Delayed webhook API

Schedule HTTP requests for later with a delayed webhook API.

Webhook Scheduler gives developers one API call for future HTTP delivery, plus retries, delivery logs, cancellation, idempotency, and a dashboard built for support visibility.

Schedule a webhook Read API reference

API request

HTTPS only

curl https://webhookscheduler.com/api/v1/schedule \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer wh_live_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://api.example.com/webhooks/trial-follow-up",
    "method": "POST",
    "runAt": "2026-06-04T09:00:00.000Z",
    "body": {
      "event": "trial.follow_up",
      "workspaceId": "ws_123"
    },
    "idempotencyKey": "trial_follow_up:ws_123:2026-06-04"
  }'

One future HTTP job

Create a delayed HTTPS request with a target URL, method, JSON body, headers, run time, and idempotency key.

Retries and evidence

Track attempts, status codes, latency, response bodies, retry state, and final delivery outcome from the dashboard.

Safer public targets

Targets must be public HTTPS endpoints. Private networks, localhost, metadata endpoints, unsafe redirects, and oversized payloads are blocked.

What is a delayed webhook API?

A delayed webhook API creates an outbound HTTP request that runs in the future. Your application sends the destination URL, method, payload, optional headers, and target execution time. The scheduling layer stores the job, dispatches it when due, and records what happened.

This is different from a generic background queue. The unit of work is a future HTTP delivery to another system, not arbitrary server compute. That makes it a strong fit for trial reminders, billing follow-ups, onboarding steps, CRM syncs, no-code automations, Discord messages, and retryable callbacks.

When to use it instead of cron

Cron is a good way to wake up a fixed internal process. It is less clean when every customer, invoice, subscription, or workspace needs its own future webhook with a different payload and delivery time.

With cron, you still need a due-job scanner, locking, retries, status storage, cancellation, dashboard search, and support tooling. With a delayed webhook API, your product sends one scheduling request and keeps the business logic in your own app.

For a deeper comparison, read cron jobs vs webhook scheduling APIs.

The production checklist

A production delayed webhook system needs more than a timestamp. It needs safe URL validation, plan limits, rate limits, retry caps, response truncation, log retention, idempotency, cancellation, and a way for support to inspect each delivery.

Requirement	Why it matters
HTTPS-only targets	Avoid sending customer-defined traffic to unsafe or private destinations.
Retry backoff	Recover temporary receiver failures without flooding the endpoint.
Idempotency keys	Prevent duplicate jobs and help receivers handle at-least-once delivery.
Delivery logs	Give support and developers proof of status code, latency, error, and response.
Retention limits	Keep storage costs predictable as webhook volume grows.

How Webhook Scheduler handles delivery

The API creates a queued job for a public HTTPS target. When the scheduled time arrives, the worker revalidates the destination, claims the job atomically, dispatches the request, stores the result, and decides whether another recovery attempt is allowed.

The dashboard shows pending, processing, successful, failed, retrying, and canceled jobs. A delivery detail view keeps the payload, sanitized headers, attempts, status codes, latency, response body, errors, idempotency key, and queue metadata in one place.

Security and reliability model

User-provided webhook URLs are treated as untrusted input. Webhook Scheduler blocks private networks, localhost, link-local ranges, metadata endpoints, and unsafe redirects. Payload size, headers, timeout, retry count, and monthly volume are bounded by plan.

For the full safety model, see Security and reliability. For exact request fields, see the Schedule Webhooks API reference.

Implementation paths

Start with the webhook scheduler tool to prepare a real delayed delivery. For production, call POST /api/v1/schedule from your backend or a trusted automation tool using a private API key.

If you want language-specific examples, read cURL, Node.js, and Python examples or the guide on how to schedule an HTTP request for later.

FAQ

What is the difference between a delayed webhook and cron?

Cron wakes up a fixed process on a schedule. A delayed webhook API stores individual future HTTPS deliveries, each with its own target, payload, retry state, cancellation state, and logs.

Can I schedule any HTTP request for later?

You can schedule public HTTPS targets with supported HTTP methods, JSON payloads, and safe custom headers. Unsafe private destinations are blocked.

Do delayed webhooks retry automatically?

Failed deliveries can retry according to plan limits. Each attempt is stored with status, latency, error, and response details when available.

Should I call the API from the browser?

No. Keep API keys server-side. Use the browser tool for preparing a test, then call the API from your backend or trusted automation layer in production.

Ship delayed webhooks without maintaining queue infrastructure.

Start with the free plan, test a real delivery, then upgrade when the workflow becomes production critical.

Schedule a webhook