Clerk - Novu

You’ll learn how to automatically trigger notification workflows when any Clerk event occurs, such as user creation, email events, or password changes.

Overview

When specific events happen in Clerk (e.g., user signup, password changes, email verification), this integration will:

Receive the webhook event from Clerk.
Verify the webhook signature.
Process the event data.
Trigger the corresponding Novu notification workflow.

You can also clone this repository: https://github.com/novuhq/clerk-to-novu-webhooks

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure you have:

A Clerk + Next.js app (Set up Clerk).
A Novu account (Sign up here).

Install Dependencies

Run the following command to install the required packages:

npm install svix @novu/api @clerk/nextjs

Configure Environment Variables

Add the following variables to your .env.local file:

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_...
CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
CLERK_SIGNING_SECRET=whsec_...
NOVU_SECRET_KEY=novu_secret_...

Expose Your Local Server

To test webhooks locally, you need to expose your local server to the internet.There are two common options:

localtunnel
ngrok

localtunnel is a simple and free way to expose your local server without requiring an account.

Start a localtunnel listener
```
npx localtunnel 3000
```
Copy and save the generated public URL (e.g., https://your-localtunnel-url.loca.lt).

Learn more about localtunnel here.

localtunnel links may expire quickly and sometimes face reliability issues.

For a more stable and configurable tunnel, use ngrok:

Create an account at ngrok dashboard.
Follow the setup guide.
Run the command:
```
ngrok http 3000
```
Copy and save the Forwarding URL (e.g., https://your-ngrok-url.ngrok.io).

Learn more about ngrok here.

Set Up Clerk Webhook Endpoint

Go to the Clerk Webhooks page (link).
Click Add Endpoint.

Set the Endpoint URL as:

   https://your-forwarding-URL/api/webhooks/clerk

Subscribe to the relevant Clerk events (e.g., user.created, email.created etc.).

You can find the list of all supported Clerk events here, or proceed to the section which going over Identify the Triggering Event(s).

Click Create and keep the settings page open.

Add Signing Secret to Environment Variables

Copy the Signing Secret from Clerk’s Webhook Endpoint Settings.
Add it to your .env.local file:

CLERK_SIGNING_SECRET=your_signing_secret_here

Make Webhook Route Public

Ensure the webhook route is public by updating middleware.ts :

import { clerkMiddleware } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';

export default clerkMiddleware({
  publicRoutes: ['/api/webhooks'],
});

Create Webhook Endpoint for Clerk in Next.js

Create app/api/webhooks/clerk/route.ts:

app

api

The following snippet is the complete code of how to create a webhook endpoint for Clerk in Next.js:

import { Webhook } from 'svix'
import { headers } from 'next/headers'
import { WebhookEvent, UserJSON } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'
import { triggerWorkflow } from '@/app/utils/novu'

// Single source of truth for all supported Clerk events and their corresponding Novu workflows
const EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS = {
    // Session events
    'session.created': 'recent-login-v2',
    
    // User events
    'user.created': 'user-created',
    
    // Email events
    'email.created': {
        'magic_link_sign_in': 'auth-magic-link-login',
        'magic_link_sign_up': 'auth-magic-link-registration',
        'magic_link_user_profile': 'profile-magic-link-update',
        'organization_invitation': 'organization-invitation-v2',
        'organization_invitation_accepted': 'org-member-joined',
        'passkey_added': 'security-passkey-created',
        'passkey_removed': 'security-passkey-deleted',
        'password_changed': 'security-password-updated',
        'password_removed': 'security-password-deleted',
        'primary_email_address_changed': 'profile-email-updated',
        'reset_password_code': 'reset-password-code-v2',
        'verification_code': 'verification-code-v2',
        'waitlist_confirmation': 'waitlist-signup-confirmed',
        'waitlist_invitation': 'waitlist-access-granted',
        'invitation': 'user-invitation'
    }
} as const;

export async function POST(request: Request) {
    try {
        const SIGNING_SECRET = process.env.SIGNING_SECRET
        if (!SIGNING_SECRET) {
            throw new Error('Please add SIGNING_SECRET from Clerk Dashboard to .env')
        }

        const webhook = new Webhook(SIGNING_SECRET)
        const headerPayload = await headers()
        const validatedHeaders = validateHeaders(headerPayload)

        const payload = await request.json()
        const body = JSON.stringify(payload)

        const event = await verifyWebhook(webhook, body, {
            'svix-id': validatedHeaders.svix_id,
            'svix-timestamp': validatedHeaders.svix_timestamp,
            'svix-signature': validatedHeaders.svix_signature,
        })

