When two business tools need to work together, a proposal may mention APIs, webhooks or both. Understanding the distinction helps you ask better questions about timing, reliability and responsibility. You do not need to write code to establish what the connection must achieve.
An API provides a defined way for software to request information or perform an operation. A webhook is a way for a system to send a notification when a particular event occurs. They often work together: an event notification tells an integration something has changed, and an API request retrieves the detail needed to act.
Understand the request and response pattern
Consider a website checking appointment availability. It asks a booking system for available slots and receives a response. The API defines how the request is made, what information is required and what the response means. A different operation might create a booking or update a customer record.
Many web APIs communicate through HTTP using requests and responses. For a business specification, establish which operations are supported, what permissions they need and how results are confirmed. Keep request handling distinct from the business outcome. Our integration requests and reliability guide provides the related checks.
An API being available does not establish that every feature in the supplier's dashboard is accessible through it. Ask the developer to check the exact operations your process requires. A connector listing the product name may support only a limited subset of its functions.
Understand the event notification pattern
A webhook can notify another system when an event happens, such as a booking being cancelled or an invoice reaching a new state. Instead of repeatedly asking whether anything changed, the receiving integration reacts to a notification.
The receiving address and handling process must be configured. The notification also needs a defined format so that the receiver knows which event occurred and which record it concerns. Sometimes it contains the relevant detail; sometimes the integration must retrieve more information through an API.
Do not interpret a webhook as a guarantee of immediate business completion. Receiving a notification and completing a downstream task are separate steps. If the CRM is unavailable, a booking event may have arrived successfully while its follow-up task remains pending.
Write the business workflow before choosing a connection
Describe the trigger, information, action and expected outcome. For example, after a website accepts an enquiry, the integration should record the request in the CRM and assign a review task. Identify the original enquiry record and which system governs its status.
Define timing in terms of the business need. An enquiry appearing within a reasonable operational window may be sufficient, while a customer choosing a booking slot needs current availability at the point of selection. Avoid requesting real-time integration everywhere without explaining why.
Record what should happen when the normal path cannot complete. A missing customer identifier may require review. A temporary supplier outage may justify waiting and retrying. A cancelled request may require a different action from an updated one.
This brief allows the developer to select APIs, webhooks, scheduled synchronisation or a combination. The business defines the result, while the technical design explains how to achieve it reliably.
Agree the data contract and authoritative records
Specify the fields each step needs and what those fields mean. Dates, statuses and identifiers can differ between products. An appointment date in one system may use a time zone that another system does not assume automatically.
Establish which system owns each value. If staff can edit a customer's telephone number in two places, decide how changes are reconciled. Otherwise, the integration may repeatedly overwrite a correct update with an older value.
Preserve stable references where possible. A display name is usually a poor substitute for a record identifier because names can change or be shared. Ask how the design links records without confusing two customers or two separate requests.
Check whether the connection sends complete records or only changed fields. A missing field in a partial update does not necessarily mean that its value should be erased. That distinction belongs in the specification and tests.
Plan for repeated, delayed and failed processing
Integrations must handle more than the ideal event sequence. Ask about retries, duplicate events, ordering and signature verification. Check each connection's actual rules rather than assuming all event-driven services behave alike. Our webhook reliability guide provides the related checks.
Ask how the design avoids performing the same business action twice when a notification is repeated. This is often described as idempotency: repeated processing should not create an unintended extra result. Define the result clearly, such as one task for one accepted enquiry.
Also ask what happens when related updates arrive in an unexpected order. The technical solution may need to check the current source record rather than assume that delivery order matches the business history.
Make unresolved work visible. A connection that silently abandons a failed update can look healthy while records drift apart. Agree which person reviews failures, how they replay or correct them and what evidence confirms completion.
For an illustrative appointment request, the booking service might create a record while the website loses the response. The visitor then sees an uncertain result and tries again. Ask the developer to explain how the website establishes whether the first request succeeded before creating another booking. This is a different problem from receiving the same notification twice. The business test should follow both the request and the later event, checking that they refer to the intended appointment. Record what staff and the visitor see while the outcome is being investigated. A generic failure message may leave the visitor unsure whether to attend, whereas a defined reconciliation process gives the team a route to confirm the booking without guessing.
Keep access and verification proportionate to the task
Use integration accounts and permissions that match the required operations. A connection that reads availability should not automatically receive authority to delete every booking. Review the supplier's supported permission model with the developer.
Keep credentials out of public website code, general documents and diagnostic output. Record who manages the integration account and how access is maintained when a staff member or supplier changes. Account ownership is part of reliability.
