Quick Start: B2B Platform Setup

Build a B2B platform with organization hierarchies, team management, custom branding per client, and usage tracking.

Time Estimate: 20-25 minutes Difficulty: Intermediate Prerequisites: Docker Desktop, basic understanding of multi-tenancy

Note: As of v0.9.6, commands have been consolidated. This guide uses the new v1.0 command structure:

nself org → nself tenant org

nself whitelabel → nself dev whitelabel

nself env → nself config env

What You'll Build

A complete B2B platform with:

Organization hierarchies (parent/child accounts)
Team management with roles & permissions
Custom branding per organization
Usage tracking and billing per organization
Admin dashboard for platform management

B2B Architecture:
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Platform (Your Company)          │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ┌────────────┐  ┌────────────┐         │
│  │  Client A  │  │  Client B  │         │
│  │  (Acme)    │  │  (TechCo)  │         │
│  ├────────────┤  ├────────────┤         │
│  │ • Team 1   │  │ • Team 1   │         │
│  │ • Team 2   │  │ • Team 2   │         │
│  └────────────┘  └────────────┘         │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘

Step 1: Install nself (2 minutes)

curl -sSL https://install.nself.org | bash
nself version

Step 2: Create B2B Project (3 minutes)

Initialize with B2B template

mkdir my-b2b-platform && cd my-b2b-platform
nself init --template b2b

Template includes:

Organization hierarchy schema
Team & member management
Role-based permissions
Usage tracking tables
Billing per organization

Review generated schema

cat schema.dbml

Key tables:

Table organizations {
  id uuid [pk]
  parent_id uuid [ref: > organizations.id]  // For hierarchies
  name varchar
  slug varchar [unique]
  plan varchar
  status organization_status
  settings jsonb
  created_at timestamp
}

Table organization_members {
  id uuid [pk]
  organization_id uuid [ref: > organizations.id]
  user_id uuid [ref: > users.id]
  role member_role
  permissions jsonb
  invited_by uuid
  joined_at timestamp
}

Table teams {
  id uuid [pk]
  organization_id uuid [ref: > organizations.id]
  name varchar
  description text
  settings jsonb
}

Table team_members {
  id uuid [pk]
  team_id uuid [ref: > teams.id]
  user_id uuid [ref: > users.id]
  role team_role
  added_at timestamp
}

Table organization_usage {
  id uuid [pk]
  organization_id uuid [ref: > organizations.id]
  metric_name varchar
  quantity integer
  timestamp timestamp
  metadata jsonb
}

Table organization_settings {
  organization_id uuid [pk, ref: - organizations.id]
  branding jsonb
  features jsonb
  limits jsonb
  notifications jsonb
}

Step 3: Build and Start (2 minutes)

nself build
nself start

Apply schema

nself db schema apply schema.dbml

Step 4: Configure Organization Hierarchy (3 minutes)

Create parent organizations (your clients)

Using Hasura console (https://api.local.nself.org):

mutation CreateParentOrg {
  insert_organizations(objects: [
    {
      name: "Acme Corporation"
      slug: "acme"
      parent_id: null
      plan: "enterprise"
      status: "active"
      settings: {
        allowSubOrganizations: true
        maxSubOrganizations: 10
        maxMembers: 100
      }
    },
    {
      name: "TechCo Industries"
      slug: "techco"
      parent_id: null
      plan: "business"
      status: "active"
      settings: {
        allowSubOrganizations: true
        maxSubOrganizations: 5
        maxMembers: 50
      }
    }
  ]) {
    returning {
      id
      name
      slug
    }
  }
}

Create child organizations (departments/divisions)

mutation CreateChildOrgs {
  insert_organizations(objects: [
    {
      name: "Acme Engineering"
      slug: "acme-engineering"
      parent_id: "acme-org-id-here"
      plan: "team"
      status: "active"
    },
    {
      name: "Acme Marketing"
      slug: "acme-marketing"
      parent_id: "acme-org-id-here"
      plan: "team"
      status: "active"
    }
  ]) {
    returning {
      id
      name
      parent_id
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Set Up Team Management (4 minutes)

