Replace Polling with Unified Webhooks: Real-Time and Historical Data in One Flow
January 10, 2024
Unified webhooks now support initial backfill and ongoing updates through a single subscription.
This removes the need to:
- build separate sync jobs for historical data
- manage polling infrastructure
- stitch together backfill + incremental pipelines
You can now subscribe once and receive:
- existing records (initial sync)
- new and updated records (ongoing events)
What changed
This release expands virtual webhooks into a complete data delivery layer:
- historical data delivered through webhooks
- configurable event types (
created,updated) - field-level payload control
- configurable detection intervals
- manual trigger support for testing
- webhook observability (audit trail + health status)
1. Historical data via webhooks (initial sync)
You can now retrieve existing data through webhooks by setting:
include_all=true
Instead of:
- calling list endpoints
- managing pagination
- storing checkpoints
Unified handles:
- pagination
- rate limits
- retries and backoff
Your endpoint receives paged data until backfill completes, then transitions automatically to incremental updates.
2. Separate event types (created, updated)
Webhooks can now be scoped to specific event types.
This allows you to:
- isolate insert vs update logic
- simplify downstream processing
- improve observability in logs and audit trails
3. Field-level payload control
You can define which fields are included in webhook payloads.
- default: all fields (excluding
raw) - optional: pass a subset via
fields
This reduces payload size and unnecessary processing.
4. Configurable detection intervals
Virtual webhook intervals are configurable per connection:
- free tier: ~60 minutes
- paid plans: as frequent as ~1 minute
This allows you to balance:
- freshness requirements
- API usage
- product experience
5. Manual trigger for testing
Webhooks can be triggered on demand.
This removes the need to wait for scheduled intervals when:
- testing integrations
- validating payloads
- debugging delivery
6. Webhook observability (audit trail + health)
You now have visibility into webhook execution:
Audit trail
- recent runs
- records delivered
- execution history
Health status
- indicates delivery reliability
- surfaces persistent failures
- backed by retry logic and backoff handling
What this replaces
Before:
- polling jobs for backfill
- separate pipelines for historical vs incremental data
- custom retry + pagination handling
After:
- a single webhook subscription
- one event stream
- no polling infrastructure
Billing overview
Virtual webhooks are billed based on data retrieved and processed, not empty intervals.
Billable
- successful data reads (including pagination)
- dispatch attempts
Not billable
- retriable read errors (e.g. rate limits)
This aligns usage with actual data movement, not polling frequency.
Availability
Webhooks are available across all Unified plans, with interval limits based on tier.
- Start with a tester account: https://app.unified.to/login
- View pricing: https://unified.to/pricing
Key takeaway
Webhooks are no longer just for incremental updates.
With initial sync + ongoing delivery in one flow, they replace:
- polling
- backfill jobs
- sync pipelines
Your integration layer becomes event-driven by default, even for APIs that don't support webhooks.