# Polling vs webhook for AI generation tasks
Once you submit an image-to-video or text-to-video job, you need a reliable way to know when the clip is ready. Two patterns dominate: polling and webhooks.
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# Polling
Your client GETs a status endpoint every N seconds until completed or failed. Easy to debug, works behind NAT, but wastes requests and adds latency equal to your interval.
# Webhooks
The API POSTs to your HTTPS endpoint when the job finishes. Lower chatter and faster UX, but you need a public callback URL, signature verification, and idempotent handlers.
# Practical hybrid
Start with polling in local prototypes. Switch to webhooks in production so user-facing UIs update as soon as the render lands. Keep a slow poll as a safety net for missed deliveries.
fiveapi.ai supports async tasks with webhook or polling for its uncensored AI video API — useful when you ship image-to-video and text-to-video behind one developer key and shared API credits.