Message History & Analytics - Discord Webhook Manager

Overview

Message History provides comprehensive tracking of all messages sent through Discord Webhook Manager. Every message sent—whether manual or scheduled—is logged with full details including:

Message content and embeds
Delivery status (success/failed)
Timestamp
Sender information
Discord API responses

Message history is automatically created for all webhook sends and is retained indefinitely unless manually deleted.

Accessing Message History

There are multiple ways to view message history:

1. Webhook-Specific History

View history for a single webhook:

Navigate to Webhooks

Go to Webhooks in the sidebar

Select Webhook

Click on the webhook you want to review

View History

Click the History tab or button to see all messages sent through this webhook

URL Pattern: /webhooks/{id}/history Code Reference: app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:351-364

2. Dashboard Overview

The webhook detail page shows recent activity:

$webhook->load(['messageHistory' => function ($query) {
    $query->latest()->limit(10);
}]);

This displays the 10 most recent messages inline (app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:107-109).

3. Statistics View

The webhook show page includes aggregated statistics (app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:112-119):

$stats = [
    'total' => $totalMessages,
    'success' => $successMessages,
    'error' => $errorMessages,
    'recent' => $recentActivity, // Last 7 days
];

Message History Data Structure

Database Schema

The message_history table stores:

Field	Type	Description
`id`	BIGINT	Primary key
`webhook_id`	BIGINT	Associated webhook
`user_id`	BIGINT	User who sent the message
`message_content`	JSON	Full message payload
`sent_at`	TIMESTAMP	When message was sent
`status`	VARCHAR	`success` or `failed`
`response`	JSON	Discord API response
`created_at`	TIMESTAMP	Record creation
`updated_at`	TIMESTAMP	Last update

Message Content Format

The message_content field stores the complete Discord payload:

{
  "content": "Hello, Discord!",
  "embeds": [
    {
      "title": "Announcement",
      "description": "Important update...",
      "color": 5814783,
      "fields": [
        {
          "name": "Version",
          "value": "1.0.0",
          "inline": true
        }
      ],
      "timestamp": "2026-03-06T12:00:00Z",
      "footer": {
        "text": "Powered by Webhook Manager"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Creating History Records

Successful Messages

When a message sends successfully (app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:321-328):

$webhook->messageHistory()->create([
    'user_id' => auth()->id(),
    'message_content' => $messageData,
    'sent_at' => now(),
    'status' => 'success',
    'response' => $result['response'] ?? null,
]);

Failed Messages

Failed attempts are also logged (app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:335-341):

$webhook->messageHistory()->create([
    'user_id' => auth()->id(),
    'message_content' => $messageData,
    'sent_at' => now(),
    'status' => 'failed',
    'response' => $result['response'] ?? null,
]);

Failed messages still appear in history. This helps you debug issues and track delivery problems.

History Display

Pagination

History pages show 20 messages per page:

$messages = $webhook->messageHistory()
    ->with('user:id,name')
    ->latest('sent_at')
    ->paginate(20);

Code Reference: app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:355-358

User Information

Each history record includes the sender’s name:

->with('user:id,name')

This is useful for shared webhooks where multiple users send messages.

Analytics & Statistics

Webhook Performance Metrics

The webhook detail page calculates key metrics:

$totalMessages = $webhook->messageHistory()->count();

Code Reference: app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:112-119

Time-Based Analysis

You can extend analytics by grouping messages by hour, day, or month to identify usage patterns.

Example query for daily message counts:

$dailyStats = MessageHistory::where('webhook_id', $webhook->id)
    ->selectRaw('DATE(sent_at) as date, COUNT(*) as count')
    ->groupBy('date')
    ->orderBy('date', 'desc')
    ->limit(30)
    ->get();

Permissions & Access Control

Message history respects webhook permissions:

View Permission

Users can view history if they can view the webhook (app/app/Controllers/WebhookController.php:353):

$this->authorize('view', $webhook);

This allows:

Webhook owners
Collaborators with any permission level (admin, editor, viewer)

Privacy Considerations

All users with access to a webhook can see its complete message history, including messages sent by other users.

