---
updatedAt: 2026-06-29T20:33:19.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://developer.bill.com/llms.txt
---

# Send connection request to a vendor not in the BILL Network

Send a connection request to a vendor not in the BILL Network.

BILL sends an invitation email to the provided vendor email address. When the vendor accepts the invitation and sets up a BILL account, BILL connects the vendor organization with the vendor record in your BILL organization.

**Note**:
* The vendor organization must exist before BILL can send an invitation email.
* If the vendor does not respond to a connection request for 60 days, the request expires.

See [BILL Network](https://developer.bill.com/docs/bill-network) in the Guides section for more information, sample requests, and responses.

# OpenAPI definition

```json
{
  "openapi": "3.0.1",
  "info": {
    "title": "BILL v3 API",
    "description": "BILL is a cloud-based financial operations platform for an organization's accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), and spend & expense (S&E) automation.\n\nThe BILL v3 API gives you access to the same infrastructure that powers the AP, AR, and S&E products. In addition, you can receive real-time event notifications with webhooks.\n\nThe BILL Developer Documentation is available at [developer.bill.com](https://developer.bill.com/docs/home).\n\n## Quickstart\nSign-up and generate a developer key for working with the BILL v3 API. With this key, you can build with the AP, AR, BILL network, and webhook workflows. See [Sandbox API sign up](https://developer.bill.com/docs/api-sandbox-sign-up) for more information.\n\n### Spend & Expense API\nAn API token is required for working with the Spend & Expense API. See [Authentication with Spend & Expense API token](https://developer.bill.com/docs/authentication-with-api-token) for more information.\n\n### BILL v3 API in Postman\nWith this collection, you have access to the BILL v3 API in Postman. When you save your sandbox API credentials as environment variables in Postman, you can simply refer to the variables when you are testing with the BILL v3 API. See [BILL v3 API in Postman](https://developer.bill.com/docs/bill-v3-api-in-postman) for more information.",
    "version": "1"
  },
  "servers": [
    {
      "url": "https://gateway.stage.bill.com/connect",
      "description": "sandbox"
    }
  ],
  "paths": {
    "/v3/network/invitation/vendor/{vendorId}/email": {
      "post": {
        "tags": [
          "network"
        ],
        "summary": "Send connection request to a vendor not in the BILL Network",
        "description": "Send a connection request to a vendor not in the BILL Network.\n\nBILL sends an invitation email to the provided vendor email address. When the vendor accepts the invitation and sets up a BILL account, BILL connects the vendor organization with the vendor record in your BILL organization.\n\n**Note**:\n* The vendor organization must exist before BILL can send an invitation email.\n* If the vendor does not respond to a connection request for 60 days, the request expires.\n\nSee [BILL Network](https://developer.bill.com/docs/bill-network) in the Guides section for more information, sample requests, and responses.",
        "operationId": "inviteVendorNotInBillNetwork",
        "parameters": [
          {
            "name": "sessionId",
            "in": "header",
            "schema": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "API session ID generated with `/v3/login`",
              "nullable": true,
              "example": "{{session_id}}"
            }
          },
          {
            "name": "devKey",
            "in": "header",
            "schema": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Developer key generated with your BILL developer account",
              "nullable": true,
              "example": "{{developer_key}}"
            }
          },
          {
            "name": "vendorId",
            "in": "path",
            "required": true,
            "schema": {
              "minLength": 1,
              "type": "string",
              "description": "BILL-generated ID of the vendor record in your organization. The value begins with `009`.",
              "example": "{{vendor_id}}"
            }
          }
        ],
        "requestBody": {
          "content": {
            "application/json": {
              "schema": {
                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/InviteVendorNotInBillNetworkRequestDto"
              }
            }
          },
          "required": true
        },
        "responses": {
          "200": {
            "description": "Send connection request to a vendor not in the BILL Network response"
          },
          "4XX": {
            "description": "List of errors.",
            "content": {
              "application/json": {
                "schema": {
                  "type": "array",
                  "items": {
                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/BdcError"
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          },
          "5XX": {
            "description": "List of errors.",
            "content": {
              "application/json": {
                "schema": {
                  "type": "array",
                  "items": {
                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/BdcError"
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "components": {
    "schemas": {
      "BdcError": {
        "required": [
          "category",
          "code",
          "severity",
          "timestamp"
        ],
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "timestamp": {
            "type": "string",
            "format": "date-time"
          },
          "code": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "severity": {
            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Severity"
          },
          "category": {
            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Category"
          },
          "message": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "params": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Param"
            }
          },
          "detail": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "help": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        }
      },
      "Category": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "REQUEST",
          "APPLICATION",
          "SERVER",
          "DOWNSTREAM"
        ]
      },
      "InviteVendorNotInBillNetworkRequestDto": {
        "required": [
          "email"
        ],
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "email": {
            "minLength": 1,
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Vendor email address"
          }
        },
        "description": "Invite a vendor not in BILL network",
        "example": {
          "email": "{{vendor_email}}"
        }
      },
      "Param": {
        "required": [
          "name",
          "value"
        ],
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "additional": {
            "type": "object",
            "additionalProperties": {
              "type": "string"
            }
          },
          "name": {
            "minLength": 1,
            "type": "string"
          },
          "value": {
            "minLength": 1,
            "type": "string"
          }
        }
      },
      "Severity": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "ERROR",
          "WARNING",
          "INFORMATION"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}
```