Signature Verification - Starbridge Help Center

Starbridge signs every webhook using Ed25519 asymmetric signatures, following the Standard Webhooks specification.

How it works

Starbridge constructs a message by concatenating the webhook ID, timestamp, and body with dots:
{webhook-id}.{webhook-timestamp}.{body}
This message is signed with Starbridge’s private key using Ed25519.
The signature is base64-encoded and sent in the webhook-signature header with a v1a, prefix.

Verification steps

To verify a webhook:

Extract the headers — read webhook-id, webhook-timestamp, and webhook-signature from the request.
Read the raw body — use the raw request body. Do not parse and re-serialize the JSON, as even minor formatting changes will break verification.

Reconstruct the signed message:

{webhook-id}.{webhook-timestamp}.{raw_body}

Strip the v1a, prefix from the webhook-signature header and base64-decode the remainder to get the signature bytes.
Strip the whpk_ prefix from your public key and base64-decode the remainder to get the key bytes.
Verify the Ed25519 signature using your language’s crypto library.

Timestamp validation

To protect against replay attacks, check that the webhook-timestamp is recent (within 5 minutes of the current time). Reject requests with timestamps that are too old.

Idempotency

Use the webhook-id header as an idempotency key. Store recently processed webhook IDs and skip any duplicates to avoid processing the same event twice.

Code examples

All examples use the following test data:

Parameter	Value
Public key	`whpk_MCowBQYDK2VwAyEA3pXFbrxQWyCihnqd8eQ7B0CVyB9BXRMes8oluz6YkA8=`
webhook-id	`msg_350d6ad7-13e1-47f8-8111-33f96313fabe`
webhook-timestamp	`1775589603`
webhook-signature	`v1a,oB5S13GytYJTAULdngi9wtz1YHs9hNppi75xw3W8VR69ypeI/hCwwlTWePup7J7ZXr4wdKPDdlWxS3o1YuxkAg==`

import base64
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.serialization import load_der_public_key

def verify_webhook(public_key_str, webhook_id, webhook_timestamp, webhook_signature, body):
    """
    Verify a Starbridge webhook signature.

    Args:
        public_key_str: Your public key (e.g. "whpk_MCow...")
        webhook_id: Value of the webhook-id header
        webhook_timestamp: Value of the webhook-timestamp header
        webhook_signature: Value of the webhook-signature header
        body: Raw request body as bytes
    Returns:
        True if the signature is valid
    Raises:
        Exception if verification fails
    """
    # 1. Strip the whpk_ prefix and decode the public key
    raw_key = public_key_str.removeprefix("whpk_")
    key_bytes = base64.b64decode(raw_key)
    public_key = load_der_public_key(key_bytes)

    # 2. Strip the v1a, prefix and decode the signature
    if not webhook_signature.startswith("v1a,"):
        raise ValueError("Unsupported signature version")
    sig_bytes = base64.b64decode(webhook_signature[4:])

    # 3. Reconstruct the signed message
    message = f"{webhook_id}.{webhook_timestamp}.".encode() + body

    # 4. Verify
    public_key.verify(sig_bytes, message)  # Raises InvalidSignature if invalid
    return True

Flask example:

from flask import Flask, request

STARBRIDGE_PUBLIC_KEY = "whpk_MCowBQYDK2VwAyEA3pXFbrxQWyCihnqd8eQ7B0CVyB9BXRMes8oluz6YkA8="

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route("/webhook", methods=["POST"])
def handle_webhook():
    try:
        verify_webhook(
            STARBRIDGE_PUBLIC_KEY,
            request.headers["webhook-id"],
            request.headers["webhook-timestamp"],
            request.headers["webhook-signature"],
            request.get_data(),  # Raw body bytes
        )
    except Exception:
        return "Invalid signature", 401

    payload = request.get_json()
    # Process the webhook...
    return "OK", 200

Install the dependency:

pip install cryptography

const crypto = require("crypto");

function verifyWebhook(publicKeyStr, webhookId, webhookTimestamp, webhookSignature, rawBody) {
  // 1. Strip the whpk_ prefix and decode the public key
  const rawKey = publicKeyStr.replace(/^whpk_/, "");
  const keyBuffer = Buffer.from(rawKey, "base64");
  const publicKey = crypto.createPublicKey({
    key: keyBuffer,
    format: "der",
    type: "spki",
  });

  // 2. Strip the v1a, prefix and decode the signature
  if (!webhookSignature.startsWith("v1a,")) {
    throw new Error("Unsupported signature version");
  }
  const sigBuffer = Buffer.from(webhookSignature.slice(4), "base64");

  // 3. Reconstruct the signed message
  const message = Buffer.from(`${webhookId}.${webhookTimestamp}.${rawBody}`);

  // 4. Verify
  return crypto.verify(null, message, publicKey, sigBuffer);
}

Express example:

const express = require("express");
const app = express();

const STARBRIDGE_PUBLIC_KEY =
  "whpk_MCowBQYDK2VwAyEA3pXFbrxQWyCihnqd8eQ7B0CVyB9BXRMes8oluz6YkA8=";

