How to Receive Stripe Webhooks on Localhost (Without the Headache)

Source: Dev.to

Testing Stripe Webhooks Locally with Hooklink

If you’ve ever integrated Stripe payments, you know the drill: Stripe sends webhook events to a public URL, but your development server is running on localhost:3000. You need those events to reach your machine in real time so you can:

• Test payment flows
• Handle subscription changes
• Debug edge‑case payloads

In this post, I’ll walk through how to bridge that gap using Hooklink, a webhook‑to‑localhost tool that gives you:

• A permanent sub‑domain
• Signature verification
• Event filtering
• Replay capabilities

Why Not the Usual Workarounds?

Step‑by‑Step: From Zero to Live Stripe Events on Your Machine

1. Create a Hooklink Account

1. Go to app.hooklink.net/register and sign up.
2. The free plan includes 2,500 requests per week – more than enough for development.

2. Create a Stripe Endpoint

1. In the Hooklink dashboard, navigate to Endpoints → Create Endpoint.

2. Choose the Stripe template (fastest path):

   • Integrations → find the Stripe card → Use Template

   The dialog will pre‑fill the following fields:

3. Adjust the Local target URL to match your project’s webhook route, then click Create.

Your endpoint is now live at a permanent, memorable URL:

https://stripe-yourname.hooklink.net

Note: This URL never changes, so you won’t need to keep updating Stripe’s dashboard.

3. Register the Hooklink URL in Stripe

1. In the Stripe Dashboard: Developers → Webhooks → Add endpoint.
2. Paste the Hooklink URL: https://stripe-yourname.hooklink.net.
3. Select the events you want to receive (e.g., payment_intent.succeeded, checkout.session.completed, customer.subscription.created).
4. Click Add endpoint.

4. Enable Signature Verification

Stripe signs every webhook with an HMAC‑SHA256 signature in the Stripe-Signature header.

1. In Stripe’s webhook settings, copy the Signing secret (starts with whsec_).

2. In Hooklink’s endpoint settings, enable Signature Verification:

   • Algorithm: HMAC‑SHA256
   • Header: Stripe-Signature
   • Signing secret: paste the value from Stripe

Hooklink parses Stripe’s signature format (t=timestamp,v1=signature) natively, builds the signed payload as {timestamp}.{body}, and performs a constant‑time comparison. It also checks the timestamp against a configurable tolerance window (default 5 minutes) to prevent replay attacks.

5. Install & Authenticate the Hooklink CLI

# Install globally
npm install -g @hooklink/cli

Generate an API key from Dashboard → API Keys, then log in:

hooklink login --key hlk_your_api_key_here

6. Connect to Your Stripe Endpoint

hooklink connect stripe

You’ll see output similar to:

$ hooklink connect stripe

  Connection Details:
    Version:      v1.2.0
    Endpoint:     stripe
    Webhook URL:  https://stripe-yourname.hooklink.net
    Target:       http://localhost:3000/api/webhooks/stripe

  Waiting for webhooks...

Now every Stripe webhook flows to your local server in real time over a persistent WebSocket connection.

7. Test the Flow

1. In Stripe’s webhook settings, click Send test webhook and choose an event (e.g., payment_intent.succeeded).
2. In your terminal you’ll see:

stripe   POST --> payment_intent.succeeded
stripe   POST  payment_intent.succeeded
stripe   POST  push
github   POST <-- 200   8ms
preview  GET      /dashboard  200

Installation

npm install -g @hooklink/cli

Authentication

hooklink login --key hlk_your_key

Connect to Endpoints

• Single endpoint (Stripe)

  hooklink connect stripe

• Multiple endpoints (Stripe, GitHub, Preview)

  hooklink connect stripe,github,preview

Useful Commands

• View recent webhook logs

  hooklink logs --endpoint stripe

• Check connection status

  hooklink status

Why Use Hooklink?

Testing Stripe webhooks locally doesn’t have to be painful. With Hooklink you get:

• A permanent URL that survives restarts
• Built‑in Stripe signature verification
• Event filtering and source IP allowlisting
• One‑click webhook replay
• Full request logging for free

The free plan covers 2,500 requests per week across 3 endpoints with full request logging—more than enough for most development workflows.

Quick Start (No Sign‑Up Required)

npx @hooklink/cli listen 3000

You’ll have a public webhook URL in under 30 seconds.