Overview
Managed integrations sync user data from your platform, such as your HR, payroll or identity platform, into Tribal Habits. Some platforms can also receive training records from Tribal Habits. This article explains how all our managed integrations work. For details specific to your platform, such as which fields can be synced, how often and how to prepare your platform, see the relevant platform-specific integration article in What are the managed integrations offered by Tribal Habits?
Important: Managed integrations are available on Business plans as an annual add-on. They aren’t available on Lite plans. If you’d like one activated, please contact our team at [email protected].
Key concepts
Managed integration: An integration that we build, run and support for you, between Tribal Habits and your platform.
Your platform: The platform your user data comes from, such as your HR, payroll or identity platform.
Username: The field used to match each Tribal Habits user to their record in your platform.
Mapped field: A field in your platform that’s synced into a Tribal Habits field, often a Tribal Habits custom field.
Sync: Reading changes from your platform and applying them in Tribal Habits.
Training sync: Sending training records from Tribal Habits to your platform, for platforms that support it.
What managed integrations do
Once connected, your platform holds the master record for your users, and changes are applied automatically:
When this happens | The result |
Person added to the sync in your platform | Tribal Habits user created or reactivated |
Person’s mapped field(s) updated in your platform | Tribal Habits user’s mapped field(s) updated |
Person leaves or is removed from the sync in your platform | Tribal Habits user deactivated, training history kept |
Tribal Habits user completes training (optional, and not available for every platform) | Training record sent to your platform |
Managed integrations never delete Tribal Habits users. Deactivated users keep their full training history and, if they’re added back to the sync later, they’re reactivated with that history intact.
What counts as being added to or removed from the sync depends on your platform. See the relevant platform-specific integration article for details.
Benefits
Managed integrations save your admins time and keep your user data in Tribal Habits accurate.
No manual data entry: Tribal Habits users are created and kept up to date without typing in details or importing spreadsheets.
Richer data, better reporting: Synced fields, mapped from your platform, come into Tribal Habits so you can report on the data that matters to your organisation.
Fields for enrolment rules: Synced fields can be used in Tribal Habits enrolment rules, so users are enrolled or unenrolled automatically as their details change in your platform. The rules themselves are set up in Tribal Habits, not in the integration.
Clean offboarding: When someone leaves your organisation, they’re deactivated in Tribal Habits at the next sync. If your platform has a field with a future end date, deactivation can be scheduled for that date instead.
Managed for you: We build the integration, tailor it to your requirements (field mapping, who’s synced, sync schedule and error notifications) and manage it once it’s live.
How managed integrations work
All managed integrations follow the same principles, while some details vary by platform.
Our integration platform: Managed integrations run on our iPaaS (integration platform as a service), which connects to your platform on our behalf. Data processed by the integration platform is retained for 30 days, then removed.
Sync frequency: How often user data is synced depends on your platform and the size of your organisation. Some platforms send changes to us as they happen, so they sync almost instantly. Others are synced several times a day or once a day. See the relevant platform-specific integration article for its default schedule.
How users are matched: The username is the only Tribal Habits user field used to find existing users and keep them up to date. At kick-off we agree which field in your platform becomes the username. The options vary by platform (for example, a work email or an employee ID), so see the relevant platform-specific integration article for details. Changing the username field after go-live affects every user, so it’s important to agree it carefully at kick-off.
Mapped fields: At kick-off we agree which fields to sync and where they go in Tribal Habits, usually into Tribal Habits custom fields. Each platform offers different fields, so see the relevant platform-specific integration article for what’s available.
Training sync: Some platforms can receive training records from Tribal Habits, such as a completion date, an expiry date or a certificate file. At kick-off we agree which training data to send and which fields it maps to in your platform. Training records are sent almost instantly, as soon as training is completed. Not all platforms support this. See the relevant platform-specific integration article for details.
What you’ll see in Tribal Habits: Each change made by the integration appears in the Tribal Habits user’s timeline as a user updated entry from the API, showing which fields changed from and to.
Error notifications: Error notifications tell your team about issues you can fix, such as a user’s details failing validation in Tribal Habits or a training record your platform couldn’t accept. They’re emailed to the address you nominate at kick-off. Issues with the integration itself, or with either platform being temporarily unavailable, aren’t sent to you. We handle those.
Best practices
These practices apply to every managed integration and help your sync run reliably.
Use a service account: Where your platform needs an account to create access credentials or authorise the connection, use a dedicated service account rather than an individual’s user account. If an individual’s account is used and it’s disabled, deleted or loses access, the sync can stop.