        await handleWebhookEvent(event)

        return new Response('Webhook received', { status: 200 })
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Webhook processing error:', error)
        return new Response(`Error: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'}`, { status: 400 })
    }
}

const handleWebhookEvent = async (event: WebhookEvent) => {
    const workflow = await workflowBuilder(event)
    if (!workflow) {
        console.log(`Unsupported event type: ${event.type}`)
        return
    }

    const subscriber = await subscriberBuilder(event)
    const payload = await payloadBuilder(event)

    await triggerWorkflow(workflow, subscriber, payload)
}

async function workflowBuilder(event: WebhookEvent): Promise<string | undefined> {
    if (!EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS[event.type as keyof typeof EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS]) {
        return undefined;
    }

    if (event.type === 'email.created' && event.data.slug) {
        const emailMappings = EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS['email.created'];
        const emailSlug = event.data.slug as keyof typeof emailMappings;
        return emailMappings[emailSlug] || `email-${String(emailSlug).replace(/_/g, '-')}`;
    }

    return EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS[event.type as keyof typeof EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS] as string;
}

async function subscriberBuilder(response: WebhookEvent) {
    const userData = response.data as UserJSON;
    
    if (!userData.id) {
        throw new Error('Missing subscriber ID from webhook data');
    }

    return {
        subscriberId: (userData as any).user_id ?? userData.id,
        firstName: userData.first_name ?? undefined,
        lastName: userData.last_name ?? undefined,
        email: (userData.email_addresses?.[0]?.email_address ?? (userData as any).to_email_address) ?? undefined,
        phone: userData.phone_numbers?.[0]?.phone_number ?? undefined,
        locale: 'en_US',
        avatar: userData.image_url ?? undefined,
        data: {
            clerkUserId: (userData as any).user_id ?? userData.id,
            username: userData.username ?? '',
        },
    }
}

async function payloadBuilder(response: WebhookEvent) {
    return response.data;
}

const validateHeaders = (headerPayload: Headers) => {
    const svix_id = headerPayload.get('svix-id')
    const svix_timestamp = headerPayload.get('svix-timestamp')
    const svix_signature = headerPayload.get('svix-signature')

    if (!svix_id || !svix_timestamp || !svix_signature) {
        throw new Error('Missing Svix headers')
    }

    return { svix_id, svix_timestamp, svix_signature }
}

const verifyWebhook = async (webhook: Webhook, body: string, headers: any): Promise<WebhookEvent> => {
    try {
        return webhook.verify(body, headers) as WebhookEvent
    } catch (err) {
        console.error('Error: Could not verify webhook:', err)
        throw new Error('Verification error')
    }
}

Breakdown of the code

Imports and Dependencies

import { Webhook } from 'svix'
import { headers } from 'next/headers'
import { WebhookEvent, UserJSON } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'
import { triggerWorkflow } from '@/app/utils/novu'

Webhook from svix: This is a library used to verify the authenticity of incoming webhooks by checking their signatures. Webhooks often use signatures to ensure the payload hasn’t been tampered with.
headers from next/headers: A Next.js utility to access HTTP headers from the incoming request in the App Router.
WebhookEvent from @clerk/nextjs/server: A type definition for webhook events, likely provided by Clerk (a user authentication and management service). This ensures type safety when handling events.
triggerWorkflow: A custom function (imported from another file) that triggers a workflow. This is likely where notifications or other business logic is executed.

Event Mapping

const EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS = {
   
    // Clerk webhook event type -> Novu workflowId

    // Session events
    'session.created': 'session-created',
    
    // User events
    'user.created': 'user-created',
    
    // Email events
    'email.created': {
        'magic_link_sign_in': 'auth-magic-link-login',
        'magic_link_sign_up': 'auth-magic-link-registration',
        'magic_link_user_profile': 'profile-magic-link-update',
        'organization_invitation': 'organization-invitation',
        'organization_invitation_accepted': 'org-member-joined',
        'passkey_added': 'security-passkey-created',
        'passkey_removed': 'security-passkey-deleted',
        'password_changed': 'security-password-updated',
        'password_removed': 'security-password-deleted',
        'primary_email_address_changed': 'profile-email-updated',
        'reset_password_code': 'reset-password-code',
        'verification_code': 'verification-code',
        'waitlist_confirmation': 'waitlist-signup-confirmed',
        'waitlist_invitation': 'waitlist-access-granted',
        'invitation': 'user-invitation'
    }
} as const;

This mapping defines how Clerk webhook events are associated with Novu workflows.

