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Implementing a webhook on the SaaS service

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When creating a transactable SaaS offer in Partner Center, the partner provides the Connection webhook URL to be used as an HTTP endpoint. This webhook is called by Microsoft by using the POST HTTP call to notify the publisher side of following events that happen on the Microsoft side:

Webhook event 1. When received 2. If accepted 3. If rejected
ChangePlan Respond with HTTP 200 PATCH with success (this event is optional and autoaccepted in 10 secs) PATCH with failure OR respond with 4xx (within 10 seconds)
ChangeQuantity Respond with HTTP 200 PATCH with success (this event is optional and autoaccepted in 10 secs) PATCH with failure OR respond with 4xx (within 10 seconds)
Renew Respond with HTTP 200 Not applicable Not applicable
Suspend Respond with HTTP 200 Not applicable Not applicable
Unsubscribe Respond with HTTP 200 Not applicable Not applicable
Reinstate Respond with HTTP 200 Not applicable Not applicable (call delete API to trigger deletion if reinstate can't be accepted)

The publisher must implement a webhook in the SaaS service to keep the SaaS subscription status consistent with the Microsoft side. The SaaS service is required to call the Get Operation API to validate and authorize the webhook call and payload data before taking action based on the webhook notification. The publisher should return HTTP 200 to Microsoft as soon as the webhook call is processed. This value acknowledges that the webhook call has been received successfully by the publisher.

Important

The webhook URL service must be up and running 24 x 7, and ready to receive new calls from Microsoft at all times. Microsoft does have a retry policy for the webhook call (500 retries over eight hours), but if the publisher doesn't accept the call and return a response, the operation that webhook notifies about will eventually fail on the Microsoft side.

Important

ISVs should avoid strict deserialization of the Webhook schema. Microsoft reserves the right to expand the schema in future.

Important

ISVs must validate the Microsoft Entra Token (JWT Token) on their webhook endpoint from the request header. This is a standard bearer token and will give ISV details about who the caller is. Find out more about how to validate the token in this article. learn.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/develop/access-tokens

Webhook payload example of ChangePlan:

{
    "id": "<guid>",
    "activityId": "<guid>",
    "publisherId": "XXX",
    "offerId": "YYY",
    "planId": "plan2",
    "quantity": 10,
    "subscriptionId": "<guid>",
    "timeStamp": "2023-02-10T18:48:58.4449937Z",
    "action": "ChangePlan",
    "status": "InProgress",
    "operationRequestSource": "Azure",
    "subscription":
    {
      "id": "<guid>",
      "name": "Test",
      "publisherId": "XXX",
      "offerId": "YYY",
      "planId": "plan1",
      "quantity": 10,
      "beneficiary":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "purchaser":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "allowedCustomerOperations": ["Delete", "Update", "Read"],
      "sessionMode": "None",
      "isFreeTrial": false,
      "isTest": false,
      "sandboxType": "None",
      "saasSubscriptionStatus": "Subscribed",
      "term":
        {
          "startDate": "2022-02-10T00:00:00Z",
          "endDate": "2022-03-12T00:00:00Z",
          "termUnit": "P1M",
          "chargeDuration": null,
        },
      "autoRenew": true,
      "created": "2022-01-10T23:15:03.365988Z",
      "lastModified": "2022-02-14T20:26:04.5632549Z",
    },
    "purchaseToken": null
}

Webhook payload example of ChangeQuantity event:


{
    "id": "<guid>",
    "activityId": "<guid>",
    "publisherId": "XXX",
    "offerId": "YYY",
    "planId": "plan1",
    "quantity": 20,
    "subscriptionId": "<guid>",
    "timeStamp": "2023-02-10T18:54:00.6158973Z",
    "action": "ChangeQuantity",
    "status": "InProgress",
    "operationRequestSource": "Azure",
    "subscription": {
        "id": "<guid>",
        "name": "Test",
        "publisherId": "XXX",
        "offerId": "YYY",
        "planId": "plan1",
        "quantity": 10,
        "beneficiary":
            {
            "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
            "objectId": "<guid>",
            "tenantId": "<guid>",
            "puid": "1234567890",
            },
        "purchaser":
            {
            "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
            "objectId": "<guid>",
            "tenantId": "<guid>",
            "puid": "1234567890",
            },
        "allowedCustomerOperations": ["Delete", "Update", "Read"],
        "sessionMode": "None",
        "isFreeTrial": false,
        "isTest": false,
        "sandboxType": "None",
        "saasSubscriptionStatus": "Subscribed",
        "term":
            {
            "startDate": "2022-02-10T00:00:00Z",
            "endDate": "2022-03-12T00:00:00Z",
            "termUnit": "P1M",
            "chargeDuration": null,
            },
        "autoRenew": true,
        "created": "2022-01-10T23:15:03.365988Z",
        "lastModified": "2022-02-14T20:26:04.5632549Z",
    },
    "purchaseToken": null
}

