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

1 Connection 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

2 Authentication 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

3 Header 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

4 Payload 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

5 Alert 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)

6 Delivery 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

1

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
2

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"
  }'
3

Configure in DB Audit

Add the webhook destination in the DB Audit dashboard.

  1. Navigate to Settings → Alert Destinations in DB Audit
  2. Click Add Destination
  3. Select Webhook as the provider
  4. Enter your endpoint URL
  5. Configure authentication if needed
  6. Customize the payload format (optional)
  7. Test the connection and save
4

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

  1. Go to Settings → Alert Destinations
  2. Find your webhook destination
  3. Click the Test button
  4. Check your endpoint logs for the test payload
  5. 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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