openwebhook.co
Open inspector →
developer guide

How to Test Webhooks in n8n

Inspect HTTP Request output from n8n, or craft the POST you will send to a Webhook node. Test and production URLs are not the same.

By David Lorenzo García··5 min read

n8n’s Webhook node is a receiver: n8n prints a test URL and a production URL. HTTP Request is a sender. OpenWebhook belongs on the send path, or as a scratch pad for the JSON you will later POST into n8n.

Open the inspector. Keep the tab open. Inspector basics: test webhooks online.

HTTP Request → inspector

  1. Add HTTP Request after your trigger.
  2. Method POST, URL:
https://hooks.openwebhook.co/YOUR_UUID/n8n
  1. Body JSON. Map expressions ({{ $json.field }}). Add the headers the real API expects.
  2. Execute the node (or the workflow).

You should see POST /n8n and the exact body n8n built. If the node errors before “request sent”, nothing will appear in the inspector.

Webhook node (n8n as receiver)

The Webhook node has two URLs. Test only receives while the editor is listening. Production is for the activated workflow. Neither is an OpenWebhook host.

To design the payload first, POST a sample at the inspector, copy it, then send the same bytes to the n8n test URL:

curl -X POST \
  'https://YOUR-N8N/webhook-test/YOUR-PATH' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{"event":"order.created"}'

When to use the CLI

If HTTP Request should hit a local app, use listen and paste that HTTPS URL into the node. A connected CLI proxies the localhost status back to n8n.

Related guides