Claude posts a JSON envelope to a webhook URL. The receiving platform (N8N, Make, Zapier) triggers its own workflow. Fastest to set up, lowest operational overhead. Best for fire-and-forget events where you don't need a synchronous response.

// Webhook adapter
class WebhookAdapter implements BridgeAdapter {
  async send(event: string, payload: unknown) {
    const res = await fetch(this.url, {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json",
                 "X-Bridge-Event": event,
                 "X-Bridge-Secret": this.secret },
      body: JSON.stringify({ event, payload, ts: Date.now() }),
    })
    if (!res.ok) throw new BridgeError(event, res.status)
  }
}

Latency: <500 ms · Retry: exponential backoff · Auth: HMAC secret

Claude writes to a queue (Redis, Postgres, or a JSON file). A polling loop checks the queue on an interval and forwards items to the target. Use when the target does not accept inbound webhooks or imposes strict rate limits you want to batch against.

// Polling bridge - queue-side (Claude writes)
await db.bridgeQueue.create({
  data: { event: "invoice.sent", payload: JSON.stringify(data) }
})

// Polling loop (cron, every 60 s)
const pending = await db.bridgeQueue.findMany({
  where: { status: "pending" }, take: 10, orderBy: { createdAt: "asc" }
})
for (const item of pending) {
  await targetAdapter.send(item.event, JSON.parse(item.payload))
  await db.bridgeQueue.update({ where: { id: item.id },
                                data: { status: "done" } })
}

Latency: seconds-minutes · Retry: requeue on failure · Auth: adapter-level

Register an MCP server that exposes your integration surface as tools. Claude calls the tools natively. No custom dispatch layer needed. Best for interactive, bidirectional workflows where Claude needs to read state before writing it.

// mcp-bridge-server.ts - expose tools to Claude
server.tool("create_n8n_workflow", {
  name: z.string(),
  trigger: z.enum(["webhook", "cron", "manual"]),
  nodes: z.array(z.unknown()),
}, async ({ name, trigger, nodes }) => {
  const wf = await n8nClient.workflows.create({ name, trigger, nodes })
  return { content: [{ type: "text", text: `Created: ${wf.id}` }] }
})

// Claude calls it like any other tool - no bridge code in Claude
// "Create an N8N workflow that fires on new Stripe payments"

Latency: synchronous · Retry: MCP layer · Auth: MCP server handles it

Claude invokes a local CLI binary that wraps the integration. Useful when the target has an excellent CLI but no SDK, or when you want a hard boundary between Claude's execution environment and the integration credentials.

# Claude calls Bash tool:
npx aybridge send lead.qualified   --name "Acme Corp"   --score 87   --owner "walid@ayautomate.com"

# aybridge CLI resolves the adapter, handles auth from keychain,
# prints structured JSON result to stdout for Claude to parse.
# Credentials never touch Claude's context window.

Latency: subprocess overhead · Retry: caller script · Auth: system keychain