Building B2b

Building B2B / EDI Integrations

B2B Manager is Celigo's EDI hub for exchanging structured business documents with trading partners. It handles X12 (ANSI) and EDIFACT (UN) standards over FTP, AS2, and VAN connections.

An EDI integration has these Celigo-specific components:

• Trading partner connector -- a pre-built template (590+) defining the connection type, EDI profile defaults, and export/import field requirements for a specific trading partner
• EDI profile -- interchange envelope settings (ISA/GS for X12, UNB for EDIFACT) that identify sender/receiver and control document versioning
• File definition -- parsing and generation rules that describe the segment/element structure of a specific EDI document type (e.g. Costco 850, Walmart 856)
• Connection -- FTP, AS2, or VAN credentials for the trading partner's EDI endpoint
• Exports and imports -- file-based data sources/destinations that use file definitions to parse inbound EDI or generate outbound EDI
• Flows -- pipelines wiring exports and imports together with transformations

EDI Standards

X12 (ANSI ASC X12) -- North American standard. Documents are transaction sets identified by 3-digit codes (850 = PO, 810 = Invoice, 856 = ASN, 997 = FA, 855 = PO Ack, 846 = Inventory, 860 = PO Change). 50+ additional types supported including healthcare (834/835/837), transportation (204/210/214), and supply chain (753/843/861). Envelope: ISA → GS → ST → segments → SE → GE → IEA. Versions: 4010, 5010, 4030, etc.

EDIFACT (UN/EDIFACT) -- International standard. Documents are messages identified by 6-letter codes (ORDERS, INVOIC, DESADV, ORDRSP, RECADV, INVRPT, PRICAT, CONTRL). Additional messages: INSDES, OSTRPT, PARTIN, DELJIT, PRODAT, DELFOR, SLSRPT. Envelope: UNB → UNH → segments → UNT → UNZ. Versions: D93A, D96A, D01B, etc.

Quick Reference

Resource Decision Matrix

| Task | Resource | CLI command | Schema | |---|---|---|---| | Discover partner templates | Trading partner connector | tp-connectors list | [tp-connector-request.yml](references/schemas/tp-connector-request.yml) | | Define interchange envelope | EDI profile | edi-profiles create | [edi-profile-request.yml](references/schemas/edi-profile-request.yml) | | Define document parsing/generation | File definition | file-definitions create | [file-definition-request.yml](references/schemas/file-definition-request.yml) | | Monitor document exchange | EDI transaction | edi-transactions list | [edi-transaction.yml](references/schemas/edi-transaction.yml) | | Connect to partner endpoint | Connection (FTP/AS2/VAN) | connections create | See configuring-connections |

Minimum Required Fields

| Resource | Required | |---|---| | EDI profile (X12) | name, fileType: "edix12", tpInterchangeId, myInterchangeId, tpIdQualifier, myIdQualifier, tpGroupId, myGroupId, isa12 (version), gs07, gs08 | | EDI profile (EDIFACT) | name, fileType: "edifact", unb010_0001, unb010_0002, versionNumber, releaseNumber, controllingAgency | | File definition | name, version: "2", format (e.g. delimited/x12), delimited block (rowSuffix, colDelimiter), rules[] |

Schema Index

• [edi-profile-request.yml](references/schemas/edi-profile-request.yml) -- X12 ISA/GS and EDIFACT UNB fields
• [file-definition-request.yml](references/schemas/file-definition-request.yml) -- format, delimiters, rules structure
• [edi-transaction.yml](references/schemas/edi-transaction.yml) -- transaction query response shape
• [tp-connector-request.yml](references/schemas/tp-connector-request.yml) -- connector and supportedBy sections
• [tp-supported-by-section.yml](references/schemas/tp-supported-by-section.yml) -- connection, profile, export/import pre-configuration

Related Skills

• [configuring-connections > Quick Reference](../configuring-connections/SKILL.md#quick-reference) -- FTP, AS2, and VAN connection types for trading partner endpoints
• [configuring-exports > Quick Reference](../configuring-exports/SKILL.md#quick-reference) -- file-based exports that parse inbound EDI using file definitions
• [configuring-imports > Quick Reference](../configuring-imports/SKILL.md#quick-reference) -- file-based imports that generate outbound EDI using file definitions
• [building-flows > How to Build a Flow](../building-flows/SKILL.md#how-to-build-a-flow) -- wiring EDI exports and imports into flow pipelines
• [writing-scripts > Quick Reference](../writing-scripts/SKILL.md#quick-reference) -- preSavePage/postMap hooks for EDI record transformation and validation