Webhook payload example of a subscription reinstate event:

// end user's payment instrument became valid again, after being suspended, and the SaaS subscription is being reinstated


{
    "id": "<guid>",
    "activityId": "<guid>",
    "publisherId": "XXX",
    "offerId": "YYY",
    "planId": "plan1",
    "quantity": 100,
    "subscriptionId": "<guid>",
    "timeStamp": "2023-02-11T11:38:10.3508619Z",
    "action": "Reinstate",
    "status": "InProgress",
    "operationRequestSource": "Azure",
    "subscription":
    {
      "id": "<guid>",
      "name": "Test",
      "publisherId": "XXX",
      "offerId": "YYY",
      "planId": "plan1",
      "quantity": 100,
      "beneficiary":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "purchaser":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "allowedCustomerOperations": ["Delete", "Update", "Read"],
      "sessionMode": "None",
      "isFreeTrial": false,
      "isTest": false,
      "sandboxType": "None",
      "saasSubscriptionStatus": "Suspended",
      "term":
        {
          "startDate": "2022-02-10T00:00:00Z",
          "endDate": "2022-03-12T00:00:00Z",
          "termUnit": "P1M",
          "chargeDuration": null,
        },
      "autoRenew": true,
      "created": "2022-01-10T23:15:03.365988Z",
      "lastModified": "2022-02-14T20:26:04.5632549Z",
    },
    "purchaseToken": null
}

Webhook payload example of a renew event:

// end user's subscription renewal
 
{
    "id": "<guid>",
    "activityId": "<guid>",
    "publisherId": "XXX",
    "offerId": "YYY",
    "planId": "plan1",
    "quantity": 100,
    "subscriptionId": "<guid>",
    "timeStamp": "2023-02-10T08:49:01.8613208Z",
    "action": "Renew",
    "status": "Succeeded",
    "operationRequestSource": "Azure",
    "subscription":
    {
      "id": "<guid>",
      "name": "Test",
      "publisherId": "XXX",
      "offerId": "YYY",
      "planId": "plan1",
      "quantity": 100,
      "beneficiary":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "purchaser":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "allowedCustomerOperations": ["Delete", "Update", "Read"],
      "sessionMode": "None",
      "isFreeTrial": false,
      "isTest": false,
      "sandboxType": "None",
      "saasSubscriptionStatus": "Subscribed",
      "term":
        {
          "startDate": "2022-02-10T00:00:00Z",
          "endDate": "2022-03-12T00:00:00Z",
          "termUnit": "P1M",
          "chargeDuration": null,
        },
      "autoRenew": true,
      "created": "2022-01-10T23:15:03.365988Z",
      "lastModified": "2022-02-14T20:26:04.5632549Z",
    },
  "purchaseToken": null,
}

Webhook payload example of a suspend event:


{
    "id": "<guid>",
    "activityId": "<guid>",
    "publisherId": "XXX",
    "offerId": "YYY",
    "planId": "plan1",
    "quantity": 100,
    "subscriptionId": "<guid>",
    "timeStamp": "2023-02-10T08:49:01.8613208Z",
    "action": "Suspend",
    "status": "Succeeded",
    "operationRequestSource": "Azure",
    "subscription":
    {
      "id": "<guid>",
      "name": "Test",
      "publisherId": "XXX",
      "offerId": "YYY",
      "planId": "plan1",
      "quantity": 100,
      "beneficiary":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "purchaser":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "allowedCustomerOperations": ["Delete", "Update", "Read"],
      "sessionMode": "None",
      "isFreeTrial": false,
      "isTest": false,
      "sandboxType": "None",
      "saasSubscriptionStatus": "Suspended",
      "term":
        {
          "startDate": "2022-02-10T00:00:00Z",
          "endDate": "2022-03-12T00:00:00Z",
          "termUnit": "P1M",
          "chargeDuration": null,
        },
      "autoRenew": true,
      "created": "2022-01-10T23:15:03.365988Z",
      "lastModified": "2022-02-14T20:26:04.5632549Z",
    },
  "purchaseToken": null,
}

Webhook payload example of an unsubscribe event:

This is a notify-only event. There's no send to ACK for this event.


