Clerk webhooks on Next.js App Router: verifyWebhook(req), public route, 200 only after handling

TL;DR: Import verifyWebhook from @clerk/nextjs/webhooks, keep /api/webhooks out of every auth check, and return 200 after your side effects, not before. A 400 means Clerk retries. Keep the route public. Incoming webhooks are never signed in; they come from Clerk's servers.

App Router webhook handler

The handler

import { verifyWebhook } from '@clerk/nextjs/webhooks'

export async function POST(req: Request) {
  try {
    const evt = await verifyWebhook(req)
    const { id } = evt.data
    console.log('got webhook', id, evt.type)
    // write to your DB here, then:
    return new Response('Webhook received', { status: 200 })
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('webhook verification failed', err)
    return new Response('Error verifying webhook', { status: 400 })
  }
}

The three rules

1. Keep the route public. Incoming webhooks are never signed in; they come from Clerk's servers. If your middleware or any auth check gates /api/webhooks, delivery fails. clerkMiddleware() protects nothing by default, so the failure mode is always an auth check you added yourself. Exclude the route explicitly.
2. Do not parse the body first. verifyWebhook(req) needs the raw request. Calling await req.json() before it breaks the Svix signature.
3. Return 200 after handling. Clerk retries on 4xx/5xx or no response. Return 200 only after your DB write succeeds; a 200 before the write means a crashed write loses the event silently.

Checklist

• Signing secret value CLERK_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_SECRET in env, copied from the endpoint's settings page in the Dashboard. Dev and prod endpoints have different secrets.
• Test from the Dashboard: Webhooks page, endpoint settings, Testing tab, Send Example for user.created, then check Message Attempts for Succeeded.
• Local dev needs a tunnel (ngrok or similar); Clerk cannot reach YOUR_HOST directly.
• Narrow evt.type (e.g. user.created) for typed evt.data. Handle user.updated and user.deleted too if you mirror users; syncing is eventually consistent, so design for out-of-order delivery.

When to use this

• This covers exactly what the title says: Clerk webhooks on Next.js App Router.
• You are setting this up for the first time, or auditing an existing setup.
• You want the key gotchas in one place before you start.

When not to use this

• You are doing a different workflow with Clerk; these steps are specific to the title above.
• You need the full reference docs; this is the short path, not the manual.

Compatibility

• Not pinned to a specific version; follows current Clerk behavior.