Create teams within organizations

mutation CreateTeams {
  insert_teams(objects: [
    {
      organization_id: "acme-org-id"
      name: "Backend Team"
      description: "Backend development team"
      settings: {
        defaultRole: "developer"
        allowExternalMembers: false
      }
    },
    {
      organization_id: "acme-org-id"
      name: "Frontend Team"
      description: "Frontend development team"
      settings: {
        defaultRole: "developer"
        allowExternalMembers: false
      }
    }
  ]) {
    returning {
      id
      name
      organization_id
    }
  }
}

Add members to organizations

mutation AddOrganizationMembers {
  insert_organization_members(objects: [
    {
      organization_id: "acme-org-id"
      user_id: "user-id-1"
      role: "owner"
      permissions: {
        canInvite: true
        canRemove: true
        canManageTeams: true
        canManageBilling: true
      }
    },
    {
      organization_id: "acme-org-id"
      user_id: "user-id-2"
      role: "admin"
      permissions: {
        canInvite: true
        canRemove: false
        canManageTeams: true
        canManageBilling: false
      }
    },
    {
      organization_id: "acme-org-id"
      user_id: "user-id-3"
      role: "member"
      permissions: {
        canInvite: false
        canRemove: false
        canManageTeams: false
        canManageBilling: false
      }
    }
  ]) {
    returning {
      id
      role
      user {
        email
      }
    }
  }
}

Add members to teams

mutation AddTeamMembers {
  insert_team_members(objects: [
    {
      team_id: "backend-team-id"
      user_id: "user-id-2"
      role: "lead"
    },
    {
      team_id: "backend-team-id"
      user_id: "user-id-3"
      role: "member"
    }
  ]) {
    returning {
      id
      team {
        name
      }
      user {
        email
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 6: Configure Role-Based Permissions (4 minutes)

Define permission rules in Hasura

Access Hasura Console: https://api.local.nself.org

Organizations permissions

Table: organizations

Role: user - Can only see their own organizations

{
  "organization_members": {
    "user_id": {
      "_eq": "X-Hasura-User-Id"
    }
  }
}

Role: owner - Full access to their organization + children

{
  "_or": [
    {
      "id": {
        "_eq": "X-Hasura-Organization-Id"
      }
    },
    {
      "parent_id": {
        "_eq": "X-Hasura-Organization-Id"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Organization Members permissions

Table: organization_members

Role: owner - Can manage all members

{
  "organization_id": {
    "_eq": "X-Hasura-Organization-Id"
  }
}

Role: admin - Can view all, but limited updates

{
  "organization_id": {
    "_eq": "X-Hasura-Organization-Id"
  },
  "role": {
    "_nin": ["owner"]
  }
}

Role: member - Read-only

{
  "organization_id": {
    "_eq": "X-Hasura-Organization-Id"
  }
}

Teams permissions

Table: teams

All roles - Based on organization membership

{
  "organization": {
    "organization_members": {
      "user_id": {
        "_eq": "X-Hasura-User-Id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Test permissions

# As regular user
query GetMyOrganizations {
  organizations {
    id
    name
    role: organization_members(where: {user_id: {_eq: "X-Hasura-User-Id"}}) {
      role
      permissions
    }
  }
}

# As owner
query GetOrganizationHierarchy {
  organizations(where: {parent_id: {_is_null: true}}) {
    id
    name
    child_organizations {
      id
      name
    }
    members: organization_members {
      user {
        email
      }
      role
    }
  }
}

Step 7: Custom Branding Per Organization (3 minutes)