This is by design to enable team coordination, but be aware when sharing webhooks with sensitive content.

Discord API Responses

The response field stores Discord’s API response:

Success Response Example

{
  "id": "1234567890123456789",
  "type": 0,
  "content": "Hello, Discord!",
  "channel_id": "9876543210987654321",
  "author": {
    "id": "1111111111111111111",
    "username": "My Webhook",
    "avatar": null,
    "discriminator": "0000",
    "bot": true
  },
  "attachments": [],
  "embeds": [...],
  "mentions": [],
  "mention_roles": [],
  "pinned": false,
  "mention_everyone": false,
  "tts": false,
  "timestamp": "2026-03-06T12:00:00.000Z",
  "edited_timestamp": null,
  "flags": 0
}

Error Response Example

{
  "message": "Invalid Webhook Token",
  "code": 10015
}

Common Discord error codes:

Code	Meaning
10015	Unknown Webhook
50027	Invalid Webhook Token
50035	Invalid Form Body (validation error)
40005	Request entity too large (file too big)

Filtering and Search

By Status

Filter messages by delivery status:

// Only successful messages
$successful = $webhook->messageHistory()
    ->where('status', 'success')
    ->get();

// Only failed messages
$failed = $webhook->messageHistory()
    ->where('status', 'failed')
    ->get();

By Date Range

Find messages in a specific time period:

$messages = $webhook->messageHistory()
    ->whereBetween('sent_at', [
        Carbon::parse('2026-03-01'),
        Carbon::parse('2026-03-31')
    ])
    ->get();

By User

For shared webhooks, filter by sender:

$userMessages = $webhook->messageHistory()
    ->where('user_id', $userId)
    ->get();

Message History in Scheduled Messages

Scheduled messages also create history records when they send. The main difference is the user_id reflects who created the schedule, not who triggered the send (since it’s automated). Identifying Scheduled Messages: You can track whether a message was manually sent or scheduled by checking if it has a corresponding scheduled_message_id (if you extend the schema to include this relationship).

Exporting History

While not implemented in the base application, you can easily add CSV/JSON export functionality using Laravel’s response helpers.

Example export to CSV:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Response;

public function export(Webhook $webhook)
{
    $this->authorize('view', $webhook);
    
    $messages = $webhook->messageHistory()->get();
    
    $csv = Writer::createFromString('');
    $csv->insertOne(['ID', 'User', 'Status', 'Sent At']);
    
    foreach ($messages as $message) {
        $csv->insertOne([
            $message->id,
            $message->user->name,
            $message->status,
            $message->sent_at->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'),
        ]);
    }
    
    return Response::make($csv->toString(), 200, [
        'Content-Type' => 'text/csv',
        'Content-Disposition' => 'attachment; filename="history.csv"',
    ]);
}

Retention and Cleanup

Storage Considerations

Message history grows continuously. Consider implementing automatic cleanup:

// Delete history older than 90 days
MessageHistory::where('sent_at', '<', now()->subDays(90))->delete();

You can run this as a scheduled command:

// app/Console/Kernel.php
$schedule->call(function () {
    MessageHistory::where('sent_at', '<', now()->subDays(90))->delete();
})->monthly();

Important: Deleting history is permanent and cannot be undone. Implement this carefully based on your compliance and audit requirements.

