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Connect your HR system

This guide is for Mesh administrators. You'll add the unified HRIS connector, authorize Mesh inside your HR provider, and confirm the connector starts syncing.

One connector covers every supported HR platform — see HR system connectors for the list. There is nothing to install per provider.

There are two ways in — System configurations and the AI assistant. Both run the same flow and produce the same connector, so use whichever you prefer.

About the screenshots

The walkthrough below connects UKG Pro as a worked example. Everything on the Mesh side is the same whichever provider you choose. Only the authorization screens in Step 3 differ, and those come from your HR provider — so expect different fields, not a different flow.

Before you begin​

  • A Mesh administrator account with permission to manage connectors.
  • Admin access to your HR system, or a colleague who has it. The authorization step happens inside your HR provider, not in Mesh, and you don't have to be the one who completes it — see If you don't administer the HR system.
  • For Workday, complete the Workday-side configuration first — an Integration Systems User with the right domain security policies. See Workday setup. Without it, the authorization step cannot succeed.
Data residency

If your tenant is configured for a region where HR data cannot be routed, the HRIS option is unavailable and Mesh will not start a connection. This is deliberate: Mesh blocks the setup rather than collecting data it should not route. Contact Axiad Customer Success if you believe this is applied incorrectly.

Option A — from System configurations​

Step 1 — Open the connectors list​

In the Mesh dashboard, go to System configurations > Connectors. This page lists every connector configured for your tenant, with a Status column showing whether each one is turned on and a Health column showing how it's doing.

The Connectors page under System configurations, listing connectors with Status and Health columns and the Add HRIS button top right

Step 2 — Select Add HRIS​

Select Add HRIS and give the connector a name. This is the name you'll see in the connectors table afterwards, so choose something recognizable — for example Workday — Global.

The Name your HRIS connector dialog with a connector name filled in and the Next button

Step 3 — Choose your provider and authorize​

Mesh opens a secure connection window. Pick your HR provider from the list, or type its name to narrow it down.

The Select integration window listing HR platforms as searchable tiles

The Select integration window filtered by a search term, showing three matching products

From here the window is run by your HR provider and carries its branding, not Mesh's. What you're asked for depends on the provider — typically a sign-in, or a credential you generated in the HR system. Mesh never sees your HR password; the credential is exchanged directly with your provider.

Some providers need configuration on their side before you reach this point — a service account, an API key, or specific read permissions. Check Provider setup guides for yours and complete it first.

If your provider isn't listed there, check its own administrator documentation for how to create a read-only API credential, or ask Axiad Customer Success.

If you don't administer the HR system​

Many providers require an administrator of the HR system to complete the connection. If that isn't you, you don't need to find someone to sit at your screen — the window offers a link that hands off the whole authorization.

The Administrator role required screen, with a shareable authorization URL redacted, an I am an admin button and a Close window link

  1. Copy the URL and send it to whoever administers your HR system — often the HR or IT team rather than a named person.
  2. They open it in their own browser and continue from the next step. They never sign in to Mesh and don't need a Mesh account — the link opens the authorization flow on its own.
  3. When they finish, the connector you named in Step 2 appears in your connectors list and starts syncing. There is nothing further for you to do.
Treat the link like a credential

Anyone who opens it can complete this connection, so send it over a channel you'd trust with any other setup secret.

If you do administer the HR system, select I am an admin and carry on.

Review what Mesh will read​

Before asking for credentials, the window shows exactly which record types Mesh will read — employees, employments, companies, groups and locations. Expand any entry to see the individual fields.

Access is read-only. Mesh does not write back to your HR system.

The consent screen listing the record types Mesh will have read access to, with the Next button

Provide the provider's credentials​

This is the part that varies. UKG Pro asks for three things in sequence, each with its own in-window instructions and a Stuck? See detailed instructions with screenshots link:

The Enter your API key step, with numbered instructions for finding the customer API key in UKG Pro

The Enter your service account credentials step, with username and password fields and instructions for creating the service account

The Enter your web services URL step, with instructions for locating the URL and an example of its shape

Your provider may ask for none of these and simply sign you in instead. Follow whatever the window shows.

Take your time

Some providers — Workday and UKG Pro among them — have several authorization steps. The window stays open while you work through them; Mesh doesn't cut you off partway.

Finish the connection​

The provider sets up the account, confirms what Mesh can access, and reports success.

The Setting up your account step with a progress spinner and the note that it can take a few minutes

The Success screen confirming the account is connected

The confirmation screen listing the record types Mesh can now access, each with a checkmark

Select Finish on the last screen to close the window and return to Mesh.

The final screen offering View accessible data and Relink integration, with the Finish button

Step 4 — Confirm the connector appears​

The new connector appears in the connectors table straight away, with Status Enabled and Health Initializing.

A connectors table row showing an HRIS connector with Status Enabled and Health Initializing

Option B — from the AI assistant​

Ask the Mesh AI assistant to connect your HR system — for example, "connect our Workday".

The assistant replies with an action card in the chat. Select it and the same connection window opens as in Option A. Continue from Step 3.

Step 5 — Wait for Health to reach Good​

The two columns tell you different things:

  • Status is whether the connector is turned on. A new connector is Enabled from the moment it's created.
  • Health is how it's actually doing. It reads Initializing while Mesh waits for your HR provider to confirm the connection and signal that the first sync is ready, then Good once data is flowing.

How long that takes depends on your provider and how much history it prepares — minutes for a small directory, considerably longer for a large one on its first full sync.

Initializing doesn't expire

Mesh won't fail the connector, prompt you to retry, or turn it red merely because time has passed. If it stays at Initializing far longer than your directory size explains, see Troubleshooting — don't delete and recreate it as a first move.

Step 6 — Confirm data is arriving​

Open the connector's actions menu and select View collections.

A connector row's actions menu open, showing View collections, Relink and Disable

The drawer shows when the connector last ran, when it runs next, and how many records of each type it has ingested.

The entity collection details drawer showing last run, next run, sync stage and counts of users, organizations, locations and applications

If Health reads Good but the counts stay empty after the first sync has had time to finish, see Troubleshooting.

What happens next​

  • Mesh syncs on a schedule using incremental syncs: after the first run, each sync asks your provider only for records changed since the last successful one.
  • Employment-status changes flow into your identity graph, so joiners, movers and leavers are reflected without manual work. See Employment status.