How to Test a Webhook in n8n

Every Webhook trigger node in n8n has two URLs. The test URL contains /webhook-test/ in the path and is only active when you click Listen for Test Event in the editor. It is designed for development and lets you see the incoming data immediately in the node output panel. The production URL contains /webhook/ and is only active when the workflow is toggled to Active. It runs the full workflow in the background. During development, always use the test URL so you can inspect data step by step without activating the workflow.

Open your workflow in the n8n editor and click on the Webhook trigger node. In the node panel, you will see the test URL displayed. Click the Listen for Test Event button (or click Test Workflow at the top). n8n now waits for an incoming HTTP request at the test URL. The editor shows a spinning indicator while it waits. You have approximately 120 seconds to send a request before the listener times out. Keep the editor tab open and focused while testing — navigating away may interrupt the listener.

Open a terminal and send an HTTP request to the test URL using curl. Include a JSON body with sample data that represents what your real integration will send. Use the -H flag to set the Content-Type header to application/json so n8n correctly parses the body. If your webhook expects query parameters, append them to the URL. If it expects form data, use -d with URL-encoded values and set Content-Type to application/x-www-form-urlencoded instead.

1# JSON POST request
2curl -X POST https://your-n8n.example.com/webhook-test/my-webhook \
3  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
4  -d '{
5    "event": "order.created",
6    "customer_email": "test@example.com",
7    "order_id": 12345,
8    "total": 99.99
9  }'
10
11# GET request with query parameters
12curl 'https://your-n8n.example.com/webhook-test/my-webhook?status=active&page=1'
13
14# Form data POST request
15curl -X POST https://your-n8n.example.com/webhook-test/my-webhook \
16  -H 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
17  -d 'name=John&email=john@example.com'

After the test request arrives, the Webhook node's output panel shows the parsed data. Click on the node to open it and review the Output tab. You will see the request body under $json, headers under $headers, query parameters under $query, and URL parameters under $params. Switch between Table view and JSON view to explore the data structure. This is the exact data shape that downstream nodes will receive. If a field is missing or has an unexpected type, fix the sender's request before proceeding.

If your webhook requires authentication, configure it in the Webhook node settings under Authentication. n8n supports Basic Auth, Header Auth, and JWT. After enabling authentication, your test requests must include the correct credentials. For Basic Auth, use the -u flag in curl. For Header Auth, add the custom header with -H. Test that authenticated requests succeed and unauthenticated requests return a 401 or 403 error.

1# Basic Auth
2curl -X POST https://your-n8n.example.com/webhook-test/my-webhook \
3  -u 'myuser:mypassword' \
4  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
5  -d '{"test": true}'
6
7# Header Auth (e.g., X-API-Key)
8curl -X POST https://your-n8n.example.com/webhook-test/my-webhook \
9  -H 'X-API-Key: your-secret-key-here' \
10  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
11  -d '{"test": true}'
12
13# Verify unauthenticated requests are rejected
14curl -v -X POST https://your-n8n.example.com/webhook-test/my-webhook \
15  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
16  -d '{"test": true}'

Once your test data looks correct and all downstream nodes work as expected, toggle the workflow to Active using the switch in the top-right corner of the editor. The production URL (/webhook/) is now live and will run the full workflow for every incoming request. Update your external application or service to send requests to the production URL instead of the test URL. The test URL stops responding once the workflow is active. Verify production behavior by checking the Executions panel for successful runs.