In this episode, we're diving into how to properly secure your webhook endpoints using a secret key—something we should always do but sometimes forget about early on! We start with an explanation of why securing webhooks matters: basically, without some form of authentication, anyone could send fake payloads to your application and trigger unwanted actions, like canceling subscriptions or faking signups. Not ideal!
So, we walk through how Stripe (and Laravel Cashier, if you're using it) makes adding this security super simple. We show you where to find your webhook secret in the Stripe dashboard, how to add it to your application config (just a quick copy and paste!), and what that process looks like in practice when things are working correctly.
We also take a peek under the hood to see how this security check actually works in the backend. The magic happens at the middleware level, where incoming requests to your webhook endpoint are checked against the secret. If the signature from Stripe doesn't match what you've set in your environment, the request is blocked before it can do any damage.
By the end of the episode, you'll have your webhooks locked down, and you'll know exactly how and why the system is keeping you safe from rogue requests.