{
    "id": "<guid>",
    "activityId": "<guid>",
    "publisherId": "XXX",
    "offerId": "YYY",
    "planId": "plan1",
    "quantity": 100,
    "subscriptionId": "<guid>",
    "timeStamp": "2023-02-10T08:49:01.8613208Z",
    "action": "Unsubscribe",
    "status": "Succeeded",
    "operationRequestSource": "Azure",
    "subscription":
    {
      "id": "<guid>",
      "name": "Test",
      "publisherId": "XXX",
      "offerId": "YYY",
      "planId": "plan1",
      "quantity": 100,
      "beneficiary":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "purchaser":
        {
          "emailId": XX@outlook.com,
          "objectId": "<guid>",
          "tenantId": "<guid>",
          "puid": "1234567890",
        },
      "allowedCustomerOperations": ["Delete", "Update", "Read"],
      "sessionMode": "None",
      "isFreeTrial": false,
      "isTest": false,
      "sandboxType": "None",
      "saasSubscriptionStatus": "Unsubscribed",
      "term":
        {
          "startDate": "2022-02-10T00:00:00Z",
          "endDate": "2022-03-12T00:00:00Z",
          "termUnit": "P1M",
          "chargeDuration": null,
        },
      "autoRenew": true,
      "created": "2022-01-10T23:15:03.365988Z",
      "lastModified": "2022-02-14T20:26:04.5632549Z",
    },
  "purchaseToken": null,
}

Securing your Webhooks

You must secure your Webhooks so no one other than Microsoft endpoints are making such Webhook calls. You can use any technology to implement your Webhooks, however your Webhook implementation must follow the following security guidelines (See Tutorial).

  • Microsoft calls your Webhooks with Authorization headers that contains necessary information to validate the calls. You must enable your Webhooks to be able to receive the Authorization headers. (Do not add authorization details or security tokens like SAS tokens directly in the Webhook URLs. Such Webhooks might fail to retrieve the Authorization headers that Microsoft sends when calling your Webhooks).

  • The JWT Bearer token passed in Authorization header contains the following data in the payload that you can use to secure your endpoints.

  • "aud": "this is the Microsoft Entra Identity application ID you add to your offer's technical configuration in Microsoft Partner Center"

  • "appid" or "azp": This is the resource ID you use when you create publisher authorization token to call SaaS fulfillment APIs. And depending on application setup you may see this resource ID value in either "appid" or "azp". The token has either of the two claims and you must react accordingly in your code.

  • "tid": "this is the Microsoft Entra tenant ID you add to your offer's technical configuration in Microsoft Partner Center"

  • You can check against the above passed fields to make sure the Webhook call is valid.

Important

Microsoft will start requiring ISVs to create their Webhooks in a secure manner and accept Authorization headers. If your current Webhook implementation can't accept Authorization headers, then you must update your Webhooks and secure such end points (using above guidelines) to avoid any disruption.

Development and testing

To start the development process, we recommend creating dummy API responses on the publisher side. These responses can be based on sample responses provided in this article.

When the publisher is ready for the end to end testing:

  • Publish a SaaS offer to a limited preview audience and keep it in preview stage.
  • Set the plan price to zero, to avoid triggering actual billing expense while testing. Another option is to set a nonzero price and cancel all test purchases within 24 hours.
  • Ensure all flows are invoked end to end, to simulate a real customer scenario.
  • If the partner wants to test full purchase and billing flow, do so with offer that's priced above $0. The purchase is billed, and an invoice will be generated.

A purchase flow can be triggered from the Azure portal or Microsoft AppSource sites, depending on where the offer is being published.

Change plan, change quantity, and unsubscribe actions are tested from the publisher side. From the Microsoft side, unsubscribe can be triggered from both the Azure portal and Admin Center (the portal where Microsoft AppSource purchases are managed). Change quantity and plan can be triggered only from Admin Center.

Get support

See Support for the commercial marketplace program in Partner Center for publisher support options.

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