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Integrations

AdminPair external apps (CRM-Accounting, future) and rotate their tokens.

Integrations

TAB can connect to other GBOSS apps so projects, clients, and time entries stay in sync between them without anyone retyping. Today the supported app is CRM-Accounting; the connection mechanism is generic, so other GBOSS apps (e.g. an HR app) can plug in the same way later.

Find it at Admin → Integrations. Admin-only.

How a connection works

When you connect to another app, you share a key in each direction plus a signing secret:

  • The TAB key is generated by TAB and pasted into the other app. The other app uses it to call into TAB (for example, to send over the engagements it wants TAB to track time against).
  • The webhook signing secret is also generated by TAB and pasted into the other app at the same time. TAB uses this secret to sign every message it sends back so the other app can prove the message really came from TAB and wasn't tampered with on the wire.
  • The app key is generated by the other app and pasted into TAB. TAB uses it to call back into the other app (for example, to tell CRM-Accounting that an entry was just approved).

All three values are random, secret, and shown once. Copy them somewhere safe; you cannot view them again later. All three stay valid for one year.

Connecting CRM-Accounting (or any other app)

  1. Click Connect a new app, enter the short name (crm-accounting) and the web address of the other app (e.g. https://crm.gbossone.com).
  2. TAB shows you both the TAB key and the webhook signing secret once. Click Copy on each and keep them open in a notepad.
  3. Click Open in CRM-Accounting (or whichever app). TAB takes you straight to that app's integrations page.
  4. Paste the TAB key into the field labelled TAB key and the signing secret into Webhook signing secret on the other side, then click Connect. The other app generates its own key in return.
  5. Come back to TAB and click Paste {app name} key, drop their key in, click Save key.
  6. The row now shows a green Connected tag. The two apps will start syncing automatically.

The order doesn't matter — you can also start from the other app's side, generate their key first, then come to TAB and click Connect a new app.

When keys expire

Both keys are valid for a year. TAB starts reminding you 30 days before either key is going to expire:

  • A Rotate within N days tag shows up next to the connection on the Integrations page.
  • A yellow banner appears on top of every page in TAB once you're inside seven days.

To rotate:

  1. On the Integrations row, click Generate new TAB key. TAB shows the new key and a fresh webhook signing secret. Both rotate together — one click, two new values to copy.
  2. Paste both into the other app and save.
  3. The other app probably also wants you to rotate its key. Do the symmetric step there and click Update {app name} key in TAB with the new value.

There's no overlap window — the old key and old secret stop working as soon as the new ones are generated, so do the rotation in a single sitting rather than splitting it across days.

Disconnecting

Click Disconnect on a row to break the connection. The other app will lose access immediately. Time entries that were already approved and synced stay in both systems untouched; only new events stop flowing.

To reconnect later, click Connect a new app with the same short name. The old row is replaced.

What gets synced

When you connect TAB and CRM-Accounting:

  • Engagements from CRM-Accounting flow into TAB as projects. CRM-Accounting stays the source of truth for the engagement's label, due date, status, assignees, fee, and client. In TAB those fields are read-only with an Edit in CRM-Accounting link. Inside TAB you can still add notes, override rates per project, and start timers against the project.
  • Approved time entries flow from TAB to CRM-Accounting. Every entry that a manager approves in TAB is sent back with the staffer, project, minutes, rate, and date. CRM-Accounting uses that to populate its profitability, utilization, and WIP rollups for the firm owner.
  • The connection is per-firm and per-user. Your firm only sees its own data. CRM-Accounting attributes each time entry to the staffer who logged it, so the owner's dashboard rolls up by staffer and by engagement without anyone re-typing.

Stub clients and users

When CRM-Accounting sends TAB a project for a client TAB hasn't heard of yet, TAB creates a placeholder client row using the name, type, and primary contact email from the request. The placeholder shows up in your client list flagged as new so you can review it. CRM-Accounting remains the source of truth — subsequent updates over there flow into the placeholder.

Same idea for staffers: if a project mentions a person who hasn't signed into TAB yet, TAB creates a placeholder user marked inactive. As soon as that person signs in, the placeholder becomes their real TAB account.

Security note

The keys exchanged during connection are strong, modern, randomly-generated secrets. TAB stores its copy encrypted and never reveals it again after creation. The connections are quantum-resistant by design, meaning the cryptography used to protect them will hold up well into the future as standards evolve. The technical details (algorithms, key lengths, retention rules) live in the developer integration guide for the engineers who build new apps against TAB.

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