Main Entry Point: POST Handler

export async function POST(request: Request) {
    try {
        const SIGNING_SECRET = process.env.SIGNING_SECRET
        if (!SIGNING_SECRET) {
            throw new Error('Please add SIGNING_SECRET from Clerk Dashboard to .env')
        }

        const webhook = new Webhook(SIGNING_SECRET)
        const headerPayload = await headers()
        const validatedHeaders = validateHeaders(headerPayload)

        const payload = await request.json()
        const body = JSON.stringify(payload)

        const event = await verifyWebhook(webhook, body, {
            'svix-id': validatedHeaders.svix_id,
            'svix-timestamp': validatedHeaders.svix_timestamp,
            'svix-signature': validatedHeaders.svix_signature,
        })

        await handleWebhookEvent(event)

        return new Response('Webhook received', { status: 200 })
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Webhook processing error:', error)
        return new Response(`Error: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'}`, { status: 400 })
    }
}

This is the main function that handles incoming HTTP POST requests (webhook events).

Handling the Webhook Event: handleWebhookEvent

const handleWebhookEvent = async (event: WebhookEvent) => {
    const workflow = await workflowBuilder(event)
    if (!workflow) {
        console.log(`Unsupported event type: ${event.type}`)
        return
    }

    const subscriber = await subscriberBuilder(event)
    const payload = await payloadBuilder(event)

    await triggerWorkflow(workflow, subscriber, payload)
}

This function processes the verified webhook event.

Identify the WorkflowID based on the event type: workflowBuilder

async function workflowBuilder(event: WebhookEvent): Promise<string | undefined> {
    if (!EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS[event.type as keyof typeof EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS]) {
        return undefined;
    }

    if (event.type === 'email.created' && event.data.slug) {
        const emailMappings = EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS['email.created'];
        const emailSlug = event.data.slug as keyof typeof emailMappings;
        return emailMappings[emailSlug] || `email-${String(emailSlug).replace(/_/g, '-')}`;
    }

    return EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS[event.type as keyof typeof EVENT_TO_WORKFLOW_MAPPINGS] as string;
}

This function determines the workflow ID by mapping the Clerk webhook event type to the Novu workflow ID.

Building the Subscriber: subscriberBuilder

async function subscriberBuilder(response: WebhookEvent) {
    const userData = response.data as UserJSON;
    
    if (!userData.id) {
        throw new Error('Missing subscriber ID from webhook data');
    }

    return {
        subscriberId: (userData as any).user_id ?? userData.id,
        firstName: userData.first_name ?? undefined,
        lastName: userData.last_name ?? undefined,
        email: (userData.email_addresses?.[0]?.email_address ?? (userData as any).to_email_address) ?? undefined,
        phone: userData.phone_numbers?.[0]?.phone_number ?? undefined,
        locale: 'en_US',
        avatar: userData.image_url ?? undefined,
        data: {
            clerkUserId: (userData as any).user_id ?? userData.id,
            username: userData.username ?? '',
        },
    }
}

This function builds the subscriber data based on the webhook event data.

Building the Payload: payloadBuilder

async function payloadBuilder(response: WebhookEvent) {
    return response.data;
}

This function constructs (extracts from the webhook event) the payload object data that will be used within workflow trigger call.

Validating the Headers: validateHeaders

const validateHeaders = (headerPayload: Headers) => {
    const svix_id = headerPayload.get('svix-id')
    const svix_timestamp = headerPayload.get('svix-timestamp')
    const svix_signature = headerPayload.get('svix-signature')

    if (!svix_id || !svix_timestamp || !svix_signature) {
        throw new Error('Missing Svix headers')
    }

    return { svix_id, svix_timestamp, svix_signature }
}

This function extracts and validates the Svix headers from the request.

Verifying the Webhook: verifyWebhook

const verifyWebhook = async (webhook: Webhook, body: string, headers: any): Promise<WebhookEvent> => {
    try {
        return webhook.verify(body, headers) as WebhookEvent
    } catch (err) {
        console.error('Error: Could not verify webhook:', err)
        throw new Error('Verification error')
    }
}

This function verifies the authenticity of the webhook using the svix library.

