Webhook System with Logging and Retry: Turnkey Setup

You launched an integration with a CRM partner. The first events go through, but an hour later the client complains that half the notifications were never received. Logs are silent — the receiver returned 200, but didn't process the data. Without per-attempt details, figuring out the cause is guesswork. We build Webhook systems with full logging and retry: not just 'fire and forget', but control over every event. 10+ years in B2B integrations, 100+ projects — we guarantee transparency and reliability.

A webhook is an outgoing HTTP request that you don't fully control. The receiver can return 200 without processing the data. It can crash 9 seconds after receiving. It can miss an event without a trace. Without detailed logging of all attempts and the ability to manually resend, debugging integration issues is nearly impossible.

Why logging every attempt is the foundation of a reliable webhook system

Suppose an event fails on the third attempt after a timeout. If you don't store history, you only see the final status. With full logging, you get the complete picture: first attempt failed with 500, second with an 8-second timeout, third with 502. This immediately points to issues on the receiver's side. Systems without per-attempt logging force developers to spend hours reproducing. Our approach reduces debugging time by an average of 5x compared to traditional monitoring.

What data we log and how it's implemented

Minimum data set for each delivery attempt:

We store attempts separately from deliveries — one delivery can have up to 8 attempts. This allows viewing the full history and understanding at which step things went wrong.

CREATE TABLE webhook_attempts ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(), delivery_id UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES webhook_deliveries(id) ON DELETE CASCADE, attempt_number INTEGER NOT NULL, started_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW(), duration_ms INTEGER, request_body JSONB, request_headers JSONB, response_code INTEGER, response_headers JSONB, response_body TEXT, -- truncated to 2000 characters error_message TEXT, success BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT false ); CREATE INDEX idx_attempts_delivery ON webhook_attempts(delivery_id); CREATE INDEX idx_attempts_started ON webhook_attempts(started_at DESC); 

Logging implementation:

class WebhookAttemptLogger { public function log( WebhookDelivery $delivery, int $attempt, WebhookAttemptData $data ): WebhookAttempt { return WebhookAttempt::create([ 'delivery_id' => $delivery->id, 'attempt_number' => $attempt, 'started_at' => $data->startedAt, 'duration_ms' => $data->durationMs, 'request_body' => $delivery->payload, 'request_headers' => $data->requestHeaders, 'response_code' => $data->responseCode, 'response_headers' => $data->responseHeaders, 'response_body' => $data->responseBody ? mb_substr($data->responseBody, 0, 2000) : null, 'error_message' => $data->errorMessage, 'success' => $data->success, ]); } } class SendWebhookJob implements ShouldQueue { public function handle( WebhookAttemptLogger $logger ): void { $startedAt = now(); $requestHeaders = $this->buildHeaders(); try { $response = Http::timeout(15) ->withHeaders($requestHeaders) ->post($this->delivery->subscription->endpoint_url, $this->delivery->payload); $durationMs = (int)(microtime(true) * 1000 - $startedAt->timestamp * 1000); $logger->log($this->delivery, $this->delivery->attempt_count, new WebhookAttemptData( startedAt: $startedAt, durationMs: $durationMs, requestHeaders: $requestHeaders, responseCode: $response->status(), responseHeaders: $response->headers(), responseBody: $response->body(), success: $response->successful(), )); if ($response->successful()) { $this->delivery->markDelivered(); } else { $this->delivery->scheduleRetry(); } } catch (\Throwable $e) { $durationMs = (int)(microtime(true) * 1000 - $startedAt->timestamp * 1000); $logger->log($this->delivery, $this->delivery->attempt_count, new WebhookAttemptData( startedAt: $startedAt, durationMs: $durationMs, requestHeaders: $requestHeaders, errorMessage: get_class($e) . ': ' . $e->getMessage(), success: false, )); $this->delivery->scheduleRetry(); } } } 

How manual retry is organized

An administrator or developer must be able to resend any event without changing code. This is critical for debugging integrations and recovering from failures.

class WebhookDeliveryController extends Controller { // Resend a specific delivery public function resend(WebhookDelivery $delivery): JsonResponse { abort_if( $delivery->status === 'delivered', 422, 'Delivery already succeeded' ); $delivery->update([ 'status' => 'pending', 'attempt_count' => 0, 'next_attempt_at' => now(), ]); SendWebhookJob::dispatch($delivery); return response()->json(['queued' => true]); } // Resend all failed deliveries for a subscription public function resendFailed(WebhookSubscription $subscription): JsonResponse { $count = WebhookDelivery::where('subscription_id', $subscription->id) ->where('status', 'failed') ->count(); WebhookDelivery::where('subscription_id', $subscription->id) ->where('status', 'failed') ->update([ 'status' => 'pending', 'attempt_count' => 0, 'next_attempt_at' => now(), ]); WebhookDelivery::where('subscription_id', $subscription->id) ->where('status', 'pending') ->each(fn($d) => SendWebhookJob::dispatch($d)); return response()->json(['requeued' => $count]); } // Attempt history for a specific delivery public function attempts(WebhookDelivery $delivery): JsonResponse { return response()->json( $delivery->attempts() ->orderBy('attempt_number') ->get(['attempt_number', 'started_at', 'duration_ms', 'response_code', 'response_body', 'error_message', 'success']) ); } } 

Step-by-step implementation plan for a webhook system with logging

Log retention strategy: successful attempts — 30 days with body, then only metadata. Failed attempts — 90 days for audit. Error response body — max 2 KB, binary data not stored.

Why our system saves up to 80% of debugging time

A typical log file lacks context: you see an error but not what led to it. Our system stores the full chronology of each delivery, linking all attempts. This cuts investigation time from hours to minutes. Built-in aggregates (average attempts, P95 delivery time) allow early detection of problematic integrations. Compare: without logging — manual server log search, guesswork, restarting integrations. With our system — open the dashboard, filter by status, see the history of each attempt. Click "resend" and failed events are re-queued. We implement this on Laravel queues with PostgreSQL. The result is up to 80% savings in debugging time.

What's included and timeline

• Development of the attempt logging and retry module
• Queue and retry policy configuration
• Dashboard creation with filtering and aggregates
• API and data schema documentation
• Team training on using the system
• One month of technical support

Timeline: attempt logging and manual retry system — 3 to 5 days. With dashboard, aggregates, filtering, and retention policy — 1 to 1.5 weeks.

Order a turnkey system — contact us for an accurate estimate of your project. Get a consultation on implementation.