How to Test Cloudinary Webhooks
Cloudinary notifications fire after asset uploads, derivations, taggings, and moderation events — perfect for syncing CMS state and automating downstream image pipelines.
Cloudinary Official Webhook Docs1. Cloudinary Webhook Events
Cloudinary can send the following webhook events to your endpoint:
uploadeagerinfodeleteresource_taggedmoderationanimation_complete2. Set Up a Test Endpoint with HookRay
Follow these steps to start receiving Cloudinary webhooks for testing:
- Go to HookRay and click "Start Testing — Free" to get your unique webhook URL.
- Copy the URL (e.g.,
https://h.hookray.com/abc123). - In your Cloudinary dashboard, navigate to the webhook settings and paste the HookRay URL as your endpoint.
- Select the events you want to receive (see list above).
- Trigger a test event — HookRay will show the incoming webhook in real-time.
3. Sample Cloudinary Webhook Payload
Here's an example of what a Cloudinary webhook payload looks like:
{
"notification_type": "upload",
"timestamp": "2026-04-23T14:55:00Z",
"request_id": "abc123xyz789",
"asset_id": "abc123-asset-id-456789",
"public_id": "ecommerce/products/winter-jacket-01",
"version": 1745420700,
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"format": "jpg",
"resource_type": "image",
"bytes": 234567,
"url": "http://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/v1745420700/ecommerce/products/winter-jacket-01.jpg",
"secure_url": "https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/v1745420700/ecommerce/products/winter-jacket-01.jpg"
}4. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I test Cloudinary webhooks without deploying?
Use HookRay to get an instant public webhook URL. Paste it into your Cloudinary dashboard's webhook configuration, trigger an event, and watch the payload arrive in real time. No code, no ngrok, no deployment. The free tier captures 100 requests per month and works for all Cloudinary event types.
Why aren't my Cloudinary webhooks arriving?
Four common causes: (1) the endpoint URL isn't publicly accessible — Cloudinary can't reach localhost; (2) the wrong events are subscribed in your dashboard; (3) signature verification is rejecting the request before your handler runs; (4) a firewall, expired SSL certificate, or DNS misconfiguration is blocking Cloudinary's requests. Use HookRay's URL to isolate which of these four is failing.
Why am I getting 400 or 500 errors from my Cloudinary webhook?
Cloudinary reports the status code your endpoint returned. HookRay accepts any payload and returns 200 OK by default, so if you see 400/500 while pointing at HookRay, the issue is in Cloudinary's configuration. If you point at your own endpoint and get 400/500, capture the request with HookRay, replay it locally, and debug from the captured payload.
How do I verify Cloudinary webhook signatures?
Cloudinary signs each request with a shared secret. Capture the raw headers and body using HookRay, then verify the signature in your application using Cloudinary's SDK or a standard HMAC library. Once verification works against HookRay-captured data, you can safely deploy.
Can I replay a captured Cloudinary webhook?
Yes — HookRay's replay feature re-sends any captured webhook with one click. This is the fastest way to fix a buggy handler: capture the payload once, fix your code, replay until it works. No need to re-trigger events in Cloudinary.
5. Next Steps
- Use HookRay's webhook replay feature to re-send captured webhooks while building your handler
- Enable smart parsing (Pro plan) to see Cloudinary-specific fields highlighted automatically
- Check the Cloudinary webhook documentation for the complete event reference
Ready to test Cloudinary webhooks?
Get a free webhook URL in 5 seconds. No signup required.
Start Testing Cloudinary Webhooks — FreeFree PDF: Webhook Testing Cheat Sheet 2026
One-page reference for 50+ APIs — canonical events, signing methods, sample payloads. Print it, pin it, share it.
📄 Download the cheat sheet (PDF, 180KB)