Connections

Connections are established relationships between two companies on Nembl. A connection enables cross-company request submission, status tracking, and controlled data exchange through the B2B registry.

Discovering Companies

Browsing the Registry

1. Navigate to B2B > Registry.
2. Browse or search for services offered by other companies.
3. Click on a listing to view details: service description, available offerings, SLA targets, and the company's verified status.

Evaluating a Company

Before connecting, review the company's profile:

• Verified domain -- indicates the company has proven ownership of their domain.
• Active connections -- the number of other companies connected to this service.
• Average response time -- how quickly the company typically accepts incoming requests.
• SLA targets -- committed response and resolution times.

Establishing a Connection

1. From a registry listing, click Request Connection.
2. Include an optional message explaining your business relationship or why you are connecting.
3. The target company receives a connection request notification.
4. The target company reviews and either accepts or declines the request.

Connection States

API Token Exchange

When a connection is established, Nembl automatically generates API tokens for secure communication between the two companies.

How Token Exchange Works

1. Upon accepting a connection, Nembl generates a unique API token pair:
   • Your outbound token -- used when your workflows send requests to the connected company.
   • Their outbound token -- used when the connected company sends requests to you.
2. Tokens are scoped to the specific connection and can only access the published offerings.
3. Tokens are stored as secrets in each company's namespace.

Token Properties

• Tokens are automatically rotated every 90 days.
• Each token is scoped to the specific B2B connection (it cannot access other services or connections).
• Tokens can be manually revoked and regenerated from the connection detail page.

Managing Connections

Viewing Your Connections

Navigate to B2B > Connections to see all active, pending, and terminated connections. The list shows:

• Connected company name and verified status
• Service name
• Connection state
• Requests exchanged (submitted and received counts)
• Date established

Submitting Requests to a Connected Company

Once connected, your workflows can submit requests to the partner company's service:

1. In the workflow builder, add a B2B Request phase action.
2. Select the connection and the target offering.
3. Map your workflow data to the offering's input fields.
4. When the workflow executes, it submits a request to the connected company's service queue.

The request appears in the partner company's inbox, and status updates flow back to your workflow automatically.

Receiving Requests from Connected Companies

Inbound B2B requests appear in your service's inbox like any other request, with additional metadata:

• Source company -- the company that submitted the request.
• Connection ID -- which B2B connection the request came through.
• External reference -- the requesting company's internal reference ID.

Your team processes B2B requests using the same workflows as internal requests.

Suspending a Connection

Temporarily pause a connection without terminating it:

1. Open the connection from B2B > Connections.
2. Click Suspend Connection.
3. While suspended, no new requests can be submitted in either direction.
4. Existing in-flight requests continue to be processed.
5. Click Resume to reactivate.

Terminating a Connection

Permanently close a connection:

1. Open the connection.
2. Click Terminate Connection.
3. Choose how to handle in-flight requests:
   • Complete -- allow existing requests to finish processing.
   • Cancel -- cancel all in-flight requests immediately.
4. Confirm termination. API tokens are revoked.

Terminated connections cannot be reactivated. To reconnect, submit a new connection request.

Connection Dashboard

The B2B dashboard at B2B > Dashboard provides an overview:

• Total active connections
• Requests sent and received this period
• SLA compliance rates across connections
• Pending connection requests

Best Practices

• Verify your domain before requesting connections. Verified companies are more likely to accept connection requests.
• Include context in connection requests. A brief message about your business relationship helps the target company evaluate your request.
• Monitor SLA compliance. Track how well connected companies meet their SLA targets. Address breaches proactively.
• Review connections quarterly. Terminate connections that are no longer active to keep your B2B footprint clean.
• Use suspension for temporary pauses. If a partner is undergoing maintenance, suspend rather than terminate to preserve the relationship.