Test Webhooks Locally

How to receive Stripe, GitHub, Shopify, and other webhooks on localhost using a tunnel or provider CLI tools.

Two approaches

When testing webhooks locally, you typically choose between:

1. Provider CLI — tools like stripe listen that forward events without a public URL
2. HTTPS tunnel — a public URL (e.g. LocalToLink) that providers can POST to directly

Both are valid. Use the provider CLI for quick iteration; use a tunnel when you need the exact production webhook URL in the provider dashboard.

Quick start with LocalToLink

# Terminal 1: your app
npm run dev

# Terminal 2: tunnel
npx localtolink --port 3000

Copy the public URL (e.g. https://k7m2x9p4q1.localtolink.com) and register it as your webhook endpoint in the provider dashboard:

https://k7m2x9p4q1.localtolink.com/api/webhooks/stripe

Webhook POST requests bypass the browser interstitial — no special headers needed for server-to-server calls.

Provider-specific guides

| Provider | Guide | |----------|-------| | Stripe | Test Stripe Webhooks Locally | | GitHub | Test GitHub Webhooks on Localhost | | Shopify | Test Shopify Webhooks in Development | | Twilio | Test Twilio Webhooks Locally | | n8n | n8n OAuth and Webhooks on Localhost |

Tips for reliable webhook testing

• Use --port if you have multiple apps running
• Use --json in CI to capture the URL programmatically
• Sessions last 2 hours — restart the tunnel if it expires mid-test
• Rate limit is 10 req/s per tunnel — sufficient for normal webhook traffic
• LocalToLink has no request inspector — log payloads in your handler or use the provider's dashboard

When a tunnel is not needed

Some providers ship local forwarding tools:

• Stripe CLI: stripe listen --forward-to localhost:3000/webhook
• GitHub CLI: limited webhook support; tunnel is often simpler

See Stripe webhooks guide for when to use each approach.

LocalToLink CLI 1.0.1 — verified 2026-09-05