Product Introduction
Definition
Knock data sources represent a specialized ingestion and orchestration layer within the Knock customer engagement platform. Technically categorized as customer engagement infrastructure (CEI) or a notification-as-a-service (NaaS) data layer, this product enables the seamless ingestion of event data from external third-party tools or custom webhooks to trigger automated messaging workflows. It serves as a middleware that bridges the gap between data-generating systems (SaaS tools, databases, warehouses) and multi-channel communication delivery.
Core Value Proposition
The primary value of Knock data sources is to decouple notification logic from core application code, allowing product-led teams to build, edit, and ship messaging with zero-code data mapping. By automating the verification, transformation, and action mapping of incoming data packets, Knock enables organizations to accelerate the deployment of lifecycle and transactional messaging. Key keywords include event-driven messaging, notification infrastructure, webhook transformation, and cross-channel orchestration.
Main Features
Pre-built Source Integrations
Knock provides native, "one-click" connectors for industry-standard B2B SaaS tools including Stripe, Clerk, Supabase, PostHog, and WorkOS. These integrations eliminate the need for manual API configuration. When an event occurs in a connected source—such as a successful subscription payment in Stripe or a new user sign-up in Clerk—Knock automatically ingests the payload, allowing it to be used as a trigger for complex messaging workflows or audience segment updates.
Custom Webhook Mapping and Transformation
For tools without native connectors, Knock offers a flexible custom webhook engine. This feature allows developers to point any HTTP POST request to a Knock endpoint. Knock handles the heavy lifting of payload transformation, enabling users to map nested JSON attributes from the incoming request to specific variables within messaging templates (e.g., mapping customer.email to the recipient ID). This includes support for transformation logic to ensure data compatibility with downstream notification providers.
Automated Verification and Security
Knock data sources include built-in security protocols to ensure the integrity of incoming data. The system automatically handles webhook signature verification (e.g., HMAC) for supported providers, ensuring that events are legitimate and have not been tampered with. This enterprise-grade security layer removes the burden from internal engineering teams to write custom middleware for request validation.
Real-time Action Mapping and User Syncing
Beyond triggering workflows, data sources can be configured to perform "Action Mapping." This allows incoming data to update user profiles, modify audience memberships, or synchronize custom objects in real-time. For instance, an event from a CRM could trigger an update to a user's "subscription_tier" attribute in Knock, which then dynamically alters their eligibility for specific notification batches or preference center settings.
Problems Solved
Pain Point: Engineering Bottlenecks and Maintenance
Building and maintaining custom notification logic for every third-party event is a significant engineering drain. Traditional methods require writing custom consumers for every webhook, managing retries, and handling schema changes. Knock data sources resolve this by providing a no-code interface for data ingestion, freeing developers to focus on core product features rather than messaging infrastructure.
Target Audience
The product is specifically designed for:
- Product Engineers and Engineering Leads: Who need to implement reliable notification systems without building from scratch.
- Growth and Product Managers: Who want to experiment with lifecycle messaging and onboarding flows without waiting for engineering cycles.
- Marketing Operations: Who require a unified view of customer engagement data across various tools.
- DevOps/SRE: Who prioritize system observability, 99.99% uptime, and SOC2/HIPAA compliant data handling.
Use Cases
- Transactional Billing Alerts: Triggering a "Payment Failed" SMS or email immediately when a Stripe webhook indicates a dunning event.
- Product-Led Onboarding: Sending a personalized Slack or In-app notification via the React SDK when a new user is created in Clerk or Supabase.
- Usage-Based Notifications: Using PostHog events to trigger a congratulatory message or a "limit reached" warning when a user hits a specific milestone in the product.
Unique Advantages
Differentiation: Developer-First AI-Native Tooling
Unlike legacy marketing automation platforms, Knock is built specifically for modern development workflows. It integrates directly with AI code editors like Cursor and Claude Code via the Knock CLI and MCP server. This allows teams to manage their notification infrastructure as code (IaC), including version control, environments (development, staging, production), and CI/CD integration.
Key Innovation: The Unified Engagement Engine
The specific innovation lies in the platform’s ability to treat data ingestion as a primary trigger for a multi-channel journey. While other tools send a single message per event, Knock allows one data source event to trigger a complex workflow involving branching logic (e.g., "Is the user qualified?"), delays, batching, and multi-channel delivery (Email, SMS, Push, Chat, In-app) all within a single, observable dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do I connect a custom webhook to Knock data sources?
To connect a custom webhook, you simply create a new "Custom Source" in the Knock dashboard, which generates a unique webhook URL. You then point your external service to this URL. Within Knock, you can use the visual mapper to define how the incoming JSON payload should be transformed into user attributes, event properties, or workflow triggers.
Does Knock support signature verification for secure data ingestion?
Yes. Knock provides built-in support for verifying webhook signatures from common providers and allows for custom signing secret configurations. This ensures that only authorized data from your trusted tools can trigger workflows or update user data, preventing unauthorized "spoofing" of event data.
Can I use data sources to update audiences without sending a message?
