Alert Destination

Generic Webhooks

Send database audit alerts to any HTTP endpoint with customizable payloads, authentication, and headers. Build custom integrations with your existing tools and workflows.

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Custom Payloads

Use Handlebars templates to format alert data exactly how your endpoint expects it.

Multiple Auth Methods

Support for Basic, Bearer, API Key, and HMAC signature authentication.

Automatic Retries

Exponential backoff retries ensure reliable delivery even when endpoints are temporarily unavailable.

Configuration Reference

1Connection Settings

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	Yes	-	A unique name for this alert destination (e.g., "custom-webhook")
provider	select	Yes	webhook	Alert provider - select "Webhook"
enabled	boolean	No	true	Enable or disable alert delivery
url	string	Yes	-	Webhook endpoint URL (HTTPS recommended)
method	select	No	POST	HTTP method: POST, PUT, or PATCH

2Authentication Settings

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
auth_type	select	No	none	Authentication type: none, basic, bearer, api_key, hmac
auth_username	string	No	-	Username for basic authentication
auth_password	password	No	-	Password for basic authentication
auth_token	password	No	-	Bearer token for token authentication
api_key_header	string	No	X-API-Key	Header name for API key authentication
api_key_value	password	No	-	API key value
hmac_secret	password	No	-	Secret key for HMAC signature generation
hmac_header	string	No	X-Signature	Header name for HMAC signature
hmac_algorithm	select	No	sha256	HMAC algorithm: sha256, sha384, sha512

3Header Settings

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
content_type	select	No	application/json	Content-Type header: application/json, application/x-www-form-urlencoded
custom_headers	object	No	-	Additional HTTP headers as key-value pairs

4Payload Settings

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
payload_format	select	No	default	Payload format: default (DB Audit format), custom (template)
payload_template	text	No	-	Custom payload template using Handlebars syntax
include_raw_event	boolean	No	false	Include the raw event data in the payload

5Alert Filtering

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
severity_filter	multiselect	No	all	Alert severities to send: critical, high, medium, low, info
alert_types	multiselect	No	all	Alert types: policy_violation, anomaly_detection, threshold_breach, classification_alert
database_filter	array	No	-	Limit to specific databases (empty = all databases)

6Delivery Settings

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
rate_limit	number	No	60	Maximum alerts per minute (1-100)
timeout_seconds	number	No	30	Request timeout in seconds (5-120)
retry_attempts	number	No	3	Number of retry attempts on failure
retry_delay_seconds	number	No	5	Delay between retry attempts
success_codes	array	No	200,201,202,204	HTTP status codes considered successful

Authentication Methods

None

No authentication. Only use for endpoints with network-level security.

No headers added

Basic Auth

HTTP Basic authentication with username and password.

Authorization: Basic base64(user:pass)

Bearer Token

Token-based authentication commonly used with OAuth.

Authorization: Bearer token

API Key

API key in a custom header (default: X-API-Key).

X-API-Key: your-api-key

HMAC Signature

Cryptographic signature for payload verification.

X-Signature: hmac-sha256(payload)

Setup Instructions

Create Your Webhook Endpoint

Set up an HTTP endpoint to receive alert data from DB Audit.

Use HTTPS for secure communication
Return 2xx status code on success
Respond within the configured timeout
Implement idempotency using alert_id

Test Your Endpoint

Verify your endpoint works with sample data.

                # Test your webhook endpoint with curl
curl -X POST https://your-endpoint.com/webhook \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "alert_id": "test_123",
    "type": "policy_violation",
    "severity": "high",
    "title": "Test Alert from DB Audit"
  }'

Configure in DB Audit

Add the webhook destination in the DB Audit dashboard.

Navigate to Settings → Alert Destinations in DB Audit
Click Add Destination
Select Webhook as the provider
Enter your endpoint URL
Configure authentication if needed
Customize the payload format (optional)
Test the connection and save

Implement Signature Verification (Recommended)

Verify webhook signatures to ensure alerts are from DB Audit.

