Webhook Event Detection and Secure Notification With Cached Tokens
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing document management systems inefficiently manage event notifications, leading to excessive network bandwidth usage and limited scalability due to frequent polling for updates, even when no events occur.
Innovation Solution
Implement a secure webhook system that generates notifications only upon event occurrence, using access tokens verified by a webhook listener, with cached tokens to reduce unnecessary communications and computations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a polling mechanism is used to request updates periodically, then the client device can receive updates, but it results in many fruitless calls and inefficient bandwidth usage
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of the client periodically polling the server for updates, the system inverts the communication pattern by having the server push notifications to the client only when events occur. This is achieved through a webhook mechanism where the server sends HTTP POST requests to a registered callback URL, eliminating the need for continuous client-initiated polling and thus reducing bandwidth consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the server to automatically notify clients of events without requiring clients to continuously request updates. The webhook registration and notification mechanism allows the server to self-manage the communication by pushing relevant information to subscribed clients only when necessary, making the update delivery process efficient and event-driven.
2Reliability
If a polling mechanism is used to request updates periodically, then the client device can receive updates, but it limits the scalability of the online document management system
Solution Approach 1:
The system inverts the traditional polling architecture by implementing an event-driven push notification system. Instead of multiple clients simultaneously polling the server, the server maintains a registry of webhook endpoints and actively pushes notifications to them. This approach significantly reduces server load and improves scalability as the system can handle more clients without the quadratic increase in communication overhead associated with polling.
Solution Approach 2:
The webhook notification system dynamically adapts to client needs by allowing clients to register and unregister webhook endpoints based on their specific requirements. The server dynamically manages the notification routing, sending updates only to registered webhooks relevant to each client's interests. This dynamic approach enhances system scalability by allowing flexible client participation without fixed polling schedules.
3Reliability
If access tokens are used for authentication, then secure communication is achieved, but token verification adds computational overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs authentication preliminarily by obtaining access tokens in advance during the webhook registration process. The server authenticates with the document management system before events occur, securing the webhook endpoint in advance. This preliminary authentication reduces computational overhead during event processing, as the token is already validated and cached, eliminating the need for repeated authentication computations at the time of notification.
Data Source
AI summary
A method or a system accesses an envelope stored in a first database. The envelope includes a set of secure electronic documents, a workflow of tasks, and one or more events associated with the tasks. The system also accesses a second database that stores a credential of an entity associated with the envelope. In response to authenticating the credential, the system receives and caches an access token in a third database. Further, the system monitors the events associated with the tasks in the workflow. In response to detecting an occurrence of at least one event, the system generates and sends a message with the cached access token to a webhook listener. After authentication of the entity using the access token, the webhook listener is caused to generate and send a notification to an administrator of the entity.