Absolutely. Knock data sources can be used purely for data synchronization. By mapping an incoming event to an "Identify" or "Group" action, you can update user properties or audience segments in real-time. This is essential for maintaining accurate targeting for future broadcast messages or automated lifecycle sequences.### Product Introduction
Definition
Knock data sources represent a specialized ingestion and orchestration layer within the Knock customer engagement platform. Technically categorized as customer engagement infrastructure (CEI) or a notification-as-a-service (NaaS) data layer, this product enables the seamless ingestion of event data from external third-party tools or custom webhooks to trigger automated messaging workflows. It serves as a middleware that bridges the gap between data-generating systems (SaaS tools, databases, warehouses) and multi-channel communication delivery.
Core Value Proposition
The primary value of Knock data sources is to decouple notification logic from core application code, allowing product-led teams to build, edit, and ship messaging with zero-code data mapping. By automating the verification, transformation, and action mapping of incoming data packets, Knock enables organizations to accelerate the deployment of lifecycle and transactional messaging. Key keywords include event-driven messaging, notification infrastructure, webhook transformation, and cross-channel orchestration.
Main Features
Pre-built Source Integrations
Knock provides native, "one-click" connectors for industry-standard B2B SaaS tools including Stripe, Clerk, Supabase, PostHog, and WorkOS. These integrations eliminate the need for manual API configuration. When an event occurs in a connected source—such as a successful subscription payment in Stripe or a new user sign-up in Clerk—Knock automatically ingests the payload, allowing it to be used as a trigger for complex messaging workflows or audience segment updates.
Custom Webhook Mapping and Transformation
For tools without native connectors, Knock offers a flexible custom webhook engine. This feature allows developers to point any HTTP POST request to a Knock endpoint. Knock handles the heavy lifting of payload transformation, enabling users to map nested JSON attributes from the incoming request to specific variables within messaging templates (e.g., mapping customer.email to the recipient ID). This includes support for transformation logic to ensure data compatibility with downstream notification providers.
Automated Verification and Security
Knock data sources include built-in security protocols to ensure the integrity of incoming data. The system automatically handles webhook signature verification (e.g., HMAC) for supported providers, ensuring that events are legitimate and have not been tampered with. This enterprise-grade security layer removes the burden from internal engineering teams to write custom middleware for request validation.
Real-time Action Mapping and User Syncing
Beyond triggering workflows, data sources can be configured to perform "Action Mapping." This allows incoming data to update user profiles, modify audience memberships, or synchronize custom objects in real-time. For instance, an event from a CRM could trigger an update to a user's "subscription_tier" attribute in Knock, which then dynamically alters their eligibility for specific notification batches or preference center settings.
Problems Solved
Pain Point: Engineering Bottlenecks and Maintenance
Building and maintaining custom notification logic for every third-party event is a significant engineering drain. Traditional methods require writing custom consumers for every webhook, managing retries, and handling schema changes. Knock data sources resolve this by providing a no-code interface for data ingestion, freeing developers to focus on core product features rather than messaging infrastructure.
Target Audience
The product is specifically designed for:
- Product Engineers and Engineering Leads: Who need to implement reliable notification systems without building from scratch.
- Growth and Product Managers: Who want to experiment with lifecycle messaging and onboarding flows without waiting for engineering cycles.
- Marketing Operations: Who require a unified view of customer engagement data across various tools.
- DevOps/SRE: Who prioritize system observability, 99.99% uptime, and SOC2/HIPAA compliant data handling.
Use Cases
- Transactional Billing Alerts: Triggering a "Payment Failed" SMS or email immediately when a Stripe webhook indicates a dunning event.
- Product-Led Onboarding: Sending a personalized Slack or In-app notification via the React SDK when a new user is created in Clerk or Supabase.
- Usage-Based Notifications: Using PostHog events to trigger a congratulatory message or a "limit reached" warning when a user hits a specific milestone in the product.
Unique Advantages
Differentiation: Developer-First AI-Native Tooling
Unlike legacy marketing automation platforms, Knock is built specifically for modern development workflows. It integrates directly with AI code editors like Cursor and Claude Code via the Knock CLI and MCP server. This allows teams to manage their notification infrastructure as code (IaC), including version control, environments (development, staging, production), and CI/CD integration.
Key Innovation: The Unified Engagement Engine
The specific innovation lies in the platform’s ability to treat data ingestion as a primary trigger for a multi-channel journey. While other tools send a single message per event, Knock allows one data source event to trigger a complex workflow involving branching logic (e.g., "Is the user qualified?"), delays, batching, and multi-channel delivery (Email, SMS, Push, Chat, In-app) all within a single, observable dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do I connect a custom webhook to Knock data sources?
To connect a custom webhook, you simply create a new "Custom Source" in the Knock dashboard, which generates a unique webhook URL. You then point your external service to this URL. Within Knock, you can use the visual mapper to define how the incoming JSON payload should be transformed into user attributes, event properties, or workflow triggers.
Does Knock support signature verification for secure data ingestion?
Yes. Knock provides built-in support for verifying webhook signatures from common providers and allows for custom signing secret configurations. This ensures that only authorized data from your trusted tools can trigger workflows or update user data, preventing unauthorized "spoofing" of event data.
Can I use data sources to update audiences without sending a message?
Absolutely. Knock data sources can be used purely for data synchronization. By mapping an incoming event to an "Identify" or "Group" action, you can update user properties or audience segments in real-time. This is essential for maintaining accurate targeting for future broadcast messages or automated lifecycle sequences.