                // Verify HMAC signature in your webhook handler (Node.js example)
const crypto = require('crypto');

function verifyWebhook(payload, signature, secret) {
  const expectedSignature = crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', secret)
    .update(payload)
    .digest('hex');

  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(
    Buffer.from(signature),
    Buffer.from(expectedSignature)
  );
}

// Express.js middleware
app.post('/webhook', express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }), (req, res) => {
  const signature = req.headers['x-signature'];
  const payload = req.body.toString();

  if (!verifyWebhook(payload, signature, process.env.WEBHOOK_SECRET)) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' });
  }

  const alert = JSON.parse(payload);
  // Process the alert...

  res.status(200).json({ received: true });
});

Payload Formats

Default Payload Format

The standard DB Audit alert format with full event details.

            {
  "alert_id": "alert_abc123xyz",
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:45.123Z",
  "type": "policy_violation",
  "severity": "high",
  "title": "Bulk Data Access Detected",
  "description": "User accessed more than 10,000 rows in a single query",
  "source": {
    "database": "production-postgres",
    "db_type": "postgresql",
    "host": "db.example.com",
    "port": 5432
  },
  "actor": {
    "user": "app_user",
    "client_ip": "10.0.1.50",
    "application": "backend-api"
  },
  "event": {
    "query_type": "SELECT",
    "object": "public.customers",
    "rows_affected": 15000,
    "duration_ms": 2500
  },
  "policy": {
    "id": "policy_bulk_access",
    "name": "Bulk Data Access Policy"
  },
  "links": {
    "dashboard": "https://app.dbaudit.ai/alerts/alert_abc123xyz"
  }
}

Custom Template (Handlebars)

Use Handlebars syntax to create custom payload structures.

            // Custom payload template using Handlebars syntax
{
  "incident": {
    "title": "{{title}}",
    "description": "{{description}}",
    "severity": "{{#if (eq severity 'critical')}}P1{{else if (eq severity 'high')}}P2{{else}}P3{{/if}}",
    "source": "dbaudit",
    "tags": [
      "database:{{source.database}}",
      "user:{{actor.user}}",
      "type:{{type}}"
    ],
    "custom_fields": {
      "database_host": "{{source.host}}",
      "client_ip": "{{actor.client_ip}}",
      "rows_affected": {{event.rows_affected}},
      "policy_violated": "{{policy.name}}"
    }
  },
  "metadata": {
    "alert_id": "{{alert_id}}",
    "link": "{{links.dashboard}}"
  }
}

Testing Your Integration

Test via Dashboard

Go to Settings → Alert Destinations
Find your webhook destination
Click the Test button
Check your endpoint logs for the test payload
Verify the response was successful

Test via API

            curl -X POST \
  https://api.dbaudit.ai/v1/alerts/test \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"destination_id": "dest_abc123"}'

Troubleshooting

Connection timeout

The endpoint is not responding within the timeout period.

Increase the timeout_seconds setting
Check if the endpoint is behind a slow firewall or proxy
Verify the endpoint is publicly accessible from the internet

Authentication failed (401/403)

The authentication credentials are invalid or expired.

Verify the auth credentials are correct
Check if API keys or tokens have expired
Ensure the Authorization header format is correct

Invalid payload (400)

The endpoint rejected the payload format.

Check if custom template has syntax errors
Verify the Content-Type header matches expected format
Test the payload manually with curl

HMAC signature mismatch

The signature verification is failing on your endpoint.

Ensure you're using the raw request body for verification
Check the HMAC algorithm matches (sha256, sha384, sha512)
Verify the secret key is identical on both sides

SSL certificate error

The SSL certificate on the endpoint is invalid.

Ensure the certificate is valid and not expired
Verify the certificate chain is complete
Use a trusted certificate authority

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