For incoming notifications, ask how the receiver verifies the source using the provider's supported method. An address being publicly reachable does not mean that every request to it should be trusted. The implementation should distinguish a verified event from an arbitrary message.
Limit the information transferred to the agreed purpose. A status notification may not need a full customer history. Reducing unnecessary data makes the contract easier to understand and the connection easier to maintain.
Check supplier limits and operating costs
Ask whether the required APIs and notifications are available on the planned account tier. Review usage limits, event coverage and any charges relevant to the expected workload. Product names alone do not establish those details.
Estimate busy periods as well as ordinary traffic. A batch import, campaign or retry backlog can create a different workload from normal daily use. The design should explain how it handles those peaks without losing work.
Identify the maintenance obligations. Suppliers can change supported versions, field definitions and authentication arrangements. Agree who monitors relevant notices and how the integration will be updated and tested.
Test a complete outcome and document the handover
Create representative test cases that follow the entire process. Include a normal transaction, a repeated notification, a temporary destination failure and an update to an existing record. Check the business result in each system rather than only the technical response.
Use a suitable test environment and accounts. Prevent test messages from reaching real customers or altering live transactions unintentionally. Document which parts are simulated and which are exercised against the actual supplier service.
During handover, request the workflow diagram, data map, account owner, monitoring route and recovery procedure. A business owner should be able to identify who is responsible when the connection stops working, even if the implementation is highly technical.
Giraffe Digital's digital strategy service helps connect business tools and customer journeys, with website design supporting the customer-facing parts. Understanding APIs and webhooks gives those discussions a practical foundation: define the outcome, establish the contract and verify what happens when the ideal path is interrupted.
Frequently asked questions
How should we understand the request and response pattern?
Consider a website checking appointment availability. It asks a booking system for available slots and receives a response. The API defines how the request is made, what information is required and what the response means. A different operation might create a booking or update a customer record. Many web APIs communicate through HTTP using requests and responses. For a business specification, establish which operations are supported, what permissions they need and how results are confirmed. Keep request handling distinct from the business outcome. Our integration requests and reliability guide provides the related checks. An API being available does not establish that every feature in the supplier's dashboard is accessible through it. Ask the developer to check the exact operations your process requires.
How should we write the business workflow before choosing a connection?
Describe the trigger, information, action and expected outcome. For example, after a website accepts an enquiry, the integration should record the request in the CRM and assign a review task. Identify the original enquiry record and which system governs its status. Define timing in terms of the business need. An enquiry appearing within a reasonable operational window may be sufficient, while a customer choosing a booking slot needs current availability at the point of selection. Avoid requesting real-time integration everywhere without explaining why. Record what should happen when the normal path cannot complete. A missing customer identifier may require review. A temporary supplier outage may justify waiting and retrying. A cancelled request may require a different action from an updated one.
How should we plan for repeated, delayed and failed processing?
Integrations must handle more than the ideal event sequence. Ask about retries, duplicate events, ordering and signature verification. Check each connection's actual rules rather than assuming all event-driven services behave alike. Our webhook reliability guide provides the related checks. Ask how the design avoids performing the same business action twice when a notification is repeated. This is often described as idempotency: repeated processing should not create an unintended extra result. Define the result clearly, such as one task for one accepted enquiry. Also ask what happens when related updates arrive in an unexpected order. The technical solution may need to check the current source record rather than assume that delivery order matches the business history.
How should we keep access and verification proportionate to the task?
Use integration accounts and permissions that match the required operations. A connection that reads availability should not automatically receive authority to delete every booking. Review the supplier's supported permission model with the developer. Keep credentials out of public website code, general documents and diagnostic output. Record who manages the integration account and how access is maintained when a staff member or supplier changes. Account ownership is part of reliability. For incoming notifications, ask how the receiver verifies the source using the provider's supported method. An address being publicly reachable does not mean that every request to it should be trusted. The implementation should distinguish a verified event from an arbitrary message. Limit the information transferred to the agreed purpose.
How should we test a complete outcome and document the handover?
Create representative test cases that follow the entire process. Include a normal transaction, a repeated notification, a temporary destination failure and an update to an existing record. Check the business result in each system rather than only the technical response. Use a suitable test environment and accounts. Prevent test messages from reaching real customers or altering live transactions unintentionally. Document which parts are simulated and which are exercised against the actual supplier service. During handover, request the workflow diagram, data map, account owner, monitoring route and recovery procedure. A business owner should be able to identify who is responsible when the connection stops working, even if the implementation is highly technical. Giraffe Digital's digital strategy service helps connect business tools and customer journeys, with website design supporting the customer-facing parts.
