Guides
Instant publishing, with or without Notion automations
Three ways for Notion to tell your site that a post changed, from a few seconds to a safety net.
There are three ways for Notion to tell your site that something changed. Use the fastest one you can; the timed refresh is always there as a safety net.
| Way | Needs Notion automations | Speed | Also catches text edits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Database automation | Yes | About 3 seconds | No, property changes only |
| Integration webhook | No | Usually within a minute | Yes |
| Timed refresh | No | Every hour, adjustable | Yes |
Database automation
In the database, add an automation: when Published is checked, send a webhook to your site with one custom header.
POST https://your-site.example/api/notion-webhook
X-Webhook-Secret: <NOTION_AUTOMATION_SECRET>Integration webhook
In your integration’s settings, open Webhooks and create a subscription that points at the same URL. Notion signs every event with the subscription’s verification token, and the site checks the signature before doing anything.
Timed refresh
Every page also refreshes on its own, every hour by default, so a missed event never leaves a page stuck.
What if two events arrive at once?
Each one only marks cached data as stale. Refreshing twice is harmless.