Connect Express.js to PostPenguin

Express.js applications can easily receive PostPenguin webhooks. This guide works for any Node.js backend using Express.

🚀 Quick Setup

1. Install Dependencies

npm install express cors crypto

2. Create Webhook Handler

// server.js or routes/webhooks.js
const express = require('express')
const crypto = require('crypto')
const cors = require('cors')

const app = express()
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3001

// Middleware
app.use(cors())
app.use(express.json())

// PostPenguin webhook endpoint
app.post('/api/webhooks/postpenguin', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    console.log('📨 Received webhook from PostPenguin')

    // Verify webhook signature (recommended)
    const signature = req.headers['x-postpenguin-signature']
    const webhookSecret = process.env.POSTPENGUIN_WEBHOOK_SECRET

    if (webhookSecret && signature) {
      const payloadString = JSON.stringify(req.body)
      const expectedSignature = crypto
        .createHmac('sha256', webhookSecret)
        .update(payloadString)
        .digest('hex')

      const receivedSignature = signature.replace('sha256=', '')

      if (receivedSignature !== expectedSignature) {
        return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' })
      }
    }

    const { title, slug, html, meta_title, meta_description, featured_image } = req.body

    // Validate required fields
    if (!title || !slug || !html) {
      return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Missing required fields: title, slug, html' })
    }

    // Save to your database
    const post = {
      id: crypto.randomUUID(),
      title,
      slug,
      html,
      metaTitle: meta_title || title,
      metaDescription: meta_description || '',
      featuredImage: featured_image || '',
      publishedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
    }

    // TODO: Save to your database (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc.)
    console.log('✅ Post received:', post.title)

    res.status(200).json({
      success: true,
      postId: post.id,
      message: 'Post received and saved'
    })

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('❌ Webhook processing error:', error)
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal server error' })
  }
})

// API endpoint to fetch posts (for your frontend)
app.get('/api/posts', (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { status = 'publish', limit = 10, offset = 0, slug } = req.query

    // TODO: Fetch from your database
    let posts = [] // Replace with actual database query

    if (slug) {
      // Find single post by slug
      const post = posts.find(p => p.slug === slug)
      if (!post) {
        return res.status(404).json({ error: 'Post not found' })
      }
      return res.json({ post })
    }

    // Filter and paginate
    const filteredPosts = posts.slice(parseInt(offset), parseInt(offset) + parseInt(limit))

    res.json({
      posts: filteredPosts,
      pagination: {
        total: posts.length,
        limit: parseInt(limit),
        offset: parseInt(offset),
        has_more: parseInt(offset) + parseInt(limit) < posts.length
      }
    })

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('❌ Error fetching posts:', error)
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal server error' })
  }
})

app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`🚀 Server running on port ${PORT}`)
  console.log(`📡 Webhook: http://localhost:${PORT}/api/webhooks/postpenguin`)
  console.log(`📖 Posts API: http://localhost:${PORT}/api/posts`)
})

3. Environment Variables

# .env
PORT=3001
POSTPENGUIN_WEBHOOK_SECRET=your-webhook-secret-here

4. Configure PostPenguin

When adding your site to PostPenguin:

• Webhook URL: https://your-domain.com/api/webhooks/postpenguin
• Secret Key: Same as POSTPENGUIN_WEBHOOK_SECRET

💾 Database Integration

See the full Express.js guide in our connections documentation for complete database examples including PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and MySQL.