Partner Management

Partners are the top-level tenants in Breeze’s multi-tenant hierarchy. A partner typically represents a Managed Service Provider (MSP), an enterprise IT department, or an internal team. Partners own organizations, which in turn contain sites, device groups, and devices. Breeze supports both administrator-provisioned partners (created by system-scoped users) and self-service partner registration (where MSPs sign up directly through the web interface).

Partner management encompasses the full lifecycle: registration, configuration, user association, organization management, and feature flag controls. This reference covers the self-registration flow, the partner hierarchy model, administrative operations, and the environment variables that govern partner-related features.

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Partner Hierarchy

Breeze organizes all managed infrastructure into a strict tenant hierarchy. Partners sit at the top:

Partner (MSP)
  +-- Organization (Customer)
        +-- Site (Location)
              +-- Device Group
                    +-- Device

Every API query automatically scopes data to the caller’s position in this hierarchy. A partner-scoped user can only access organizations they have been granted access to. Organization-scoped users can only see their own organization and its sites. System-scoped users have unrestricted access across all partners.

Partner Types

Type	Description
msp	Managed Service Provider managing multiple customer organizations. This is the default type assigned during self-registration.
enterprise	A single enterprise managing its own infrastructure.
internal	Internal IT team or development environment.

Plan Tiers

Plan	Description
free	Free tier with default limits. Assigned during self-registration.
starter	Starter tier for initial paid onboarding.
community	Community tier with basic paid features.
pro	Professional tier with expanded limits.
enterprise	Enterprise tier with advanced features.
unlimited	No enforced limits.

Partner Status

Status	Description
pending	Newly registered partner awaiting payment or admin approval. Blocked from API access by the partner guard middleware (403 with PARTNER_INACTIVE code).
active	Fully operational partner with API access.
suspended	Temporarily suspended (e.g., payment failure). Blocked from API access.
churned	Permanently inactive partner. Blocked from API access.

Organization Access Levels

Partner users are associated with their partner through the partner_users table. Each association includes an orgAccess field that controls which organizations the user can see:

Access Level	Behavior
all	User can access every organization under the partner. This is the default for the admin user created during self-registration.
selected	User can only access organizations whose IDs are listed in the orgIds array on the partner_users record.
none	User cannot access any organizations. Useful for partner-level users who only manage partner settings.

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Self-Registration

Partner self-registration allows MSPs and IT companies to create their own Breeze account without administrator intervention. The registration flow creates a partner, an admin role, a user account, and links them together in a single operation.

Registration Flow

1. User visits /register-partner — The frontend checks the ENABLE_REGISTRATION feature flag. If registration is disabled, the user is redirected to /login?reason=registration-disabled.

2. User fills out the registration form — Required fields are company name (min 2 characters), full name, email address, password (min 8 characters), password confirmation, and terms of service acceptance.

3. Frontend submits to POST /auth/register-partner — The API validates the request body against the registerPartnerSchema Zod schema.

4. Rate limit check — The API enforces a limit of 3 registration attempts per IP address per hour using the Redis-backed sliding window rate limiter. If the limit is exceeded, a 429 response is returned.

5. Password strength validation — The password is checked against the server-side strength rules. If it fails, a 400 response with the first error message is returned.

6. Email uniqueness check — The API checks if a user with the same email already exists. If so, it returns a generic success message to prevent email enumeration: "If registration can proceed, you will receive next steps shortly."

7. Slug generation — A URL-safe slug is derived from the company name by lowercasing, replacing non-alphanumeric characters with hyphens, and trimming to 50 characters. If the slug already exists, a numeric suffix is appended (up to 100 attempts).

8. Transaction: create partner, role, user, and association — The API creates four records:

   • A partner with type msp and plan free
   • A Partner Admin role with scope: partner and isSystem: true
   • A user with the hashed password and status: active
   • A partner_users association with orgAccess: all

9. JWT tokens issued — Access and refresh tokens are created with scope: partner and the new partner ID. The refresh token is set as an HTTP-only cookie.

10. Redirect to dashboard — The frontend stores the tokens and redirects the authenticated user. If this is the first-ever user in the system, the setup wizard may appear.

Caution

The self-registration endpoint does not use a database transaction wrapper. If user creation fails after the partner and role have been inserted, the API performs manual cleanup by deleting the role and partner records. In rare failure scenarios, orphaned records may remain and should be cleaned up manually.

Registration Form Fields

Field	Type	Validation	Description
companyName	string	min 2, max 255 chars	The partner/company display name
name	string	min 1, max 255 chars	The admin user’s full name
email	string	Valid email format	The admin user’s email address
password	string	min 8 chars, strength checked	The admin user’s password
confirmPassword	string	Must match password	Client-side only; not sent to API
acceptTerms	boolean	Must be true	Terms of service acceptance

Password Strength Indicator

The registration form includes a client-side password strength meter that scores passwords on five criteria:

Criterion	Score
At least 8 characters	+1
Contains uppercase letter	+1
Contains lowercase letter	+1
Contains digit	+1
Contains special character	+1

Score	Label
0-1	Too weak
2	Weak
3	Fair
4	Good
5	Strong

The server-side password check (isPasswordStrong) performs its own validation independently of the client-side indicator.