Send error notifications to a shared inbox: Use a shared or group inbox for error notifications. Notifications are still seen if someone is away or leaves your organisation, and the address doesn’t need updating when your team changes.
Check your data before go-live: Fields come across exactly as they are in your platform. Check that the ones you plan to use are filled in and consistent before go-live, especially any that drive Tribal Habits enrolment rules or reporting.
Choose a username that won’t change: Pick a username field that every person has, that’s unique to them and that’s unlikely to change. If you use single sign-on (SSO), the username also needs to suit your SSO configuration.
Check existing usernames: Before go-live, check that existing Tribal Habits users have the username agreed at kick-off. If someone in the sync has a different username, the integration creates a second account for them.
Setting up a managed integration
Every managed integration is set up in the same four steps.
Step 1: Kick-off call (30 min)
We meet with your team to agree:
The username for your users
Who should be synced
Which fields to sync and the Tribal Habits fields they map to
Whether training records should be sent to your platform (if it’s supported)
The email address for error notifications
Step 2: Preparation
We build and test your integration, which usually takes a few days. In the meantime, your admin prepares access to your platform and creates any Tribal Habits custom fields needed for the mapped fields. The steps for this are in the relevant platform-specific integration article.
Step 3: Set-up call (30–60 min)
One of your platform admins joins us to connect the integration and stays on the call while we test it. That way they can confirm details or make a small change to a person’s record so we can check it syncs correctly. We work through the sync until it’s operating as expected, so the integration is usually up and running by the end of the call.
Step 4: Monitoring
After the set-up call, we monitor the integration for a period, depending on its complexity and the volume of data.
After go-live
Contact our Support team for any changes to your integration once it’s live.
Changing fields, who’s synced or the notification email address: We’ll update the integration for you. Additional fields can be mapped at any time, and we can also populate newly mapped fields for users who have already been synced.
Changing access credentials or the authorising account: If your platform’s access credentials change or expire, or the account that authorised the connection needs to change, contact our Support team before the change takes effect so the sync isn’t interrupted. The relevant platform-specific integration article explains what’s involved.
Troubleshooting
These are the most common issues across all managed integrations.
A user isn’t appearing in Tribal Habits
Likely causes: They aren’t included in the sync, they were added after the last sync or their details failed to sync.
What to do: Check they’re included in the sync in your platform, check for an error notification and wait for the next scheduled sync.
When to contact us: If they still haven’t appeared after the next sync.
A field is blank or out of date in Tribal Habits
Likely causes: The field is empty in your platform, it isn’t mapped or the change was made after the last sync.
What to do: Check the field in your platform and wait for the next scheduled sync. Make any corrections in your platform, not in Tribal Habits.
When to contact us: If the field should be mapped but isn’t, or it stays out of date after the next sync.
A user has two accounts
Likely cause: The person already had a Tribal Habits user account with a different username from the one agreed for the integration, so the integration created a new account.
What to do: Contact our Support team and we’ll help you resolve it.
The sync has stopped
Likely causes: Access credentials have expired or been revoked, or the account that authorised the connection has been disabled, deleted or lost access.
What to do: Check the relevant platform-specific integration article for how to renew access, then contact our Support team.
When to contact us: Immediately, so we can restart your sync.
FAQs
What happens to users already in Tribal Habits?
When the integration goes live, existing Tribal Habits users are matched to people in your platform using the agreed username. Users who match are linked and kept up to date from then on.
If a person in the sync doesn’t match an existing user, the integration creates a new Tribal Habits user for them. If they already had an account under a different username, see A user has two accounts under Troubleshooting.
Tribal Habits users who aren’t part of the sync, such as external learners created directly in Tribal Habits, aren’t affected by the integration.
Can a managed integration delete Tribal Habits users?
No. Managed integrations only create, update and deactivate Tribal Habits users, so training history is always kept.
If we edit a synced field in Tribal Habits, will it be overwritten?
Yes. Mapped fields are always set from your platform, so the next sync replaces any manual edit. Make changes in your platform instead.
Why is the sync date the only change in a user’s timeline?
Each integration maintains a Tribal Habits custom field called Last Sync, which records the date of the most recent sync. It’s updated each day the sync runs, so it can appear in the timeline as the only change, even when nothing else has changed. This confirms the user is still part of the sync.
Can training records be sent back to our platform?
Yes, for platforms that support it. See the relevant platform-specific integration article.
What if our platform isn’t listed?
Contact us, as we add new managed integrations regularly. We may also be able to build a custom integration for your organisation.