clerk-webhooks Skill for Claude: What It Does and How to Install It

Makes Claude write verified Clerk webhook handlers that sync users and organizations to your database.

Installs: 53.9K; on skills.sh
Stars: 89; on GitHub
Files: 2; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

This is Clerk's own webhook skill. Claude writes a handler that checks every event with verifyWebhook, then reacts to events such as user.created or organizationMembership.deleted by updating your database or sending a notification. It includes a Next.js handler and examples for six other frameworks.

The folder holds SKILL.md, a frameworks reference and an evals file, and bundles no scripts. The examples delete database rows and call Resend and Slack, so read the safety box.

Good for

Developers keeping their own users table in sync with Clerk
Teams sending welcome emails or Slack alerts on sign-up
Anyone handling organization, membership or billing events

Install clerk-webhooks

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the clerk-webhooks skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add clerk/skills
/plugin install clerk@clerk-skills

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Pick one route. The Clerk plugin installs all 20 skills in the repo plus the hosted Clerk MCP server (mcp.clerk.com/mcp) from its .mcp.json; the skills CLI routes install skills only. Per the README, the clerk plugin replaces the earlier clerk-skills@clerk Codex plugin and the earlier core, frameworks, features and mobile Copilot plugins, and Copilot may leave clerk@clerk-skills disabled until you run copilot plugin enable clerk@clerk-skills.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Clerk webhooks for real-time events and data syncing. Verify with verifyWebhook from the framework-specific package. Handle user, session, organization, billing, and payment events. Build event-driven features like database sync, notifications, and integrations.

Sections in SKILL.md

When to Use Webhooks
Verify Every Webhook
Keep the Webhook Route Unprotected
Complete Webhook Handler (Next.js App Router)
Full Example: Welcome Email (Resend) + Slack Notification on user.created
Full Example: Organization Membership Sync to Database
Other Frameworks
Type Narrowing for evt.data
Payload Field Reference
User events (user.created, user.updated, user.deleted)
Organization events (organization.created, organization.updated, organization.deleted)
Organization Membership events (organizationMembership.created, organizationMembership.updated, organizationMembership.deleted)
Supported Events (Full Catalog)
Webhook Reliability
Common Pitfalls
Testing & Deployment

Key facts

Author: Clerk (vendor's own repo)
Repo: clerk/skills
License: MIT (README, plugin.json and the SKILL.md frontmatter say MIT; the repo has no LICENSE file)
Installs on skills.sh: 53,938 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 89 for the whole repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Oct 30, 2026
Audits on skills.sh: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: warn
What it includes: 3 files including SKILL.md: references/frameworks.md and an evals file. It bundles no scripts
Part of: Plugin clerk: 20 skills plus the Clerk MCP server
Needs: CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET

What it includes

Writes a handler that verifies every event with the framework package first
Next.js uses @clerk/nextjs/webhooks. Never skip verification, even for notification-only handlers.
Try: “Sync users to Prisma via webhooks”
Write · verifyWebhook handler
Keeps the webhook route public; auth.protect() would return 404 on every delivery
Write · Unprotected route rule
Creates, updates and deletes your own user and membership rows on Clerk events
Delete · Database sync
Welcome email via Resend and a Slack post on user.created
Write · Notification examples
Handlers for Express, Astro, Fastify, Nuxt, React Router and TanStack Start
Reference: references/frameworks.md.
Write · Other frameworks
Lists supported events: user, session, organization, membership, billing and more
SKILL.md groups them under 13 headings, from User to Payment.
Event catalog
Svix retries failed deliveries; use the svix-id header to deduplicate
Failed webhooks can be replayed from the dashboard.
Reliability notes
clerk webhooks listen forwards events to localhost through a relay
Runs code · Local testing

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

Its example handlers delete data
The sample handlers call db.users.delete, db.teamMembers.delete and db.team_members.deleteMany when a user or membership is removed in Clerk. Check each delete matches your schema before you run it. github.com
Local testing opens a public relay
`clerk webhooks listen` gives a relay URL at webhooks.clerk.com that forwards events to your localhost. The skill also names ngrok, localtunnel and Cloudflare Tunnel. Only add the URL to a development Clerk instance. github.com
The route must stay unprotected
SKILL.md says not to call auth.protect() on the webhook route. Signature checks with verifyWebhook are the only guard, so never skip them. github.com
Examples send email and Slack messages
The welcome-email example uses Resend and a Slack webhook URL taken from environment variables. Use your own keys and test addresses. github.com
The Clerk plugin also adds an MCP server
The plugin bundles .mcp.json, which registers the hosted Clerk MCP server at mcp.clerk.com/mcp. plugin.json lists no hooks. The skills CLI and folder routes do not add it. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	There is no read-only switch. Claude writes handler code into your project.
Talks to	clerk.com. webhooks.clerk.com
Sign-in and keys	Reads CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET (a svix signing secret from the Clerk dashboard) from the environment.
Scopes	Writes webhook handler routes in your app Examples write to and delete from your database Optionally runs the Clerk CLI tunnel to forward events to localhost

Questions

What does the clerk-webhooks skill do?

It makes Claude write Clerk webhook handlers that verify every event with verifyWebhook, then sync users and organizations to your database or trigger notifications. It covers Next.js and six other frameworks.

How do I install clerk-webhooks?

Use the install box above. The Clerk plugin installs all 20 skills. npx skills add clerk/skills installs the skills alone.

Does it need an API key?

It needs CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET, a svix signing secret from your Clerk dashboard. The notification examples also use RESEND_API_KEY and SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL.

Why does my webhook route return 404?

SKILL.md says a project that calls auth.protect() on the webhook route returns 404 for every delivery. Remove that check. verifyWebhook is the only check the route needs.

Can I rely on webhooks during sign-up?

No. SKILL.md says webhooks are asynchronous and eventually consistent. For data the user just created, read the session token or call the Backend API instead.

How do I test webhooks locally?

Run clerk webhooks listen with a token and your local URL, then add the printed relay URL as an endpoint in the dashboard. Without the CLI, tunnel localhost yourself with ngrok or a similar tool.

Is it safe?

It bundles no scripts, but its examples delete database rows and can send email and Slack messages, and local testing opens a relay to your machine. Our advice: try it against a development Clerk instance and a test database.

Does it work in the Claude app?

The README documents Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot CLI and the skills CLI. It documents no Claude app upload route, so use one of those.

Is it an official Clerk skill?

It is in Clerk's own repo, and the repo's marketplace.json describes the plugin as "Official Clerk skills for AI coding agents".

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: clerk/skills
Folder: skills/clerk-webhooks

clerk/skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 6

clerk/skills README · github.com
clerk/skills marketplace.json · github.com
clerk plugin.json · github.com
clerk/skills .mcp.json · github.com
clerk-webhooks SKILL.md · github.com
clerk-webhooks frameworks.md · github.com