Install white-label system

nself dev whitelabel init

Create brand for each organization

# Brand for Acme
nself dev whitelabel branding create "Acme Corporation" \
  --tenant acme \
  --tagline "Building the future"

nself dev whitelabel branding set-colors \
  --tenant acme \
  --primary #0066cc \
  --secondary #00cc66 \
  --accent #ff6600

# Brand for TechCo
nself dev whitelabel branding create "TechCo Industries" \
  --tenant techco \
  --tagline "Technology that works"

nself dev whitelabel branding set-colors \
  --tenant techco \
  --primary #6600cc \
  --secondary #cc0066 \
  --accent #00ccff

Store branding in organization settings

mutation UpdateOrganizationBranding {
  update_organization_settings(
    where: {organization_id: {_eq: "acme-org-id"}}
    _set: {
      branding: {
        brandName: "Acme Corporation"
        tagline: "Building the future"
        colors: {
          primary: "#0066cc"
          secondary: "#00cc66"
          accent: "#ff6600"
        }
        logo: {
          main: "https://cdn.myapp.com/acme/logo-main.png"
          icon: "https://cdn.myapp.com/acme/logo-icon.png"
        }
        domain: "app.acme.com"
      }
    }
  ) {
    affected_rows
  }
}

Configure custom domains

# Add custom domain for Acme
nself dev whitelabel domain add app.acme.com --tenant acme
nself dev whitelabel domain verify app.acme.com
nself dev whitelabel domain ssl app.acme.com --auto-renew

# Add custom domain for TechCo
nself dev whitelabel domain add app.techco.com --tenant techco
nself dev whitelabel domain verify app.techco.com
nself dev whitelabel domain ssl app.techco.com --auto-renew

Step 8: Usage Tracking & Billing (3 minutes)

Track usage per organization

Example: Track API calls

mutation TrackAPICall {
  insert_organization_usage_one(object: {
    organization_id: "acme-org-id"
    metric_name: "api_calls"
    quantity: 1
    timestamp: "now()"
    metadata: {
      endpoint: "/api/v1/users"
      method: "GET"
      userId: "user-id-1"
    }
  }) {
    id
  }
}

Example: Track storage

mutation TrackStorage {
  insert_organization_usage_one(object: {
    organization_id: "acme-org-id"
    metric_name: "storage_bytes"
    quantity: 1048576  # 1 MB
    timestamp: "now()"
    metadata: {
      fileType: "image"
      fileName: "logo.png"
    }
  }) {
    id
  }
}

Query usage reports

-- Usage by organization (last 30 days)
SELECT
  o.name AS organization,
  u.metric_name,
  SUM(u.quantity) AS total_usage,
  COUNT(*) AS usage_count
FROM organization_usage u
JOIN organizations o ON u.organization_id = o.id
WHERE u.timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '30 days'
GROUP BY o.name, u.metric_name
ORDER BY total_usage DESC;

-- Top consumers
SELECT
  o.name AS organization,
  SUM(u.quantity) AS total_usage
FROM organization_usage u
JOIN organizations o ON u.organization_id = o.id
WHERE u.metric_name = 'api_calls'
  AND u.timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '7 days'
GROUP BY o.name
ORDER BY total_usage DESC
LIMIT 10;

Configure billing per organization

# Install Stripe plugin
nself plugin install stripe

Edit .env:

STRIPE_API_KEY=sk_test_PLACEHOLDER_key_here

Create subscriptions per organization:

mutation CreateSubscription {
  insert_subscriptions_one(object: {
    organization_id: "acme-org-id"
    stripe_subscription_id: "sub_xxxxx"
    plan: "enterprise"
    status: "active"
    current_period_start: "2026-01-01"
    current_period_end: "2026-02-01"
    price_amount: 9900  # $99.00
    currency: "usd"
    billing_interval: "month"
  }) {
    id
  }
}

Step 9: Admin Dashboard Setup (2 minutes)

Enable nself Admin

Edit .env:

