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Overview

To authenticate with CDW, you need a Subscription Key. CDW’s API Management developer portal is self-serve — anyone can create an account, subscribe to a product, and generate a key.

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Prerequisites

  • You must sign up for a CDW API Management developer portal account (open to anyone) and subscribe to the product(s) you need.

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Instructions

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Step 1: Creating a developer portal account

  1. Go to the CDW API Management developer portal and sign up for an account.
  2. Once approved, sign in.

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Step 2: Subscribing to a product and generating a subscription key

  1. Go to Products and open the product you need (for example, Customers, which includes the Customer Order API).
  2. Click Subscribe and give the subscription a name.
  3. Go to your Profile. Under Subscriptions, find the subscription you just created, click the … menu, and select Show keys.
  4. Copy the Primary key (or Secondary key — either works as the subscription key).
CDW automatically rotates subscription keys every 30 days. If your Nango connection starts failing with an authentication error, sign back in to the developer portal, retrieve the new key from your profile, and update the connection.

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Step 3: Choosing your Base URL

Choose the Base URL that matches where you created your product subscription:
  • apiconnect.cdw.com/b2b is CDW’s production gateway. Use it for live subscriptions and real orders.
  • apiconnect.preprod.cdw.com/pprd/b2b is CDW’s PreProd sandbox. It has separate products, subscriptions, and keys, so only use it if you subscribed through PreProd.

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Step 4: Enter credentials in the Connect UI

Once you have your Subscription Key:
  1. Open the form where you need to authenticate with CDW.
  2. Enter your Subscription Key in the field provided.
  3. Select the Environment that matches the Base URL described above.
  4. Submit the form, and you should be successfully authenticated.
You are now connected to CDW.