tags":[{"name":"data"}]
}
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Pro tips

Use JSONB, not TEXT, for the payload column
Postgres JSONB lets you query inside the payload with -> operators:

-- Find all Stripe payments over $50
SELECT received_at, payload->>'amount'
FROM webhook_log
WHERE source = 'stripe'
  AND event_type = 'payment_intent.succeeded'
  AND (payload->>'amount')::int > 5000;
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This turns your webhook log into a lightweight analytics layer — no separate BI tool needed.

Add deduplication to handle retries
Services retry webhooks if they don't get a 200 within 5 seconds. Add a unique constraint on the event ID:

ALTER TABLE webhook_log ADD COLUMN event_id TEXT UNIQUE;
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In Node 2: event_id: body.id || body.event_id || null — duplicate events get rejected at the DB level, silently.

Route to different tables by source
Add an IF/Switch node between Extract Fields and Save to Database. Route Stripe events to stripe_events, GitHub events to github_events. Faster queries, cleaner schema.

Alert on high-value events
Add a parallel branch after Extract Fields: IF event_type === 'payment_intent.succeeded' → Slack node. You get a Slack ping every time a payment lands, while the database write still happens in the main branch.

Use Google Sheets instead of Postgres
No database? Swap the Postgres node for a Google Sheets "Append Row" node. You lose JSONB querying but gain a shareable spreadsheet log that non-technical teammates can read.

What you can build once all webhooks are in a database

  • Revenue tracking: SELECT DATE(received_at), COUNT(*) FROM webhook_log WHERE event_type = 'payment_intent.succeeded' GROUP BY 1
  • Error monitoring: alert when event_type LIKE '%failed%' or '%error%'
  • Audit trail: replay any past event for debugging or compliance
  • Customer journey: join form submissions, payments, and support tickets by customer ID
  • Capacity planning: see which endpoints receive the most traffic by hour

This workflow is simple. What you build on top of it is not.

Get the full automation bundle

This workflow is part of our 15-template n8n automation bundle — each one covering a different business use case: lead capture, invoice generation, AI customer support, social media automation, price monitoring, and more.

Grab the full bundle at stripeai.gumroad.com — pre-tested, documented, ready to activate.

Built with n8n. Self-hostable, open source, no vendor lock-in.

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