# clerk-webhooks

Hands the agent a working pattern for Clerk webhook handlers: signature verification, event routing, and database sync for users, sessions, orgs and billing.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 52800 installs · ★ 89
- Author: clerk
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/clerk/skills/tree/HEAD/skills/clerk-webhooks/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-23
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/clerk-webhooks

## What it does

Every handler the skill writes verifies signatures with `verifyWebhook(req)` from the framework package, `@clerk/nextjs/webhooks` or `@clerk/express/webhooks`. The signing secret is read from `CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET` on its own.

The examples target Next.js App Router. They mirror `user.created`, `user.updated` and `user.deleted` into a `users` table and organization membership into `team_members`. Another example sends a welcome email through Resend and drops a note in Slack.

Keep the route public. Deliveries arrive with no user session, so `auth.protect()` on `/api/webhooks(.*)` answers `404` to every event until you delete that call, and a project that ships it will look like Clerk stopped sending anything. Webhooks also land late and Svix retries them on a schedule, which makes them a poor fit for onboarding flows. Read what the user just created from the session token or the Backend API instead.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add clerk/skills --skill clerk-webhooks -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/clerk-webhooks/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/clerk-webhooks/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add clerk/skills --skill clerk-webhooks -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/clerk-webhooks/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add clerk/skills --skill clerk-webhooks -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/clerk-webhooks/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install clerk/skills clerk-webhooks
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/clerk-webhooks/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add clerk/skills --skill clerk-webhooks -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/clerk/skills --path skills/clerk-webhooks
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/clerk-webhooks/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add clerk/skills --skill clerk-webhooks -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/clerk/skills/tree/HEAD/skills/clerk-webhooks/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- wire `user.created` into your own users table
- reject spoofed events with signature verification
- mirror Clerk organization membership into a `team_members` table
- send a welcome email and a Slack ping at signup
- find out why webhook deliveries return `404`

## Example prompts
- Write a Clerk webhook handler in `app/api/webhooks/route.ts` that verifies with `verifyWebhook` and inserts `user.created` into the `users` table
- Add `organizationMembership.created` and `organizationMembership.deleted` to the same handler so `team_members` stays in step with Clerk
- On `user.created`, fire a Resend welcome email and a Slack message

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 460ab9dad2fbe475.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 460ab9dad2fbe475
````text
---
name: clerk-webhooks
description: Clerk webhooks for real-time events and data syncing. Verify with verifyWebhook
  from the framework-specific package. Handle user, session, organization, billing, and
  payment events. Build event-driven features like database sync, notifications, and
  integrations.
allowed-tools: WebFetch
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: clerk
  version: 1.2.0
compatibility: Requires CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET (svix signing secret from Clerk dashboard)
---

# Webhooks

Output complete, working webhook handlers with `verifyWebhook(req)` verification in every handler.

## When to Use Webhooks

Webhooks are **asynchronous and eventually consistent**. Delivery is fast but not guaranteed to be immediate, and may occasionally fail (Svix retries on a fixed schedule). Use them for:

- Database sync (a separate users / orgs table that follows Clerk)
- Notifications (welcome emails, Slack pings, internal alerts)
- Integrations triggered by lifecycle events

Do NOT rely on webhook delivery as part of a synchronous flow such as onboarding ("user signs up, then we read X from our DB"). For data the user just created, read it from the [Clerk session token](https://clerk.com/docs/guides/sessions/session-tokens) or call the Backend API directly. Webhooks fill the gap when you need data about *other* users or events the session token doesn't carry.

## Verify Every Webhook

Use `verifyWebhook(req)` from the framework-specific package (`@clerk/nextjs/webhooks`, `@clerk/express/webhooks`, etc.). It reads `CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET` automatically and throws on bad signatures. Skipping verification, even for notification-only handlers, exposes the endpoint to spoofed events.

## Keep the Webhook Route Unprotected

Webhook deliveries carry no user session. `verifyWebhook()` is the only check the route needs. A bare `clerkMiddleware()` protects nothing, so the route is already reachable. Don't call `auth.protect()` for `/api/webhooks(.*)`, in middleware or in the handler. A project that does returns `404` for every delivery until that call is removed. See [Ensure the webhook route is public](https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/webhooks/syncing#ensure-the-webhook-route-is-public).

## Complete Webhook Handler (Next.js App Router)

```typescript
// app/api/webhooks/route.ts
import { verifyWebhook } from '@clerk/nextjs/webhooks'
import { NextRequest } from 'next/server'
import { db } from '@/lib/db'

export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
  // ALWAYS verify - never skip, even for notification-only handlers
  let evt
  try {
    evt = await verifyWebhook(req) // uses CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET automatically
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Webhook verification failed:', err)
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 460ab9dad2fbe475

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 460ab9dad2fbe475 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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