How It All Fits TogetherHere’s a high-level flow of how the code works:

Receive a Webhook: The POST handler receives an HTTP POST request with a webhook payload.
Validate and Verify: The validateHeaders function ensures the required Svix headers are present. The verifyWebhook function uses the svix library to verify the webhook’s authenticity.
Process the Event: The handleWebhookEvent function filters events and processes only user.created or email.created events. It calls helper functions (workflowBuilder, subscriberBuilder, payloadBuilder) to construct the necessary data.
Trigger a Workflow: The triggerWorkflow function is called with the constructed data, executing the desired business logic (e.g., sending notifications).

Add Novu Workflow Notification Trigger Function

Create app/utils/novu.ts :

app

utils

api

import { Novu } from '@novu/api';

const novu = new Novu({
  secretKey: process.env['NOVU_SECRET_KEY']!,
});

export async function triggerWorkflow(workflowId: string, subscriber: object, payload: object) {
  try {
    await novu.trigger({ workflowId, to: subscriber, payload });
    return new Response('Notification triggered', { status: 200 });
  } catch (error) {
    return new Response('Error triggering notification', { status: 500 });
  }
}

import os
import novu_py
from novu_py import Novu

def trigger_workflow(workflow_id: str, subscriber: dict, payload: dict):
    with Novu(secret_key=os.getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY", "")) as novu:
        novu.trigger(trigger_event_request_dto=novu_py.TriggerEventRequestDto(
            workflow_id=workflow_id,
            to=subscriber,
            payload=payload,
        ))

import (
    "context"
    "os"

    novugo "github.com/novuhq/novu-go"
    "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/components"
)

func triggerWorkflow(workflowID string, subscriber components.SubscriberPayloadDto, payload map[string]any) error {
    s := novugo.New(novugo.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY")))
    _, err := s.Trigger(context.Background(), components.TriggerEventRequestDto{
        WorkflowID: workflowID,
        To:         components.CreateToSubscriberPayloadDto(subscriber),
        Payload:    payload,
    }, nil)
    return err
}

use novu;
use novu\Models\Components;

function triggerWorkflow(string $workflowId, array $subscriber, array $payload): void
{
    $sdk = novu\Novu::builder()
        ->setSecurity('<YOUR_SECRET_KEY_HERE>')
        ->build();

    $sdk->trigger(
        triggerEventRequestDto: new Components\TriggerEventRequestDto(
            workflowId: $workflowId,
            to: new Components\SubscriberPayloadDto(
                subscriberId: $subscriber['subscriberId'],
                email: $subscriber['email'] ?? null,
                firstName: $subscriber['firstName'] ?? null,
                lastName: $subscriber['lastName'] ?? null,
            ),
            payload: $payload,
        ),
    );
}

using Novu;
using Novu.Models.Components;
using System.Collections.Generic;

var novu = new NovuSDK(secretKey: "<YOUR_SECRET_KEY_HERE>");

async Task TriggerWorkflow(string workflowId, SubscriberPayloadDto subscriber, Dictionary<string, object> payload)
{
    await novu.TriggerAsync(triggerEventRequestDto: new TriggerEventRequestDto() {
        WorkflowId = workflowId,
        To = To.CreateSubscriberPayloadDto(subscriber),
        Payload = payload,
    });
}

import co.novu.Novu;
import co.novu.models.components.*;
import java.util.Map;

Novu novu = Novu.builder()
    .secretKey("<YOUR_SECRET_KEY_HERE>")
    .build();

void triggerWorkflow(String workflowId, SubscriberPayloadDto subscriber, Map<String, Object> payload) {
    novu.trigger()
        .body(TriggerEventRequestDto.builder()
            .workflowId(workflowId)
            .to(To2.of(subscriber))
            .payload(payload)
            .build())
        .call();
}

curl -X POST 'https://api.novu.co/v1/events/trigger' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: ApiKey <NOVU_SECRET_KEY>' \
-d '{
  "name": "user-created",
  "to": {
    "subscriberId": "user_123",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "firstName": "Jane"
  },
  "payload": {}
}'

Add or create Novu workflows in your Novu dashboard

In Novu, a webhook event—such as a user being created or updated—can trigger one or more workflows, depending on how you want to handle these events in your application.A workflow defines a sequence of actions (e.g., sending notifications, updating records) that execute when triggered by a webhook.The Novu dashboard allows you to either create a custom workflow from scratch or choose from pre-built templates to streamline the process.Steps to Create a WorkflowFollow these steps to set up your workflow(s) in the Novu dashboard:

Identify the Triggering Event(s)

Determine which webhook events will activate your workflow (e.g., “user created,” “user updated”).Check your webhook configuration to understand the event data being sent.

