Webhook payload - still limited access to nested data?

[Luke_Concannon]

Tena Koutou!

I got momentarily excited by the received webhook trigger in automations (old news I know, just got round to it seeming like a time saver!) only to learn that there is limited access to nested data within the json payload…

I’m sending a payload via webhook from Typeform => Airtable. Works great. I just can’t access the nested data I need. super frustrating. Seems like a fairly standard issue feature to be able to access nested data within a JSON object.

Has there been any update to this? Anyone have any work arounds that dont involve third parties? I’m happy proxying the webhook through vercel serveless function but just seemed like a quick win to manage it in airtable.

Any advice hugely appreciated!
Luke

[ScottWorld]

You should be able to write a JavaScript to access the nested data.

Otherwise, you would need to use a 3rd-party service. For a no-code webhook solution, I personally use Make:

Make

Webhooks Integration | Workflow Automation | Make

Connect Webhooks to sync data between apps and create powerful automated workflows. Integrate over 1000 apps on Make.

[kuovonne]

Luke_Concannon:

Has there been any update to this?

There has been no update to this as far as I know.

If you know the exact shape of the data, you can use individual input variables to get a specific nested value.

But overall, you are correct that you need some third party system. One third party option is to JSON stringify the payload and store that string in a single key. (Essentially stringifying twice.) Then have a script parse the JSON from that single key.

[Bill_French]

ScottWorld:

You should be able to write a JavaScript to access the nested data.

Should you? Yes. Can you? No.

ScottWorld:

For a no-code webhook solution

The entire point of inbound webhooks is to avoid middleware that increases solution complexity and latency.

kuovonne:

One third party option is to JSON stringify the payload and store that string in a single key.

This is only possible if you control the inbound hook. The entire point of supporting webhooks is to enable arbitrary conveyances of data payloads, many of which are predictably complex and varied such that the webhook listener must be able to process the payload with action scripts.

[Bill_French]

While this seriously critical requirement continues to make integrations vastly more difficult than they should be, Airtable focuses on improvements like these.

[ScottWorld]

Bill.French:

The entire point of inbound webhooks is to avoid middleware that increases solution complexity and latency.

I get that your complaint is with Airtable’s limitations, but if it’s our only solution at the moment, then that’s all we can do for now. :man_shrugging:

I’m not dismissing your very legitimate complaint about Airtable’s engineering focuses.

[kuovonne]

Also, it looks like incoming webhooks are still in Alpha. At least that is what the user interface still says. This issue might be one of the reasons why it is still in Alpha.

[Bill_French]

kuovonne:

This issue might be one of the reasons why it is still in Alpha.

Yeah, I’m good with that as an answer, but after 14 months in “alpha” testing and tens of thousands of actions depending on it, I’m less inclined to be kind. After all, this shortfall is simply missing the ability to map the root of the JSON payload into a field or a parameter; all other elements are mappable, just not this one.

[kuovonne]

Bill.French:

I’m good with that as an answer, but after 14 months in “alpha” testing

I see this more as an indication that it is a low priority for Airtable, not as a need for more testing. I’m guessing that Airtable knows that this is an issue, but that it is not their focus, and so they are choosing to leave it in alpha because they know they can’t reasonably take it out of alpha without implementing this feature and they don’t want to spend their resources there now.

[Luke_Concannon]

ScottWorld:

You should be able to write a JavaScript to access the nested data.

Otherwise, you would need to use a 3rd-party service. For a no-code webhook solution, I personally use Make:

Webhooks Integration | Workflow Automation | Make

@ScottWorld - That’s clearly because you have some sort of commercial relationship with them though right? You’ve been recommending this third party on every thread I read yesterday.