NSELF_ADMIN_ENABLED=true

nself build && nself restart

Access admin dashboard

Open: https://admin.local.nself.org

Admin features:

View all organizations
Manage members
Track usage
View billing
Monitor health

Create admin user

-- Add admin role to user
UPDATE users
SET role = 'admin'
WHERE email = '[email protected]';

Step 10: Deploy to Production (3 minutes)

Configure production environment

nself config env create prod

Edit .env.prod:

ENV=prod
PROJECT_NAME=my-b2b-platform
BASE_DOMAIN=myplatform.com

# Production database
POSTGRES_DB=b2b_prod
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=generate-secure-password

# Live Stripe
STRIPE_API_KEY=sk_live_your_key_here

# Security
HASURA_GRAPHQL_ADMIN_SECRET=generate-secure-secret
AUTH_JWT_SECRET=generate-jwt-secret

# Multi-tenancy
TENANT_ISOLATION_ENABLED=true
TENANT_COLUMN_NAME=organization_id

Deploy

nself deploy prod

Common B2B Queries

Get organization hierarchy

query GetOrganizationTree {
  organizations(where: {parent_id: {_is_null: true}}) {
    id
    name
    plan
    child_organizations {
      id
      name
      plan
      members_aggregate {
        aggregate {
          count
        }
      }
    }
    members_aggregate {
      aggregate {
        count
      }
    }
  }
}

Get user's organizations and teams

query GetUserOrganizations($userId: uuid!) {
  organization_members(where: {user_id: {_eq: $userId}}) {
    role
    permissions
    organization {
      id
      name
      slug
      plan
      teams {
        id
        name
        team_members(where: {user_id: {_eq: $userId}}) {
          role
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Get organization usage summary

query GetOrganizationUsage($orgId: uuid!, $startDate: timestamp!, $endDate: timestamp!) {
  organization_usage_aggregate(
    where: {
      organization_id: {_eq: $orgId}
      timestamp: {_gte: $startDate, _lte: $endDate}
    }
  ) {
    aggregate {
      sum {
        quantity
      }
      count
    }
    nodes {
      metric_name
      quantity
      timestamp
    }
  }
}

Webhooks & Automation

Organization created webhook

// webhooks/organization-created.js
export async function onOrganizationCreated(organization) {
  // Create default branding
  await createBranding(organization.id, {
    brandName: organization.name,
    colors: getDefaultColors()
  });

  // Set up default teams
  await createDefaultTeams(organization.id, [
    { name: "General", isDefault: true },
    { name: "Admins", isDefault: false }
  ]);

  // Initialize usage tracking
  await initializeUsageMetrics(organization.id);

  // Send welcome email to owner
  await sendEmail(organization.owner_email, "organization-welcome", {
    organizationName: organization.name
  });
}

Member invited webhook

// webhooks/member-invited.js
export async function onMemberInvited(invitation) {
  const { email, organization, role, invitedBy } = invitation;

  // Send invitation email
  await sendEmail(email, "team-invitation", {
    organizationName: organization.name,
    role: role,
    inviterName: invitedBy.name,
    inviteUrl: generateInviteUrl(invitation.token)
  });

  // Log activity
  await logActivity(organization.id, {
    type: "member_invited",
    userId: invitedBy.id,
    targetEmail: email,
    role: role
  });
}

API Integration Examples

REST API for usage tracking

// Track usage via REST API
const trackUsage = async (organizationId, metric, quantity) => {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.myplatform.com/v1/usage', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiToken}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      organization_id: organizationId,
      metric_name: metric,
      quantity: quantity,
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
    })
  });

  return response.json();
};

// Example usage
await trackUsage('acme-org-id', 'api_calls', 1);
await trackUsage('acme-org-id', 'storage_bytes', 1048576);

GraphQL subscription for real-time updates

subscription OrganizationActivity($orgId: uuid!) {
  organization_usage(
    where: {organization_id: {_eq: $orgId}}
    order_by: {timestamp: desc}
    limit: 10
  ) {
    id
    metric_name
    quantity
    timestamp
    metadata
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Permissions not working

