Respond to teaming requests
Send and receive teaming requests on your teaming interests, message partners anonymously, accept or decline, lock in a team, and withdraw or disband when you need to.
Open Teaming, select the teaming interest you want to work with from the Your Interests rail, then open a conversation from the Conversations panel. Teaming activity also surfaces in your GovTribe notifications under the Teaming category, including new requests, accepts, declines, withdrawals, expirations, and team lock-in or disband events.
Teaming is available to GovTribe accounts where the feature has been enabled. See Choose the right GovTribe plan for plan details.
Anonymous until a teaming request is accepted
A conversation opens as soon as a teaming request is sent, and both vendors can start messaging right away. Until the request is accepted, the other vendor sees only your AI-assisted public profile — your generated public name and summary — and not your company name, your user name, your logo, or your raw intake-question answers. When the recipient accepts, both vendors see each other's identities, and existing messages stay in the conversation with the revealed names attached.
Send a teaming request
On the opportunity's Teaming tab, GovTribe lists the prime contractors and subcontractors who have posted Open teaming interest on the same opportunity. Each card shows the other vendor's anonymous profile, a typical reply time (when GovTribe has enough activity data for the vendor), and accolade badges when the vendor is among the top 100 federal contract awardees at the opportunity's contracting agency in NAICS, PSC, or set-aside type.
To send a teaming request, click Message on the vendor's card. If you have already posted a teaming interest on this opportunity, GovTribe asks you to confirm, then opens the conversation in your Teaming page. If you have not posted yet, GovTribe walks you through creating your teaming interest first and sends the request automatically once you save.
You can only team with a vendor that has the opposite intent (prime or sub), and you cannot team with a vendor in your own GovTribe workspace.
Review a teaming request you received
A pending teaming request from another vendor appears in your Conversations panel with a They Initiated badge, and as a notification in your top-right notification center.
Open the conversation, then open Conversation Details from the chat header to see the other vendor's anonymous profile, the opportunity context, and the request's timeline.
Select a teaming partner or decline
The recipient decides whether the request moves forward. You cannot accept or decline a request you sent.
Open the request. From the Teaming page, open the teaming interest the request is attached to, then open the pending request from the Conversations list.
Review the anonymous profile. Open Conversation Details and read the other vendor's AI-assisted profile and any accolades shown.
Choose your response. Click Select as Teaming Partner to accept the request and reveal identities on both sides. Click Decline to close the request. Once declined, the same user cannot send the same request again, although a different user from their workspace could try.
When you accept, the conversation gets a Matched badge in the Conversations list. If you are a Sub accepting a request, GovTribe automatically declines your other pending requests with primes on the same opportunity, since you can only team with one prime. If you are a Prime, you can keep accepting additional subs.
Message in a teaming conversation
Both vendors can message in a teaming conversation as soon as the request is sent — messages stay anonymous (with public profile names) until the recipient accepts, then continue with revealed identities.
- Type in the composer at the bottom of the chat to send a message. New messages appear in real time and trigger a notification for the other side.
- Use the paperclip in the composer to attach files. The folder icon above the conversation opens a side panel that lists every file shared in the thread.
- Hover or tap a message you sent to edit or delete it.
- A small Read indicator appears next to your latest sent message once the other party has read it. A typing indicator shows when the other side is composing.
- Use the search icon above the conversation to find an earlier message by content. Use the filter icon to switch between They Initiated, You Initiated, and Closed conversations.
If either side later withdraws the match, the conversation becomes read-only and shows a notice such as This match was withdrawn. The conversation is now read-only. Existing messages remain visible for your records.
Withdraw a teaming request or a match
You can withdraw a pending teaming request you sent or end an accepted match from either side. Open the conversation, click Conversation Details in the chat header, and click the withdraw action at the top of the panel.
Pending teaming requests expire automatically after about five days if the recipient has not responded. The expiration clock pauses over weekend hours, so a request sent late in the week may take a little longer to expire.
Lock in a team (prime)
When you are a Prime with one or more accepted partners, you can finalize the team and add a shared team conversation alongside your existing one-on-one chats.
- Open the interest's detail page and click Manage.
- Click the current status to open Change Status, then choose Lock In Team.
- GovTribe creates a Team Conversation with you and all accepted partners, withdraws any still-pending teaming requests on the interest (their requesters are notified the request was withdrawn on lock-in), and sets the interest status to Matched.
