By default, devices are automatically moved to your sponsor's default estate the first time they register with the NMI backend, based on their Client or Affiliate ID (see Device onboarding process).

The Partner Code flow provides an alternative: it allows you to direct a device into a specific onboarding estate that you control. This ensures that your custom applications and configurations install automatically, without requiring the device to be tied to your specific Client or Affiliate ID.

At a high level, you prepare an onboarding estate and a permanent campaign in HEM, NMI links a Partner Code to that estate, and your end users enter the code on their device using the Partner Onboarding app.

Setting up for Partner Code onboarding

These are one-time steps you complete in HEM before distributing the code to your end users.

1. Create an onboarding estate. In Device Management, create an estate to act as your onboarding target (see Adding estates). All devices that use your Partner Code will be moved into this estate.
2. Create a permanent campaign. In the Campaigns section, create a campaign containing the application(s) and configuration required for your all-in-one integration, and assign it to your onboarding estate (see Campaign creation). Important: Enable the Permanent Campaign switch to ensure the software is installed immediately whenever a device enters the estate.
3. Share your estate ID with NMI. Provide the ID of your onboarding estate to your Account Manager. Tip: You can find the estate ID in the URL when viewing your estate in HEM — it appears as the currentEstate parameter, for example: https://<hem-address>/deviceManagement?currentEstate=12345678-0dc0-1234-a123-1234ac5a1e23
4. Receive your Partner Code. NMI will provision a Partner Code linked to your onboarding estate and return it to you. A single code maps to one estate and can be reused across all of your devices.
5. Distribute the Partner Code to your end users, along with their device.

The end-user experience

A new device is first set up using the Device Setup app, which guides the user through Wi-Fi and, optionally, Bluetooth setup, registers the device with the NMI backend, and installs the TransactionInitiatorUI and NMI Device Agent applications.

To complete partner onboarding, the user then opens the Partner Onboarding app and enters their Partner Code.

If the user enters a valid Partner Code, the device is moved into your onboarding estate and an update is triggered immediately, installing the applications from your permanent campaign. The user can exit the app without entering a code if they do not have one; the device then remains in its default estate and can be onboarded later.

If a code is entered incorrectly, the user is prompted to check it and try again. A code that is not recognised should be reported to you, so it can be confirmed against the one NMI provisioned.