Countdown Timer API integration guides

Complete, runnable integrations rather than snippets. Each guide covers the same three things in one stack — creating a deadline, reading the authoritative clock, and being called when it passes — plus whatever that particular framework gets wrong. Every one of them names the specific trap: the parser that breaks signature verification, the cache that freezes the countdown, the lifecycle event that leaves it stale.

What every guide covers

The API is the same everywhere. What differs is where the raw request body lives, how the framework caches, and what it does to a background timer.

The three steps, in plain HTTP

# 1. Create the deadline where the record is created.
curl -X POST https://countdownshare.com/api/v1/timers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COUNTDOWNSHARE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: order_18823_hold" \
  -d '{ "name": "Cart hold", "type": "duration", "duration_seconds": 900 }'

# 2. Read the authoritative clock when you render.
curl https://countdownshare.com/api/v1/timers/$TIMER_ID/status \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COUNTDOWNSHARE_API_KEY"

# 3. Be called at the deadline instead of polling for it.
#    (a webhook destination + a rule — see the webhooks docs)

# Every guide below is these three steps in one stack.

If you would rather read the reference than a tutorial, the quick start is three requests, and the OpenAPI 3.1 spec is public and needs no key.

Front end and mobile

These deal with the same underlying problem: a clock the user controls, and a timer the browser or OS is free to throttle.

Next.jsServer Components, a route handler proxy, and a webhook endpoint that reads the raw body.ReactA countdown hook that survives clock drift, sleeping tabs, and refreshes.FlutterA Dart client through your own backend, with server-anchored ticking.

Back end

Creating timers idempotently, retrying the right failures, and verifying webhook signatures against the raw body — which every framework makes available differently.

Node.jsA typed client, safe retries, and a webhook handler that verifies signatures.Pythonrequests and FastAPI, with idempotent creation and raw-body webhook verification.PHP / LaravelAn HTTP client wrapper, a queued job, and a signed webhook route.Ruby on RailsA service object, an ActiveJob worker, and a controller that skips CSRF correctly.GoA small client with context timeouts and constant-time signature checks.

CMS and automation

For platforms that cannot hold a secret, or where a generic HTTP step is the whole integration.

WordPressA shortcode backed by the API, plus where the existing plugin fits.WebflowAn embed element and a custom-code countdown reading the status endpoint.n8nHTTP Request nodes and a webhook trigger for deadline-driven automations.Make and ZapierCustom HTTP actions and catch hooks, with the auth setup each one needs.

Your stack is not listed

The API is plain REST with a bearer token, so any HTTP client works. Three things carry across every language: creation requires an Idempotency-Key derived from the record, updates require the current revision in If-Match, and webhook signatures must be verified against the raw body before it is parsed.

The Go guide is the closest thing to a from-scratch reference — it uses only the standard library and shows every piece explicitly.

Every snippet runs against Sandbox

Free with any account and no plan needed. Set COUNTDOWNSHARE_API_KEY and the code in these guides works unchanged.

Create an account Read the quick start