> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.x.build/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Contacts

> One directory for every customer, adjuster, and contact your company works with

## Working with contacts

Contacts is your company's directory: every customer, adjuster, and other person you deal with, as one record you can find, edit, and link to projects. Every [project](/platform/projects-overview) for a person points at the same record. XBuild defends that one-record-per-person rule by catching likely duplicates on create and giving admins a merge tool.

*The project page is rolling out to every account. If Home still opens on the chat box, your account hasn't switched over yet — contact [support@x.build](mailto:support@x.build) if you'd like it sooner.*

### 1. What a contact holds

| Field                        | Details                                                                                               |
| ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Name** and **company**     |                                                                                                       |
| **Role**                     | Customer, adjuster, or other                                                                          |
| **Emails and phone numbers** | As many as you need, each with a label in your own words (mobile, office, spouse); one marked primary |
| **Address**                  | The contact's own address — separate from any project's property address                              |
| **Notes**                    | Free-form                                                                                             |

### 2. Create a contact

1. Open **Contacts** in the sidebar and click **New contact** (or **Create ▾ → New contact** on Home).
2. Enter the details — a name is enough to start.
3. Save.

You can also create contacts while [creating a project](/platform/projects-overview): typing in the **Project name** field searches your contacts — pick a match to make them the customer, or choose **Create new contact**. The **Contact** chip does the same. Both use the directory's duplicate check.

### 3. How XBuild flags likely duplicates

On create, XBuild checks the email and phone number against the directory. Formatting doesn't matter — `(555) 123-4567` and `+1 555-123-4567` are the same number, and email matching ignores case.

On a match, XBuild shows the existing contact and offers to **use the existing contact**. Anything new you typed — an extra phone, a missing company name — is folded into the existing record. There is no "create a duplicate anyway" path; if two records really are different people sharing a number, give one a distinguishing email or phone.

Edits get the same check: changing a contact's email or phone to one that belongs to a *different* contact is flagged, and you're pointed at the conflicting record so you can merge instead.

### 4. Merge duplicates

You must be an XBuild Administrator to merge or delete contacts.

1. Open the contact you want to **keep**.
2. Choose the merge option and pick the duplicate to absorb.
3. Review the summary — it shows exactly what the surviving contact will hold.
4. Confirm.

The survivor gains any emails and phone numbers it lacked, every project pointing at the duplicate is repointed, and the duplicate is retired with a pointer — opening it later says it was combined and takes you to the survivor. A merge can't be undone.

### 5. Contacts on projects

Each project has a **primary contact** — the customer the job is for. Set it when creating the project; the project's client details and proposals follow it. On the project page it's the starred row in the **Client details** widget of the right rail.

A project can carry additional contacts — the spouse who signs, the adjuster, the property manager:

* **While creating the project** — once a contact is set, an **Add contact** chip appears. Each pick becomes an additional contact pill; the first contact stays primary.
* **On the project page** — open **Client details** and click **Add contact**. Leave **Set as primary contact** off to add them alongside the customer; turn it on only to replace the customer — proposals and the project header switch to that contact.

The first contact added to a project with none is always primary — the toggle is on and locked. To promote an additional contact later, open their row and choose **Make primary contact**.

Open any contact and its **Projects** card lists every project the contact is linked to.

### 6. Troubleshooting common issues

* **I created a contact and got someone else's record back.** The email or phone matched an existing contact, so XBuild reused it and merged in what you typed. If it's a different person, edit their details so they don't share an email or phone with the existing record.
* **I can't find a contact I know exists.** Search matches names, company, email, and phone — try the phone in any format. If the contact was merged away, search for the surviving record.
* **I don't see the merge or delete options.** Both are limited to XBuild Administrators — see [Members and roles](/features/members-and-roles).
* **I merged the wrong way around.** The contact you *open first* survives; the one you pick is absorbed. Nothing is lost — every email, phone, and project landed on the survivor — so edit the survivor's name and details to read the way you want.
* **I added a contact to a project and it replaced the customer.** **Set as primary contact** was on. Add the right customer back with the toggle on; the other contact stays linked as an additional contact.

For further assistance, contact XBuild Support at [support@x.build](mailto:support@x.build).