When an n8n webhook does nothing, the cause is usually one of a few settings. Work through this checklist from the most common cause to the least.
Webhooks are how outside services tell n8n that something happened, for example a payment, a form submission or a chat message. On a self-hosted server they break in predictable ways. Check these in order.
The Test URL works only while you click "Listen for test event" in the editor. The Production URL works only when the workflow is switched to Active. Many people send real traffic to the test URL, or forget to activate the workflow.
If the webhook node shows an address like http://localhost:5678/..., n8n does not know its public address. Set the public base URL and restart.
N8N_HOST=n8n.example.com
N8N_PROTOCOL=https
WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.example.com/More about these settings in our environment variables guide.
Telegram, Stripe, GitHub and many others refuse plain HTTP or a self-signed certificate. Put n8n behind Caddy or Nginx with a real certificate. Test from outside your network, not only from the server itself.
Host and X-Forwarded-Proto headers./webhook/ path, because outside services cannot log in.Open ports 80 and 443 on the server and in any cloud firewall. Check that your domain's DNS record points to the server's IP. You can test with a simple request from another machine:
curl -i -X POST https://n8n.example.com/webhook/your-path -d '{"test":true}'A 404 usually means the path is wrong, the HTTP method does not match (GET vs POST), or the workflow is not active. Open the webhook node and confirm the path and method.
If you use queue mode, make sure the same encryption key, database and Redis are used by every process, and that webhook requests reach the right process. See n8n queue mode explained.
docker compose logs -f n8nThe logs and the Executions list show whether a request arrived at all. If nothing shows, the problem is in DNS, firewall or proxy. If it arrives and fails, open the failed execution to see the error.
Webhooks also need protection once they work. Read our n8n security checklist.
Tired of debugging proxies and certificates? Managed n8n hosting comes with HTTPS set up.
See Managed n8n Plans