Supported webhook events

To find a list of all the events Clerk supports:

In the Clerk Dashboard, navigate to the Webhooks page.
Select the Event Catalog tab.

Payload structure

The payload of a webhook is a JSON object that contains the following properties:

data: contains the actual payload sent by Clerk. The payload can be a different object depending on the event type. For example, for user.* events, the payload will always be the User object.
object: always set to event.
type: the type of event that triggered the webhook.
timestamp: timestamp in milliseconds of when the event occurred.
instance_id: the identifier of your Clerk instance.

The following example shows the payload of a user.created event:

{
"data": {
  "birthday": "",
  "created_at": 1654012591514,
  "email_addresses": [
    {
      "email_address": "[email protected]",
      "id": "idn_29w83yL7CwVlJXylYLxcslromF1",
      "linked_to": [],
      "object": "email_address",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "strategy": "ticket"
      }
    }
  ],
  "external_accounts": [],
  "external_id": "567772",
  "first_name": "Example",
  "gender": "",
  "id": "user_29w83sxmDNGwOuEthce5gg56FcC",
  "image_url": "https://img.clerk.com/xxxxxx",
  "last_name": "Example",
  "last_sign_in_at": 1654012591514,
  "object": "user",
  "password_enabled": true,
  "phone_numbers": [],
  "primary_email_address_id": "idn_29w83yL7CwVlJXylYLxcslromF1",
  "primary_phone_number_id": null,
  "primary_web3_wallet_id": null,
  "private_metadata": {},
  "profile_image_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar?d=mp",
  "public_metadata": {},
  "two_factor_enabled": false,
  "unsafe_metadata": {},
  "updated_at": 1654012591835,
  "username": null,
  "web3_wallets": []
},
"instance_id": "ins_123",
"object": "event",
"timestamp": 1654012591835,
"type": "user.created"
}

Choose Your Starting Point

Use a Workflow Template
Create a Blank Workflow
Code-First Workflow (Novu Framework)

Browse the workflow template store in the Novu dashboard. If a template matches your use case (e.g., “User Onboarding”), select it and proceed to customize it.

Configure the Workflow

For a template, tweak the existing steps to align with your requirements.
For a blank workflow, add actions like sending emails, sending in-app notifications, Push notifications, or other actions.
For a code-first workflow, you can use the Novu Framework to build your workflow right within your code base.

Set Trigger Conditions

Link the workflow to the correct webhook event(s).
Ensure the trigger matches the event data (e.g., event type or payload) sent by your application.

Start Simple: Use templates for common tasks and switch to blank workflows for unique needs.
Test Thoroughly: Simulate webhook events to ensure your workflows behave as expected.
Plan for Growth: Organize workflows logically (separate or combined) to make future updates easier.

Disable Email Delivered by Clerk

By default, Clerk sends email notifications whenever necessary, such as Magic Links for email verification, Invitations, Password Resets, and more.To prevent users from receiving duplicate emails, we need to disable email delivery by Clerk for the notifications handled by Novu.

Navigate to the Emails section in the Clerk Dashboard.
Select any email.created event that you want Novu to handle.
Toggle off email delivery for the selected event.

This ensures that Clerk does not send duplicate emails, allowing Novu to manage the notifications seamlessly.

Test the Webhook

Start your Next.js server.
Go to Clerk Webhooks → Testing.
Select an event (e.g., user.created, email.created).
Click Send Example.
Verify logs in your terminal.

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Install Dependencies

​Configure Environment Variables

​Expose Your Local Server

​Set Up Clerk Webhook Endpoint

​Add Signing Secret to Environment Variables

​Make Webhook Route Public

​Create Webhook Endpoint for Clerk in Next.js

​Add Novu Workflow Notification Trigger Function

​Add or create Novu workflows in your Novu dashboard

​Identify the Triggering Event(s)

​Choose Your Starting Point

Novu Framework

​Configure the Workflow

​Set Trigger Conditions

​Disable Email Delivered by Clerk

​Test the Webhook

Overview

Prerequisites

Install Dependencies

Configure Environment Variables

Expose Your Local Server

Set Up Clerk Webhook Endpoint

Add Signing Secret to Environment Variables

Make Webhook Route Public

Create Webhook Endpoint for Clerk in Next.js

Add Novu Workflow Notification Trigger Function

Add or create Novu workflows in your Novu dashboard

Identify the Triggering Event(s)

Choose Your Starting Point

Configure the Workflow

Set Trigger Conditions

Disable Email Delivered by Clerk

Test the Webhook