Slack Alerts for Licensing Events

In short: create a Slack incoming webhook, then a NetLicensing webhook notification that posts to it. New customers, new licenses, Shop payments and warning level changes then appear in a Slack channel, and no server of your own is involved.

This works because Slack’s incoming webhooks accept an HTTP POST with a small JSON body, and a NetLicensing notification lets you define that body.

Set it up

Slack side. Create a Slack app with an incoming webhook for a channel. Slack gives you a URL of the form https://hooks.slack.com/services/<workspace-id>/<app-id>/<secret>. To post, send a POST with Content-type: application/json and a JSON body that contains at least text, for example { "text": "Hello, world." }. Slack answers no_text if the text attribute is missing.

NetLicensing side. In the Management Console open Settings / Notifications and create a notification of type WEBHOOK. Use the Slack URL as the Endpoint (it is HTTPS with a public certificate, as NetLicensing requires), select the events, and define the Payload so that it is the JSON body Slack expects. The payload placeholders are {$.timestamp} and {$.entities.Event[0].name}, for example a payload such as { "text": "NetLicensing event {$.entities.Event[0].name} at {$.timestamp}" }. Create a test customer and check the message in Slack, because the way NetLicensing substitutes placeholders is described only in the Notifications page.

Which events to post

NetLicensing event	Use it to
`LICENSEE_CREATED`	Tell the sales or support channel about a new customer
`LICENSE_CREATED`	Announce a new license
`PAYMENT_TRANSACTION_PROCESSED`	Follow Shop payments in real time
`WARNING_LEVEL_CHANGED`	Warn the account team when a customer’s license moves from `GREEN` to `YELLOW` or `RED`

Keep the webhook URL secret

The Slack URL contains a secret: Slack says not to share it online, including in public version control repositories. Anyone who has the URL can post to the channel. The NetLicensing notification settings have no separate authentication field, so keep the URL private and rotate it in Slack if it leaks.

When a message does not arrive

Slack’s incoming webhooks answer with an HTTP status and an error code on failure (for example action_prohibited when an admin restricted incoming webhooks, which Slack says should not be retried, and channel_is_archived). Incoming webhooks cannot delete a message after it is posted. Slack’s page we read does not state rate limits or a plan requirement. NetLicensing’s notification best practices apply: delivery is not guaranteed, so do not use Slack as the only record.

What a message can contain

A notification shows what the payload placeholders give you: the event name, the timestamp and the entities (customer number, license number, transaction). For richer messages, send the event to an automation platform or your own receiver that formats the Slack message.

Example: the calls

NetLicensing                         Slack
|                                    |
| LICENSEE_CREATED happens           |
|-- POST {"text": "..."} ----------->| incoming webhook URL
|                                    |-- message in #channel

1. Test the Slack webhook

curl --request POST --header "Content-type: application/json" \
  --data '{"text": "Hello, world."}' \
  https://hooks.slack.com/services/<workspace-id>/<app-id>/<secret>

2. Configure the NetLicensing notification

In the Management Console, Settings / Notifications, create a notification with these values:

Field	Value
Type	`WEBHOOK`
Endpoint	Your Slack incoming webhook URL
Events	For example `LICENSEE_CREATED`, `WARNING_LEVEL_CHANGED`
Payload	`{ "text": "NetLicensing event {$.entities.Event[0].name} at {$.timestamp}" }`

3. What NetLicensing would send without a custom payload

The full notification ({$}) for a new customer looks like this; the Notifications page shows the other events.

{
  "timestamp": "2024-09-19T04:29:47.445Z",
  "origin": "Notification",
  "entities": {
    "Event": [ { "name": "LICENSEE_CREATED" } ],
    "Licensee": [ { "number": "IKWUYQ9GR", "active": true, "name": "Customer Uno", "products": [ "PEP4ZQ6MV" ] } ]
  }
}

Slack needs a text attribute, so send this full form to an automation platform or your own receiver if you want richer messages.

Sources

Slack: sending messages using incoming webhooks

This integration needs no code. The Slack details on this page are based on the sources above. Slack changes its APIs, so verify the details against the linked page before you go live. Back to Automation and Alerts.