Your accepted subs see the team conversation appear on their own teaming interest's detail page. Existing one-on-one match conversations remain accessible alongside the team conversation. The team conversation roster shows each member's vendor, role, and a "last active" indicator.
Disband a team (prime)
When you want to end a locked-in team, or close a prime interest that has accepted partners, choose Disband Team from the same Change Status menu.
Disbanding withdraws all accepted matches, notifies your partners that the team has ended, closes the team conversation, and removes your teaming interest from the opportunity's Teaming tab. Your interest moves to Withdrawn.
Hiding an interest is different from disbanding it. Hide pauses new incoming teaming requests but leaves your existing matches and conversations intact. Disband Team ends the interest and team entirely.
Leave a team or end your interest (sub)
When you are a Sub with an accepted partnership, your status changes to Matched at the moment you accept. You do not lock in a team — that decision belongs to the prime.
To leave a specific accepted partnership, open the conversation, click Conversation Details in the chat header, and click Withdraw Match. GovTribe withdraws the match, removes you from the team conversation if the prime has locked one in, posts a system message there announcing your departure, notifies the prime, and resets your teaming interest back to Open. When you are the last sub to leave a locked-in team, the team conversation also closes and the prime's interest automatically reverts to Open.
If you want to remove your teaming interest from the opportunity's Teaming tab entirely, set the status to Withdrawn from the Manage menu. This removes the interest from search and cancels any still-pending teaming requests, but it does not by itself end an already-accepted partnership — withdraw the match first if you want to leave the team.
Share private feedback on a match
GovTribe shows a private feedback widget on each accepted match. Use the thumbs-up or thumbs-down to rate how the partnership is going, and add an optional comment. Your feedback is private to you and helps GovTribe improve future teaming matches.
Track response time
On each opportunity's Teaming tab, GovTribe shows how quickly each vendor on the page typically replies to teaming activity, once that vendor has enough activity history for GovTribe to score it. A faster response time generally makes it easier to attract teaming requests, so plan time to review and respond to Teaming activity regularly.
Teaming request statuses
| Badge in the Conversations list | What it means |
|---|---|
| They Initiated | The other vendor sent the request and it is still pending your response. |
| You Initiated | You sent the request and it is still pending the recipient's response. |
| Matched | The recipient accepted the request. Identities are revealed and the conversation is active. |
| Declined | The recipient declined the request. The request is closed. |
| Withdrawn | A participant withdrew the request or the accepted match. The conversation is read-only. |
| Expired | The recipient did not accept or decline before the request expired (about five days, pausing over weekend hours). The request is closed. |
Common questions
Will other vendors see my company name before a request is accepted?
No. Your company name and logo are revealed only after the recipient of a teaming request accepts. Before then, vendors see only your AI-assisted public profile — the generated public name and summary — without your raw intake-question answers.
Why can I not accept the request I sent?
Only the recipient can accept or decline. You can withdraw your pending request from Conversation Details on the same conversation.
What happens to my conversation if the other vendor withdraws?
The conversation becomes read-only. Existing messages stay visible for your records, but no new messages can be sent on that conversation.
How do I report a problem with a conversation?
Open the chat, click the More actions menu in the chat header, and choose Report conversation. Pick a reason — harassment or abuse, spam or solicitation, misrepresentation, unresponsive, or other — and add details if you'd like. GovTribe reviews reports internally.
What is the difference between Hide, Withdraw Match, and Disband Team?
Hide pauses your teaming interest from receiving new teaming requests but leaves existing matches and conversations intact. Withdraw Match ends a single teaming request or accepted match on a specific conversation and makes that conversation read-only. Disband Team is a prime-only action that ends the entire teaming interest, releases any accepted partners, closes the team conversation, and removes the interest from the opportunity's Teaming tab.
Can I move accepted matches into my capture workflow?
Use Pursuits to track the underlying opportunity through your capture process. Teaming activity stays on the Teaming page and is separate from pursuit-stage tracking.
Related articles
- Teaming: Review how Teaming works and the statuses you will encounter.
- Create a teaming interest: Post a teaming interest on a federal contract opportunity and walk through the guided intake.
- Pursuits: Track the underlying opportunity through your team's capture process.