Defer

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Webhooks

Learn how to use webhooks to automatically send tasks to other apps and services.

Overview

Webhooks (available with Defer Pro) allow you to automatically send tasks from Defer to other apps and services. This is particularly useful for power users who want to integrate Defer with their existing workflow tools. While we plan to add more direct integrations in the future, webhooks provide a flexible way to connect Defer with virtually any service that supports them.

Webhook Data Format

When Defer sends a task to your webhook, it includes the following JSON data:

{
  "taskId": "unique-identifier",
  "content": "Task text content",
  "createdOn": "2024-05-24T10:00:00Z",
  "snoozedUntil": "2024-05-25T00:00:00Z",
  "isCompleted": false,
  "completedOn": "2024-05-26T00:00:00Z",
  "link": "https://example.com"
}

All dates are in ISO8601 format. Note that:

  • snoozedUntil will be empty if the task isn’t snoozed
  • completedOn will be empty if the task isn’t completed
  • link will be empty if no URL was detected in the task

Trigger Types

Defer supports four types of webhook triggers:

  1. Manually: Send tasks to the webhook only when explicitly triggered
  2. On Task Creation: Automatically sends whenever a new task is created
  3. On Task Completion: Automatically sends when a task is marked as complete
  4. On Task Deletion: Automatically sends before a task is deleted

Post-Webhook Actions

For each webhook (except deletion triggers), you can configure what happens to the task after the webhook succeeds:

  1. Do nothing: Keep the task as is (default)
  2. Complete task: Automatically mark the task as complete
  3. Delete task: Remove the task from Defer

For completion webhooks, you have a simplified option:

  • Delete task: Whether to delete the completed task

Setting Up Webhooks

You can set up webhooks using automation tools like Make.com (formerly Integromat) or Zapier. While Zapier requires a paid plan ($30/mo) to use webhooks, Make.com offers them for free. Here’s how to set up webhooks using Make.com:

1. Create a Make.com Scenario

  1. Create an account on Make.com if you haven’t already
  2. Create a new Scenario
  3. Click the big Plus button
  4. Search for “webhooks” and choose “Custom Webhook”
  5. Click “Create a Webhook”
  6. Name your webhook and save it
  7. Copy the webhook URL provided

2. Configure Defer

  1. Open Defer on your Mac
  2. Click the ••• menu in the lower right to open Settings
  3. Navigate to the Webhooks tab
  4. Click “New Webhook”
  5. Paste the Make.com webhook URL
  6. Choose your trigger method:
    • On task creation: Automatically sends every new task to the webhook
    • Manually: Lets you selectively send tasks to the webhook
  7. Configure what happens after the webhook sends:
    • Complete task in Defer
    • Delete task in Defer
    • No action
  8. Click “Create Webhook”

3. Complete the Make.com Setup

  1. Back in Make.com, click “Redetermine data structure”
  2. Create a test task in Defer (or send one manually if you chose manual mode)
  3. Once Make.com shows “Successfully Determined”, save the webhook configuration
  4. Add your desired action steps (e.g., creating tasks in another app)

Filtering Tasks

If you’re using “on task creation” mode, you can add filters in Make.com to only process certain tasks. For example:

  • Only send tasks containing specific keywords
  • Only send tasks with links
  • Only send tasks with snooze dates

Example: Todoist Integration

Here’s a detailed example of how to send Defer tasks to Todoist:

  1. Follow the webhook setup steps above
  2. In Make.com, add a new step after the webhook by clicking the + icon
  3. Search for “Todoist” and select “Create a task”
  4. Connect your Todoist account
  5. Configure the task mapping:
    • Map the Defer task “content” to Todoist’s task content
    • Optionally map “snoozedUntil” to the due date
    • Add the task “link” if desired
    • Configure project, labels, and other Todoist-specific settings
  6. Save the scenario

Troubleshooting

  1. URL Validation: URLs are validated before saving
  2. Response Parsing: The app attempts to parse error messages from the response
  3. Timeout Issues: Consider network conditions if webhooks time out
  4. Bulk Operations: If sending multiple tasks fails, check the error message for specific task details