How integrations work
How a Startup's Systems connect to outside tools and accounts, which side holds the record, and how to connect, pause or cut one off.
An Integration connects one System to an outside account, such as a GitHub repository or a Customer's calendar. Your records stay in db.sb; the outside tool reflects them or feeds them.
One record, two modes
Every Integration runs one way: in mirror, db.sb leads and the tool reflects it. In import, edits made in the tool arrive as Changes. Neither makes the tool a second source of truth, so no record has two owners.
Each System page lists its connectors under its import and export heading, with the mode of each.
Whose account it is
| Scope | Whose account | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Startup | Your own | The team's chat workspace, or your code repository |
| Customer | Your Customer's, used on their behalf | A Customer's calendar, connected inside your App |
Tokens are filled in at call time and never reach an Agent. Signals from the tool arrive as Events and can wake any Workflow.
Connect, pause, cut off
| You say | Call | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| "Connect the GitHub repo" | Integration.connect | The account holder approves the grants, and the platform records them. |
| "Pause the calendar sync" | Integration.pause | Every call stops at once; the token and cursor are kept. |
| "Turn it back on" | Integration.resume | Calls resume from the cursor, so nothing re-imports. |
| "Cut off that account" | Integration.revoke | The token is revoked with the tool, and every record it brought in stays. |
The two named here
Most providers sit behind a System and never need your attention: you ask for a phone number, not a carrier. Two are named because you meet them directly. Stripe runs every payment, and GitHub holds code when you want it there.
Work ordered from another Startup, such as a bookkeeping review, is an upstream, not an Integration (upstreams).