# Check Hasura JWT configuration
nself config show hasura | grep JWT

# Verify user session has correct claims
# Session JWT should include:
# - X-Hasura-User-Id
# - X-Hasura-Organization-Id
# - X-Hasura-Role

# Test permissions
curl -X POST https://api.myplatform.com/v1/graphql \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${JWT_TOKEN}" \
  -d '{"query": "{ organizations { id name } }"}'

Usage tracking not incrementing

# Check database connection
nself db query "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM organization_usage"

# Verify trigger exists
nself db query "
  SELECT tgname
  FROM pg_trigger
  WHERE tgname LIKE '%usage%'
"

# Check recent usage
nself db query "
  SELECT * FROM organization_usage
  ORDER BY timestamp DESC
  LIMIT 10
"

Custom domain not working

# Verify DNS
nslookup app.acme.com

# Check nginx config
nself config show nginx | grep acme.com

# Test SSL
curl -I https://app.acme.com

# Check certificate
nself auth ssl check app.acme.com

Scaling B2B Platforms

Database optimization

-- Add indexes for common queries
CREATE INDEX idx_org_members_org_id ON organization_members(organization_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_org_members_user_id ON organization_members(user_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_teams_org_id ON teams(organization_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_team_members_team_id ON team_members(team_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_usage_org_id_timestamp ON organization_usage(organization_id, timestamp DESC);

-- Partition usage table by month
CREATE TABLE organization_usage_2026_01 PARTITION OF organization_usage
FOR VALUES FROM ('2026-01-01') TO ('2026-02-01');

Caching strategy

Edit .env:

REDIS_ENABLED=true
HASURA_GRAPHQL_REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
HASURA_GRAPHQL_RATE_LIMIT={"unique_params":"IP","max_reqs_per_min":100}

Next Steps

Custom Domains Guide - Full domain setup
Stripe Integration - Advanced billing
White-Label System - Complete customization
Database Workflow - Schema management

Support

Documentation: https://docs.nself.org
GitHub: https://github.com/nself-org/cli
Discord: https://discord.gg/nself

Your B2B platform is ready! Time to onboard your first client.

QUICK START B2B - nself-org/cli GitHub Wiki

Quick Start: B2B Platform Setup

What You'll Build

Step 1: Install nself (2 minutes)

Step 2: Create B2B Project (3 minutes)

Initialize with B2B template

Review generated schema

Step 3: Build and Start (2 minutes)

Apply schema

Step 4: Configure Organization Hierarchy (3 minutes)

Create parent organizations (your clients)

Create child organizations (departments/divisions)

Step 5: Set Up Team Management (4 minutes)

Create teams within organizations

Add members to organizations

Add members to teams

Step 6: Configure Role-Based Permissions (4 minutes)

Define permission rules in Hasura

Organizations permissions

Organization Members permissions

Teams permissions

Test permissions

Step 7: Custom Branding Per Organization (3 minutes)

Install white-label system

Create brand for each organization

Store branding in organization settings

Configure custom domains

Step 8: Usage Tracking & Billing (3 minutes)

Track usage per organization

Query usage reports

Configure billing per organization

Step 9: Admin Dashboard Setup (2 minutes)

Enable nself Admin

Access admin dashboard

Create admin user

Step 10: Deploy to Production (3 minutes)

Configure production environment

Deploy

Common B2B Queries

Get organization hierarchy

Get user's organizations and teams

Get organization usage summary

Webhooks & Automation

Organization created webhook

Member invited webhook

API Integration Examples

REST API for usage tracking

GraphQL subscription for real-time updates

Troubleshooting

Permissions not working

Usage tracking not incrementing

Custom domain not working

Scaling B2B Platforms

Database optimization

Caching strategy

Next Steps

Support

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