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Feature Flags

ENABLE_REGISTRATION / ENABLE_PARTNER_REGISTRATION

Partner self-registration is controlled by an environment variable that can be set on both the API and the frontend.

API (Server-side)

The API reads ENABLE_REGISTRATION from the environment using the envFlag utility. When set to false, both POST /auth/register and POST /auth/register-partner return:

{
  "error": "Registration is currently disabled",
  "code": "REGISTRATION_DISABLED"
}

Default: true (registration is enabled unless explicitly disabled).

# Disable registration
ENABLE_REGISTRATION=false

# Enable registration (default)
ENABLE_REGISTRATION=true

Accepted truthy values: 1, true, yes, on Accepted falsy values: 0, false, no, off

Frontend (Client-side)

The frontend reads PUBLIC_ENABLE_REGISTRATION via Astro’s import.meta.env. When false, the /register-partner page issues a 302 redirect to /login?reason=registration-disabled before the page even renders.

# Disable registration on the frontend
PUBLIC_ENABLE_REGISTRATION=false

Default: true.

The login page also conditionally shows or hides the “Register” link based on this flag.

Note

Both the API and frontend flags should be set consistently. If the frontend allows access to the registration page but the API has registration disabled, the user will see the form but receive an error on submission. Set ENABLE_REGISTRATION=false on the API and PUBLIC_ENABLE_REGISTRATION=false on the frontend for a clean experience.

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Managing Partners

Creating Partners (System Scope)

System-scoped users can create partners directly via the API. This bypasses self-registration and allows setting fields that self-registration does not expose (type, plan, device limits).

curl -X POST https://breeze.example.com/api/v1/orgs/partners \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <system-token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Acme MSP",
    "slug": "acme-msp",
    "type": "msp",
    "plan": "pro",
    "maxOrganizations": 50,
    "maxDevices": 5000,
    "billingEmail": "[email protected]"
  }'

Partner Fields

Field	Type	Description
id	uuid	Auto-generated primary key
name	varchar(255)	Display name. Required
slug	varchar(100)	URL-safe unique identifier. Required
type	enum	msp, enterprise, or internal. Default: msp
plan	enum	free, pro, enterprise, or unlimited. Default: free
maxOrganizations	integer	Optional cap on organization count
maxDevices	integer	Optional cap on total devices across all organizations
settings	jsonb	Partner-level settings (timezone, business hours, contact info)
ssoConfig	jsonb	SSO configuration
billingEmail	varchar(255)	Billing contact email
createdAt	timestamp	Record creation time
updatedAt	timestamp	Last modification time
deletedAt	timestamp	Soft-delete marker. Null when active

Updating Partner Settings (Self-Service)

Partner-scoped users can update their own partner’s name, billing email, and settings via the /partners/me endpoint. Settings are merged on update — only the keys included in the request are overwritten.

curl -X PATCH https://breeze.example.com/api/v1/orgs/partners/me \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <partner-token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Acme IT Services",
    "settings": {
      "timezone": "America/Chicago",
      "businessHours": { "preset": "business" },
      "contact": {
        "name": "Jane Doe",
        "email": "[email protected]"
      }
    }
  }'

Soft Deleting a Partner

Partners use soft deletes. When deleted via DELETE /partners/:id, the deletedAt timestamp is set. The partner and its data remain in the database but are excluded from all queries.

Caution

Soft-deleting a partner does not cascade to its organizations, sites, or devices. Those records remain active in the database. Clean them up separately before or after deleting the partner.

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Partner User Association

Users are linked to partners through the partner_users join table. Each record contains:

Field	Type	Description
partnerId	uuid	FK to the partner
userId	uuid	FK to the user
roleId	uuid	FK to a role (determines permissions)
orgAccess	enum	all, selected, or none
orgIds	uuid[]	Array of organization IDs when orgAccess is selected

When a user authenticates, the API resolves their token context by looking up the partner_users record. The JWT includes the partnerId, scope: partner, and the roleId. The orgAccess and orgIds fields are used at query time to filter which organizations the user can access.

Inviting Users to a Partner

Partner admins can invite users via the user management endpoints. Invited users receive an email with an invite link that leads to a password-setting form. Upon acceptance, the user is associated with the partner via partner_users with the specified role and organization access level.