How to Build an EDI Integration

1. Find the trading partner connector

Trading partner connectors are pre-built templates (590+) that define connection type, EDI profile defaults, and export/import config for a specific partner.

celigo tp-connectors list
celigo tp-connectors get 

The connector's supportedBy object tells you what's pre-configured and what the user must provide for the connection, EDI profile, and exports/imports. See [tp-supported-by-section.yml](references/schemas/tp-supported-by-section.yml) for the full structure.

If no connector exists, build the connection, EDI profile, and file definitions from scratch.

2. Check for existing resources

Before creating anything, check what the account already has. EDI profiles are per-partner (one profile covers all document types), so duplicates waste control number sequences.

celigo account search ""
celigo edi-profiles list | grep -i ""
celigo file-definitions list | grep -i ""
celigo connections list | grep -i ""

3. Create the connection

Create an FTP, AS2, or VAN connection for the trading partner. Use the connector's supportedBy.connection for pre-configured fields. See [configuring-connections](../configuring-connections/SKILL.md) for full connection setup.

celigo connections create 

4. Create the EDI profile

The EDI profile defines the interchange envelope -- ISA/GS segments (X12) or UNB segment (EDIFACT). Read [edi-profile-request.yml](references/schemas/edi-profile-request.yml) for all fields.

Key X12 fields: tpInterchangeId/myInterchangeId (ISA06/ISA08), tpIdQualifier/myIdQualifier (ISA05/ISA07, e.g. ZZ = mutually defined), isa12 (version, e.g. 00401), isa15 (P = production, T = test), controlNumber (auto-incremented).

celigo edi-profiles create 
celigo edi-profiles create   = [= ...]
celigo edi-profiles delete 

File Definitions

celigo file-definitions list
celigo file-definitions get 
celigo file-definitions create   = [= ...]
celigo file-definitions delete 

Trading Partner Connectors

celigo tp-connectors list
celigo tp-connectors get 
celigo tp-connectors list

EDI Transactions

celigo edi-transactions list
celigo edi-transactions list --file-type EDIFACT
celigo edi-transactions list --start-date  --end-date 
celigo edi-transactions list --limit 

Downloading EDI Files

celigo jobs download-files 
celigo jobs download-files  --file-id  -o output.edi

Pre-Submit Checklist

• [ ] EDI profile uses correct fileType (edix12 or edifact) -- immutable after creation
• [ ] ISA IDs padded correctly (15 chars, right-padded with spaces)
• [ ] File definition format matches standard (delimited/x12 or delimited/edifact)
• [ ] File definition globalId references the correct standard template -- immutable after creation
• [ ] Inbound exports do NOT use type: "blob" (skips parsing)
• [ ] controlNumber starts at 1 unless the partner requires a specific sequence
• [ ] Exports/imports reference both _fileDefinitionId and _ediProfileId

Gotchas

1. EDI profiles are per-partner, not per-document-type. One profile covers all document types for a given partner. Search by partner name, not document type.
2. ISA IDs are right-padded to 15 characters. The API returns them padded; trimming is the caller's responsibility.
3. fileType and globalId are immutable after creation. Create a new resource if you need a different standard or template.
4. File definitions differ by trading partner. A Costco 850 and a Walmart 850 have different structures. Always use the correct partner-specific definition.
5. Inbound vs outbound definitions are different. Parsing and generation rules for the same document type are not interchangeable.
6. Do not set file.type: "filedefinition" without a valid _fileDefinitionId. Create without the file property and link afterward.
7. FTP/AS2 exports must not use type: "blob" for EDI. Blob mode skips parsing -- omit the type field so the file definition parser runs.
8. controlNumber auto-increments. Don't reset unless the partner requires it; duplicates cause rejections.
9. 997 FAs are tracked per-transaction via faStatus. Auto-generate with file.faAcknowledgement: true on the inbound export.
10. EDI transactions require an EDI license. edi-transactions list only works for accounts with B2B Manager enabled.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: celigo
• Source: celigo/ai
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.