# API Keys and Webhooks

Provision keys, verify event callbacks, and debug integration traffic. Read the Integrations guide in Hello Alex documentation.

Canonical HTML: https://docs.helloalex.ai/article/api-keys-and-webhooks

Path: [Documentation](/) / [Integrations](/integrations)

## Overview

Integrations are the control plane for automation because API credentials and webhook endpoints determine trusted system-to-system communication.

## How it works

- API keys authorize outbound requests to Hello Alex endpoints, while webhooks push lifecycle events back to your services.
- Request logs provide evidence for signature checks, retries, and debugging when expected events fail to arrive.

## Important fields

- **API key:** Bearer token for /api/v1 integration endpoints.
- **Webhook URL:** Your server endpoint that receives signed Hello Alex call lifecycle events.

## Use cases

- CRM event ingestion
- Real-time call lifecycle automation

## Tips

- Good to know: key rotation and signature validation together are the fastest path to safer production webhook handling.

## API Keys

Keys are required for server-to-server access, so secure lifecycle handling is essential from day one.

Use the key with a simple authenticated request before enabling broader automation.

- Active keys remain available in Integrations so authorized team members can view and copy the complete value whenever needed.
- Legacy keys that predate retrievable encrypted storage show Reset required; reset immediately disables the old key and creates a replacement with the same permissions and expiry.
- **API key:** Bearer token for integration endpoints.
- Good to know: storing keys outside source control reduces accidental leak risk and incident response overhead.
- Backend API integration
- Credential hygiene workflows

## Event Webhooks

Webhooks reduce polling overhead by sending events as they happen.

Add signature verification and replay-safe processing in your receiver service.

- You register an HTTPS endpoint and verify signatures, so only trusted payloads are processed.
- Delivery logs reveal retries and failures, which helps harden downstream handlers before scale.
- **Webhook URL:** Your server endpoint for events.
- Good to know: idempotent handlers prevent duplicate side effects during retry scenarios.
- Near-real-time status syncing
- Automated internal notifications

## Request Logs

Logs turn integration failures into actionable evidence instead of guesswork.

Set a regular review cadence for error-class responses and unresolved delivery retries.

- Filtering by endpoint and status quickly isolates failed traffic patterns across API and webhook workflows.
- Payload inspection connects transport outcomes to application behavior, which speeds debugging and recovery.
- **Status code:** HTTP response from your endpoint or API.
- Good to know: log checks right after config changes catch regressions before business impact grows.
- Post-deploy integration validation
- Webhook incident triage

## Next step

Create a scoped API key, configure one webhook endpoint, and confirm signed delivery in logs.

## Related documentation

- [More Integrations guides](/integrations)