In this article, we will cover:
Webhooks & Event-Driven Workflows Overview
Tapfiliate’s Triggers & Webhooks feature allows you to automatically react when something happens in your affiliate program, such as a conversion being created or an affiliate signing up.
Instead of manually exporting data or polling the API, Tapfiliate can push event data instantly to:
External systems (CRMs, Slack, analytics tools, etc.)
Internal workflows using Tapfiliate’s own REST API
This enables fully automated, event-driven affiliate operations.
Why Use Webhooks and Event-Driven Workflows
Pros
Real-time automation: Events like conversions or affiliate sign-ups propagate immediately to other systems or workflows.
Internal event chaining: One event can natively initiate another (e.g., create a commission after an affiliate is added)
External integrations: Sync Tapfiliate events with CRMs, support tools, internal dashboards, and more
Use Cases
Automatically add new affiliates to an external CRM
Create affiliate prospects when a customer is created.
Trigger Slack or email alerts for large conversions
Sync commission updates to accounting tools.
Prerequisites for Using Webhooks
Before setting up webhooks, make sure you have:
A Tapfiliate account with access to Triggers
Your Tapfiliate API key (Profile → API key)
An endpoint URL that can receive HTTP requests
(Optional) A tool like Zapier, Make, or a custom backend
Step-by-Step: Creating a Webhook Trigger
Step 1: Create a New Trigger
Go to Tapfiliate Dashboard → Triggers
Click New Trigger
Enter a title and description for your workflow
Step 2: Choose the Trigger Event
Select when the trigger should fire, for example:
Conversion created
Affiliate created
Commission updated
This determines what event starts your workflow.
Step 3: Apply Filters (Optional)
You can limit when the trigger fires, such as:
Only for a specific program
Only if commission value is above a certain amount
Filters help avoid unnecessary webhook calls.
Step 4: Choose the Webhook Action
Under Do the following…, choose one of the following:
Webhook - sends a predefined payload
Webhook (custom) - lets you define headers and payload structure
Use Webhook (custom) when you need authentication headers or a specific JSON format.
Step 5: Configure the Webhook
Enter the destination URL
(Optional) Add headers like Authorization or Content-Type
Use merge tags to include dynamic Tapfiliate data in the payload
Step 6: Save and Test
Save the trigger
Use Test action to verify the webhook fires correctly
Two detailed real-world example workflows
Using triggers to sync registered affiliates to external CRM platform (Hubspot):
Use case: Immediately add or update every newly created affiliate as a contact in HubSpot CRM. This is used to directly sync anyone signing up to your affiliate program directly to your CRM without any manual intervention.
Setup:
Trigger Event: Affiliate created - this fires whenever an affiliate is created in the system.
Use the Hubspot's "create a contact" API endpoint as the url of the webhook, and add the headers and Body of the API.
You can dynamically send data in your webhook by using the "tags" available in the webhooks URL and Body.
Complete the setup and hit "test action" to test your webhook.
Using triggers to automate affiliate prospect creation when a customer is created (Internal API):
Use case: Immediately add or update every newly created customer as an affiliate prospect in Tapfiliate account. This adds each customer as an affiliate prospect and triggers a mail to refer their peers to become affiliates in Tapfiliate. This feature can help automate your referral process which can be used to promote your program via your customers.
Setup:
Trigger Event: Customer created — this fires whenever a customer is created in the system.
Use Tapfiliate's "create an affiliate prospect" API endpoint as the url of the webhook, and add the headers and Body of the API.
You can dynamically send data in your webhook by using the "tags" available in the webhooks URL and Body.
Complete the setup and hit "test action" to test your webhook.
How to Test and Verify Your Webhooks
Trigger a test event (create a test conversion or customer)
Use the Test action button in Triggers
Confirm the receiving system gets the payload
Check logs or responses for errors
Verify the expected action occurred (CRM entry created, prospect added, message sent, etc.)
Need More Help?
If you have questions about building advanced event-driven workflows, chaining internal triggers, or connecting Tapfiliate to third-party tools, contact us at support@tapfiliate.com, we’re happy to help.