Archive Strategy

For long-term retention with reduced storage:

Export old history to compressed JSON files
Store in S3 or cold storage
Delete from active database
Provide “restore from archive” functionality if needed

Debugging Failed Messages

Common Failure Patterns

Invalid Webhook URL:

{
  "status": "failed",
  "response": {
    "message": "Unknown Webhook",
    "code": 10015
  }
}

Validation Errors:

{
  "status": "failed",
  "response": {
    "message": "Invalid Form Body",
    "code": 50035,
    "errors": {
      "embeds": {
        "0": {
          "title": {
            "_errors": [
              {
                "code": "BASE_TYPE_MAX_LENGTH",
                "message": "Must be 256 or fewer in length."
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Rate Limiting:

{
  "status": "failed",
  "response": {
    "message": "You are being rate limited.",
    "retry_after": 64000,
    "global": false
  }
}

Troubleshooting Steps

Check Error Response

Review the response field in the failed message record

Verify Webhook URL

Ensure the webhook still exists in Discord and hasn’t been deleted

Validate Content

Check that message content respects Discord limits:

Content: 2000 characters max
Embeds: 10 max per message
Embed title: 256 characters max
Embed description: 4096 characters max

Test Manually

Try sending a simple test message through the same webhook

Performance Optimization

Database Indexing

Ensure proper indexes for common queries:

CREATE INDEX idx_message_history_webhook_id ON message_history(webhook_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_message_history_sent_at ON message_history(sent_at);
CREATE INDEX idx_message_history_status ON message_history(status);
CREATE INDEX idx_message_history_user_id ON message_history(user_id);

Query Optimization

For large history tables, use chunking for bulk operations:

MessageHistory::where('webhook_id', $webhookId)
    ->chunk(1000, function ($messages) {
        foreach ($messages as $message) {
            // Process each message
        }
    });

Eager Loading

Always eager load relationships to avoid N+1 queries:

$messages = $webhook->messageHistory()
    ->with(['user:id,name,email'])
    ->latest()
    ->paginate(20);

Best Practices

Regular Review

Periodically review failed messages to identify webhook issues or validation problems.

Set Retention Policy

Define how long to keep history based on your compliance and storage constraints.

Monitor Success Rate

Track delivery success rate over time to catch degraded performance early.

Use for Auditing

Leverage history for compliance auditing and tracking who sent what.

Next Steps

Webhooks

Learn more about webhook management

Scheduled Messages

Automate message delivery

Get Started

Core Features

Collaboration

Advanced

Deployment

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Accessing Message History

​1. Webhook-Specific History

​2. Dashboard Overview

​3. Statistics View

​Message History Data Structure

​Database Schema

​Message Content Format

​Creating History Records

​Successful Messages

​Failed Messages

​History Display

​Pagination

​User Information

​Analytics & Statistics

​Webhook Performance Metrics

​Time-Based Analysis

​Permissions & Access Control

​View Permission

​Privacy Considerations

​Discord API Responses

​Success Response Example

​Error Response Example

​Filtering and Search

​By Status

​By Date Range

​By User

​Message History in Scheduled Messages

​Exporting History

​Retention and Cleanup

​Storage Considerations

​Archive Strategy

​Debugging Failed Messages

​Common Failure Patterns

​Troubleshooting Steps

​Performance Optimization

​Database Indexing

​Query Optimization

​Eager Loading

​Best Practices

Regular Review

Set Retention Policy

Monitor Success Rate

Use for Auditing

​Next Steps

Webhooks

Scheduled Messages

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Accessing Message History

1. Webhook-Specific History

2. Dashboard Overview

3. Statistics View

Message History Data Structure

Database Schema

Message Content Format

Creating History Records

Successful Messages

Failed Messages

History Display

Pagination

User Information

Analytics & Statistics

Webhook Performance Metrics

Time-Based Analysis

Permissions & Access Control

View Permission

Privacy Considerations

Discord API Responses

Success Response Example

Error Response Example

Filtering and Search

By Status

By Date Range

By User

Message History in Scheduled Messages

Exporting History

Retention and Cleanup

Storage Considerations

Archive Strategy

Debugging Failed Messages

Common Failure Patterns

Troubleshooting Steps

Performance Optimization

Database Indexing

Query Optimization

Eager Loading

Best Practices

Next Steps