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API Reference

Self-Registration

Method	Path	Auth	Description
POST	/auth/register-partner	None	Self-service partner registration. Rate limited to 3/IP/hour

Request body:

{
  "companyName": "Acme IT Services",
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "password": "securePassword123!",
  "name": "Jane Doe",
  "acceptTerms": true
}

Success response (201):

{
  "user": {
    "id": "uuid",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "Jane Doe",
    "mfaEnabled": false
  },
  "partner": {
    "id": "uuid",
    "name": "Acme IT Services",
    "slug": "acme-it-services"
  },
  "tokens": {
    "accessToken": "eyJ...",
    "expiresInSeconds": 900
  },
  "mfaRequired": false
}

Error responses:

Status	Condition
400	Validation error (weak password, missing required fields, terms not accepted)
429	Rate limit exceeded (3 attempts per IP per hour)
503	Redis unavailable (rate limiter cannot function)

Partner Administration (System Scope)

Method	Path	Description
GET	/orgs/partners	List all partners. Supports page and limit query params (default 50, max 100)
POST	/orgs/partners	Create a new partner
GET	/orgs/partners/:id	Get partner by ID. Returns 404 if not found or soft-deleted
PATCH	/orgs/partners/:id	Update partner fields. Returns 400 if no fields provided
DELETE	/orgs/partners/:id	Soft-delete partner. Sets deletedAt

Partner Self-Service (Partner Scope)

Method	Path	Description
GET	/orgs/partners/me	Get the authenticated user’s partner details
PATCH	/orgs/partners/me	Update partner name, billing email, or settings (merged, not replaced)

Organization Management (Partner Scope)

Method	Path	Description
GET	/orgs/organizations	List organizations accessible to the partner user. Supports pagination
POST	/orgs/organizations	Create a new organization under the user’s partner
GET	/orgs/organizations/:id	Get organization by ID (access-controlled)
PATCH	/orgs/organizations/:id	Update organization fields
DELETE	/orgs/organizations/:id	Soft-delete organization

Note

All partner and organization endpoints require JWT authentication. Organization endpoints enforce access control based on the user’s orgAccess level. Partner-scoped users with orgAccess: none will receive empty results from organization list endpoints.

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Security Considerations

Rate Limiting

Partner registration is rate-limited to 3 attempts per IP address per hour using the Redis-backed sliding window rate limiter. This is stricter than the general user registration limit (5 attempts per IP per hour). The rate limit key is derived from the client IP address extracted from the X-Forwarded-For header or the direct connection IP.

Email Enumeration Prevention

When a registration request uses an email that already exists, the API returns a generic success-like response rather than an explicit “email already exists” error:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "If registration can proceed, you will receive next steps shortly."
}

This prevents attackers from using the registration endpoint to enumerate valid email addresses.

Slug Collision Handling

Partner slugs must be unique. The registration flow automatically appends a numeric suffix (-1, -2, etc.) if the generated slug already exists. This process attempts up to 100 suffixes before returning a 500 error. Slugs are capped at 50 characters from the base company name before the suffix.

Cleanup on Failure

If user creation fails after the partner and role records have been inserted, the API manually deletes the orphaned role and partner records. This is not wrapped in a database transaction, so in edge cases (e.g., the cleanup query itself fails), orphaned records may remain.

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Troubleshooting

Registration form redirects to /login?reason=registration-disabled. The PUBLIC_ENABLE_REGISTRATION environment variable is set to false on the frontend. To enable registration, set PUBLIC_ENABLE_REGISTRATION=true in the frontend environment and restart the web server. Also verify that the API has ENABLE_REGISTRATION=true (or unset, since the default is true).

“Too many registration attempts. Try again later.” (429). The rate limiter has blocked the IP address after 3 registration attempts within one hour. Wait for the rate limit window to expire, or use a different IP address for testing. In production, verify Redis is running — if Redis is down, the endpoint returns 503 instead.

Registration succeeds but user cannot access any organizations. After self-registration, the partner has no organizations yet. The admin user is created with orgAccess: all, but there are no organizations to access. Create the first organization via POST /orgs/organizations or through the setup wizard.

“Unable to generate unique company identifier” (500). The slug generation exhausted 100 suffix attempts. This happens if many partners have been registered with very similar names. Provide a more distinctive company name, or create the partner manually via the system API with an explicit slug.

Partner not appearing in the partner list. Only system-scoped users can list all partners via GET /orgs/partners. Partner-scoped users cannot see other partners. Verify the user has scope: system in their JWT. Also check whether the partner was soft-deleted — soft-deleted partners are excluded from all list queries.

“Service temporarily unavailable” (503) during registration. Redis is not accessible. The rate limiter requires Redis to function. Check that Redis is running and the REDIS_URL environment variable is correctly configured on the API server.

Self-registered partner has free plan and msp type. This is the default behavior. Self-registration always creates partners with type: msp and plan: free. To change the plan or type, a system-scoped user must update the partner via PATCH /orgs/partners/:id.

Registration link not visible on the login page. The login page conditionally renders the registration link based on the PUBLIC_ENABLE_REGISTRATION feature flag. If the flag is false or unset as false, the link is hidden. Set PUBLIC_ENABLE_REGISTRATION=true to show it.