// Important: use raw body parser so the body isn't re-serialized
app.post("/webhook", express.raw({ type: "application/json" }), (req, res) => {
  const isValid = verifyWebhook(
    STARBRIDGE_PUBLIC_KEY,
    req.headers["webhook-id"],
    req.headers["webhook-timestamp"],
    req.headers["webhook-signature"],
    req.body.toString()
  );

  if (!isValid) {
    return res.status(401).send("Invalid signature");
  }

  const payload = JSON.parse(req.body);
  // Process the webhook...
  res.status(200).send("OK");
});

No additional dependencies needed — uses Node.js built-in crypto module (Node.js 16+).

import java.security.KeyFactory;
import java.security.PublicKey;
import java.security.Signature;
import java.security.spec.X509EncodedKeySpec;
import java.util.Base64;

public class WebhookVerifier {

    public static boolean verifyWebhook(
            String publicKeyStr,
            String webhookId,
            String webhookTimestamp,
            String webhookSignature,
            String rawBody
    ) throws Exception {
        // 1. Strip the whpk_ prefix and decode the public key
        String rawKey = publicKeyStr.replaceFirst("^whpk_", "");
        byte[] keyBytes = Base64.getDecoder().decode(rawKey);
        PublicKey publicKey = KeyFactory.getInstance("Ed25519")
                .generatePublic(new X509EncodedKeySpec(keyBytes));

        // 2. Strip the v1a, prefix and decode the signature
        if (!webhookSignature.startsWith("v1a,")) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported signature version");
        }
        byte[] sigBytes = Base64.getDecoder().decode(webhookSignature.substring(4));

        // 3. Reconstruct the signed message
        String message = webhookId + "." + webhookTimestamp + "." + rawBody;

        // 4. Verify
        Signature verifier = Signature.getInstance("Ed25519");
        verifier.initVerify(publicKey);
        verifier.update(message.getBytes());
        return verifier.verify(sigBytes);
    }
}

Requires Java 15+ (built-in Ed25519 support, no additional dependencies).

package main

import (
	"crypto/ed25519"
	"crypto/x509"
	"encoding/base64"
	"errors"
	"fmt"
	"strings"
)

func verifyWebhook(publicKeyStr, webhookId, webhookTimestamp, webhookSignature, rawBody string) (bool, error) {
	// 1. Strip the whpk_ prefix and decode the public key
	rawKey := strings.TrimPrefix(publicKeyStr, "whpk_")
	keyBytes, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(rawKey)
	if err != nil {
		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to decode public key: %w", err)
	}
	parsed, err := x509.ParsePKIXPublicKey(keyBytes)
	if err != nil {
		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse public key: %w", err)
	}
	publicKey, ok := parsed.(ed25519.PublicKey)
	if !ok {
		return false, errors.New("key is not Ed25519")
	}

	// 2. Strip the v1a, prefix and decode the signature
	if !strings.HasPrefix(webhookSignature, "v1a,") {
		return false, errors.New("unsupported signature version")
	}
	sigBytes, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(webhookSignature[4:])
	if err != nil {
		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to decode signature: %w", err)
	}

	// 3. Reconstruct the signed message
	message := []byte(webhookId + "." + webhookTimestamp + "." + rawBody)

	// 4. Verify
	return ed25519.Verify(publicKey, message, sigBytes), nil
}

No additional dependencies needed — uses Go standard library.

require "openssl"
require "base64"

def verify_webhook(public_key_str, webhook_id, webhook_timestamp, webhook_signature, raw_body)
  # 1. Strip the whpk_ prefix and decode the public key
  raw_key = public_key_str.sub(/\Awhpk_/, "")
  key_bytes = Base64.decode64(raw_key)
  public_key = OpenSSL::PKey.read(
    OpenSSL::ASN1.decode(key_bytes).to_der
  )

  # 2. Strip the v1a, prefix and decode the signature
  raise "Unsupported signature version" unless webhook_signature.start_with?("v1a,")
  sig_bytes = Base64.decode64(webhook_signature[4..])

  # 3. Reconstruct the signed message
  message = "#{webhook_id}.#{webhook_timestamp}.#{raw_body}"

  # 4. Verify
  public_key.verify(nil, sig_bytes, message)
end

Requires Ruby 3.0+ with OpenSSL 1.1.1+ (built-in Ed25519 support).

using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;

public static class WebhookVerifier
{
    public static bool VerifyWebhook(
        string publicKeyStr,
        string webhookId,
        string webhookTimestamp,
        string webhookSignature,
        string rawBody)
    {
        // 1. Strip the whpk_ prefix and decode the public key
        var rawKey = publicKeyStr.StartsWith("whpk_") ? publicKeyStr[5..] : publicKeyStr;
        var keyBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(rawKey);
        using var ed25519 = new Ed25519();
        ed25519.ImportSubjectPublicKeyInfo(keyBytes, out _);

        // 2. Strip the v1a, prefix and decode the signature
        if (!webhookSignature.StartsWith("v1a,"))
            throw new ArgumentException("Unsupported signature version");
        var sigBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(webhookSignature[4..]);

        // 3. Reconstruct the signed message
        var message = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes($"{webhookId}.{webhookTimestamp}.{rawBody}");

        // 4. Verify
        return ed25519.VerifyData(message, sigBytes);
    }
}

Requires .NET 9+ for built-in Ed25519 class. For older .NET versions, use the NSec.Cryptography or BouncyCastle package.

​How it works

​Verification steps

​Timestamp validation

​Idempotency

​Code examples

How it works

Verification steps

Timestamp validation

Idempotency

Code examples