Webhook triggers
Webhook triggers
10 min
Stephen BronnecWebhook triggers are event-driven. Your agent responds instantly to events from external systems: a ticket is created, a PR is opened, a deal changes stages, a form is submitted, etc. In other words, the moment something happens in another platform, your agent processes it.
1. What's a webhook, exactly?
In very simple terms, webhooks are little messages that are sent by external platforms to Dust whenever an event occurs. They're usually accompanied by a payload, e.g. a file that contains the contents of the event.
Let's take an example. Let's say you have a Zendesk webhook on your workspace, set to trigger with every new ticket created in Zendesk.
- An event happens: a new ticket is created in Zendesk.
- The webhook is sent: Zendesk sends a message to Dust to let it know what happened, and includes the payload, e.g. the contents of this new ticket.
- The webhook trigger fires: the agent is triggered and received the event information (e.g. the payload)
- A new conversation starts, where the agent can process the event and take action through its tools.
Every webhook event creates a separate conversation, allowing your agent to handle each event independently with full reasoning transparency. You can review exactly how your agent processed each event.
2. Setting up webhook triggers
2.1. Who can set up webhook triggers on your workspace?
Only Dust admins! So if you don't see any available triggers on your workspace, that means they haven't been set up yet.
2.2. Available webhooks for triggers
We have a few built-in webhook providers, which are fully managed by Dust. We'll add new ones in the near future, so stay tuned!
- GitHub: PR events, issue updates
- Jira: Ticket creation, status changes
- Zendesk: Support ticket events
- Fathom: Meeting recordings
- Linear: Issue tracking events
Admins can also create custom webhooks. Custom webhooks let you integrate with any platform that can send webhooks.
2.3. Adding a webhook trigger to your agent
- Open your agent in the Agent Builder
- Navigate to Triggers section
- Select webhook type (GitHub, Jira, Zendesk, etc.)
- Choose which events to listen for (e.g., New ticket created)
- Add optional filter in natural language (e.g., Only when ticket contains "urgent")
- Save agent
And that's it!
3. Common use cases for webhook triggers
Common Use Cases:
- Support ticket triage: When a Zendesk ticket arrives, your agent assesses urgency, searches the knowledge base, and drafts a response or routes to the right team
- Pull request reviews: When a GitHub PR is opened, your agent checks for breaking changes, reviews against coding standards, and comments with feedback
- Meeting action tracking: When a Fathom recording is ready, your agent extracts action items and key decisions, then posts a structured recap with owners and deadlines to the relevant Slack channel
- Bug prioritization: When a Jira ticket is created, your agent analyzes the issue, searches for similar past incidents in the knowledge base, and assigns a priority level with a recommended owner.
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