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Mahesh Srinivasan
Mahesh Srinivasan

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Stop Using ngrok for Webhook Testing (A Simpler Way)

Debugging webhooks has always been… annoying.

If you’ve worked with Stripe, GitHub, or any webhook-based system, you probably know this flow:

  • Start your local server
  • Run ngrok
  • Copy the public URL
  • Paste it into your provider
  • Restart ngrok → URL changes
  • Repeat everything again

It works… but it’s not smooth.

🚨 The Problem

Webhook testing shouldn’t feel like setup work.

But right now, it often involves:

  • Managing tunnels
  • Dealing with changing URLs
  • Debugging blindly when something fails

And when you're just trying to test a simple webhook, this overhead slows you down.

⚡ What I Wanted Instead

I wanted something simpler:

  • Run one command
  • Get a webhook URL instantly
  • Send requests
  • See everything in real-time
  • Forward directly to my local server

No setup. No accounts. No friction.

🔧 So I Built Anonymily

A lightweight tool to debug webhooks locally — without ngrok or complex setup.

🚀 How It Works

Start your local server (for example on port 3000), then run:

anonymily listen 3000
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You’ll instantly get:

Forwarding to http://localhost:3000
Webhook URL: https://api.anonymily.com/h/abc123
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Now just send your webhook to that URL.

⚡ What Happens Next

  • Requests hit the public endpoint
  • They are streamed in real-time
  • Automatically forwarded to your localhost
  • You see the response instantly
POST /webhook 200 OK (120ms)
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No refreshing. No guessing.

🔌 Works With Anything

You can use it with:

  • Stripe webhooks
  • GitHub events
  • Shopify hooks
  • Any custom webhook system

If it sends HTTP requests, it works.

🔥 Why This Is Simpler

  • No tunnel setup
  • No config
  • No login required
  • Instant endpoints
  • Real-time inspection

Just run → test → debug.

🧪 Built for Fast Iteration

When you're developing locally, speed matters.

This tool is designed to:

  • Reduce setup time
  • Remove friction
  • Keep you in flow

So you can focus on debugging — not tooling.

🧹 Ephemeral by Default

All webhook data:

  • Stored in memory
  • Automatically deleted after 24 hours

No cleanup needed.

🎯 Try It Out

If you’re tired of setting up ngrok just to test webhooks, give this a try:

👉 https://anonymily.com

💬 Feedback Welcome

This is an early version, and I’d love to hear:

  • What works well
  • What’s confusing
  • What you wish it had

Drop your thoughts below 👇

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