[[actions-webhook]]
=== Webhook Action

Use the `webhook` action to send a request to any web service. The 
webhook action supports both HTTP and HTTPS connections. See 
<<webhook-action-attributes, Webhook Action Attributes>> for the supported 
attributes.

[[configuring-webook-actions]]
==== Configuring Webhook Actions

You configure webhook actions in the `actions` array. Action-specific attributes
are specified using the `webhook` keyword.

The following snippet shows a simple webhook action definition:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
"actions" : {
  "my_webhook" : { <1>
    "transform" : { ... }, <2>
    "throttle_period" : "5m", <3>
    "webhook" : {
      "method" : "POST", <4>
      "host" : "mylisteningserver", <5>
      "port" : 9200, <6>
      "path": ":/{{ctx.watch_id}", <7>
      "body" : "{{ctx.watch_id}}:{{ctx.payload.hits.total}}" <8>
    }
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
<1> The id of the action
<2> An optional <<transform, transform>> to transform the payload before
    executing the `webhook` action
<3> An optional <<actions-ack-throttle, throttle period>> for the action
    (5 minutes in this example)
<4> The HTTP method to use when connecting to the host
<5> The host to connect to
<6> The port to connect to
<7> The path (URI) to use in the HTTP request
<8> The body to send with the request

You can use basic authentication when sending a request to a secured webservice.
For example, the following `webhook` action creates a new issue in GitHub:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
"actions" : {
  "create_github_issue" : {
    "webhook" : {
      "method" : "POST",
      "url" : "https://api.github.com/repos/<owner>/<repo>/issues",
      "body" : "{
        \"title\": \"Found errors in 'contact.html'\",
        \"body\": \"Found {{ctx.payload.hits.total}} errors in the last 5 minutes\",
        \"assignee\": \"web-admin\",
        \"labels\": [ \"bug\", \"sev2\" ]
      }",
      "auth" : {
        "basic" : {
          "username" : "<username>", <1>
          "password" : "<password>" 
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
<1> The username and passwword for the user creating the issue

NOTE: By default, both the username and the password are stored in the `.watches`
      index in plain text. When {security} is enabled, {watcher} can encrypt the    
      password before storing it.

You can also use PKI-based authentication when submitting requests to a cluster
secured with {security}. When you use PKI-based authentication instead of HTTP
basic auth, you don't need to store any authentication information in the watch
itself. To use PKI-based authentication, you <<ssl-notification-settings,
configure the SSL key settings>> for {watcher} in `elasticsearch.yml`.


[[webhook-query-parameters]]
==== Query Parameters

You can specify query parameters to send with the request with the `params` field.
This field simply holds an object where the keys serve as the parameter names and
the values serve as the parameter values:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
"actions" : {
  "my_webhook" : {
    "webhook" : {
      "method" : "POST",
      "host" : "mylisteningserver",
      "port" : 9200,
      "path": ":/alert",
      "params" : {
        "watch_id" : "{{ctx.watch_id}}" <1>
      }
    }
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
<1> The parameter values can contain templated strings.


[[webhook-custom-request-headers]]
==== Custom Request Headers

You can specify request headers to send with the request with the `headers` field.
This field simply holds an object where the keys serve as the header names and
the values serve as the header values:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
"actions" : {
  "my_webhook" : {
    "webhook" : {
      "method" : "POST",
      "host" : "mylisteningserver",
      "port" : 9200,
      "path": ":/alert/{{ctx.watch_id}}",
      "headers" : {
        "Content-Type" : "application/yaml" <1>
      },
      "body" : "count: {{ctx.payload.hits.total}}"
    }
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
<1> The header values can contain templated strings.


==== Webhook Action Attributes
[[webhook-action-attributes]]
[cols=",^,^,", options="header"]
|======
| Name                  |Required   | Default     | Description

| `scheme`              | no        | http        | The connection scheme. Valid values are: `http` or `https`.

| `host`                | yes       | -           | The host to connect to.

| `port`                | yes       | -           | The port the HTTP service is listening on.

| `path`                | no        | -           | The URL path. The path can be static text or include Mustache
                                                    <<templates, templates>>. URL query string parameters must be
                                                    specified via the `request.params` attribute.

| `method`              | no        | get         | The HTTP method. Valid values are: `head`, `get`, `post`, `put`
                                                    and `delete`.

| `headers`             | no        | -           | The HTTP request headers. The header values can be static text
                                                    or include Mustache <<templates, templates>>.

| `params`              | no        | -           | The URL query string parameters. The parameter values can be
                                                    static text or include Mustache <<templates, templates>>.

| `auth`                | no        | -           | Authentication related HTTP headers. Currently, only basic
                                                    authentication is supported.

| `body`                | no        | -           | The HTTP request body. The body can be static text or include
                                                    Mustache <<templates, templates>>. When not specified, an empty
                                                    body is sent.

| `proxy.host`          | no        | -           | The proxy host to use when connecting to the host.

| `proxy.port`          | no        | -           | The proxy port to use when connecting to the host.

| `connection_timeout`  | no        | 10s         | The timeout for setting up the http connection. If the connection
                                                    could not be set up within this time, the action will timeout and
                                                    fail. 

| `read_timeout`        | no        | 10s         | The timeout for reading data from http connection. If no response
                                                    was received within this time, the action will timeout and fail.
                                                    

| `url`                 | no        | -           | A shortcut for specifying the request scheme, host, port, and
                                                    path as a single string. For example, `http://example.org/foo/my-service`.
|======
