Alerts and Webhooks

An alert tells you that something happened: price crossed a level, an indicator triggered or your bot hit an error. A webhook is a way for one system to send that message to another automatically, as an HTTP request to a URL. Together, alerts and webhooks let traders connect charting platforms, bots, servers and chat apps without writing a full trading system. They are the glue behind many semi automated setups, and also the basis of the monitoring that keeps fully automated systems safe.

Types of trading alerts#

How a webhook works#

1. You give a service, such as TradingView, a URL that belongs to your server or another app.
2. When the alert fires, the service sends an HTTP POST request to that URL with a message body, usually JSON.
3. Your server receives the message, checks it and acts: logs it, sends a notification or passes it to a bot.

A TradingView alert message#

TradingView lets you write the alert message, with placeholders that fill in live values:

{
  "secret": "replace-with-a-long-random-value",
  "strategy": "sma-cross",
  "ticker": "{{ticker}}",
  "action": "{{strategy.order.action}}",
  "price": "{{close}}",
  "time": "{{timenow}}"
}

TradingView webhooks require a paid plan and send requests to the URL you enter in the alert settings. See TradingView.

A minimal receiver#

from flask import Flask, request, abort
import hmac, os

app = Flask(__name__)
SECRET = os.environ["WEBHOOK_SECRET"]

@app.post("/hook")
def hook():
    data = request.get_json(silent=True) or {}
    if not hmac.compare_digest(str(data.get("secret", "")), SECRET):
        abort(403)
    handle_signal(data)     # validate fields, check risk, then act
    return "ok"

Securing webhook endpoints#

Anyone who learns your webhook URL can send it messages. If those messages place trades, that is a serious risk.

• Use HTTPS so messages cannot be read in transit.
• Include a secret in the message or header and reject anything without it.
• Validate every field: known symbols, allowed actions, sensible sizes.
• Reject stale messages using the timestamp, and ignore duplicates.
• Never let a webhook bypass risk checks. See Risk Controls and Kill Switches.
• Keep the secret out of code and screenshots, and rotate it if exposed.

Sending alerts to chat#

Many traders route alerts to a phone through messaging apps. Discord, Slack and Telegram all accept messages from programs, either through incoming webhooks or bot APIs. This is a simple way to get bot health and trade notifications on your phone. Keep chat webhook URLs private, since anyone with the URL can post to the channel.

Avoiding alert overload#

Too many alerts lead to ignoring them. Keep alerts actionable, group related ones and review which alerts you actually act on. See Monitoring Positions, P&L and Risk.

Frequently asked questions#

What is a webhook in trading?#

An automatic HTTP message sent from one system to another when an event happens, such as a TradingView alert sending a signal to a trading bot.

Can TradingView alerts place trades automatically?#

They can send webhooks to services or your own server that place trades; TradingView itself does not place trades through webhooks.

How do I secure a trading webhook?#

Use HTTPS, require a secret, validate every field, reject stale or duplicate messages and keep risk checks in place.

Next, learn the institutional standard for order messaging in FIX Protocol.