---
title: Contacts
description: "The people your outbound campaigns call: add them one at a time or import a file, give each a source, category and tag, then filter on those."
---

A **contact** is a name, a phone number and 3 labels: **Source**, **Category** and
**Tag**. Outbound campaigns select their audience by those labels, so how you fill
them in decides how precisely you can target a campaign later. Contacts are managed
under **Contacts** in the main sidebar, at `/contacts`, and belong to the current
workspace.

## The list

The table shows every contact with **Name**, **Phone**, **Source**, **Category**,
**Tag** and **Created At**. Above it:

- **Search contacts by name or phone number** narrows the list as you type.
- **Filter** opens a small panel: pick a field (**Category**, **Tag** or
  **Source**), tick one or more values, then **Apply Filter**. **Clear Field**
  removes it.
- **Refresh contacts list** reloads after an import.
- The checkbox on each row, or **Select all contacts on this page**, switches the
  toolbar to bulk mode with **Deselect All** and **Delete _n_ selected**. When
  the list holds more contacts than you selected, **Delete** becomes a menu that
  can also delete every contact matching the active filters (or every contact);
  you confirm by typing the count.
- The row menu has **Edit** and **Delete**.

![The Filter panel on the Contacts list.](/media/deploy/contact-filter.webp)

**Source** is set for you: contacts you type in are `Manual`, imported contacts are
`file_import`. **Category** and **Tag** are yours.

## Add a contact

1. **Open the dialog**

    Choose **Add Contact**. The dialog is **Add New Contact**.

2. **Name and number**

    **First Name** and **Last Name** are required. For **Phone Number**, pick the
    country in the flag selector and type the local number, or tick **Use Custom
    Format** and type the full number with its country code, as in `+1xxxxxxxxxx`.

3. **Category and Tag**

    Both are required free text. **Category** defaults to `Lead`; the placeholders
    suggest `Customer` or `Prospect`. **Tag** is the finer label, such as `VIP` or
    `Demo Request`. Spell them consistently: the campaign wizard treats `vip` and
    `VIP` as two different tags.

4. **Metadata**

    Under **Metadata (Optional)**, **Add Field** adds a **Data Name** and **Data
    Value** pair. Metadata is what a campaign maps into the agent's
    [dynamic variables](/build/dynamic-variables): a `appointment_date` field here
    becomes `{{appointment_date}}` in the prompt.

5. **Save**

    **Save Contact**. The contact appears at the top of the list with source
    `Manual`.

![Add New Contact, with a custom-format number and one metadata field.](/media/deploy/add-contact-dialog.webp)

## Import a file

1. **Get the template**

    Choose **Import**. In **Import Contacts**, set **Template Format** to **CSV**,
    **JSON** or **JSONL** and choose **Download Template**. The template has the
    exact column names the importer expects; start from it rather than from an
    export of another system.

2. **Fill it in**

    One contact per row or record. Extra columns are kept as metadata, so a
    `plan` column becomes a `plan` field on every imported contact.

3. **Upload**

    Drag the file onto **Upload Contacts File** or choose **Select File**. Accepted
    formats are `.csv`, `.xlsx`, `.xls`, `.json` and `.jsonl`.

4. **Label and map**

    Under **Import Settings**, type a **Category Name** and a **Tag Name**; both
    are required and apply to every contact in the file. Under **Required
    Fields**, pick the column of your file for `firstname`, `lastname` and
    `phone_number` (for an Excel file, type the column name or letter). **Next**.

5. **Preview and import**

    Check the preview of the first rows. Tick **Add prefix to all imported
    contacts phone numbers** and fill in **Prefix** (such as `+1`) if your file
    has local numbers. Choose **Import Contacts**.

6. **Check the result**

    Back in the list, **Refresh contacts list**. The imported rows share the
    source `file_import` and the **Tag Name** you typed, which is the easiest
    handle for a campaign audience: one tag, one file, one campaign.

![The Import Contacts dialog with the template format selector.](/media/deploy/import-contacts-dialog.webp)

## Export

**Export Contacts** downloads your contacts at once as a CSV file,
`contacts_<date>.csv`; there is no dialog, and the search and filters are not
applied. A notification, **Export Successful**, confirms it.

## The contact page

Click a name to open `/contacts/<id>`. The page shows the number with **Edit
Contact** and **Delete**, then 4 tiles: **Total calls**, **Last call**,
**Category** and **Created At**.

- **Contact Information** repeats **Phone Number**, **Email** when there is one,
  **Category**, **Tag** and **Source**.
- **Call Logs** lists every call this contact was part of, from any campaign, with
  a **Refresh** button. It is empty until the first call.
- **Notes** holds free-form notes saved for this contact.

**Edit Contact** opens the same form as **Add New Contact** with the metadata
fields filled in, so a contact's variables can be corrected between campaigns.

![A contact's page.](/media/deploy/contact-details.webp)

## Verify

- The new contact is in the list with the **Source**, **Category** and **Tag** you
  expect, and **Filter** on that tag returns it.
- In the campaign wizard's audience step, the source or tag appears in the
  picker. A campaign's **Settings** page shows a **Contact Preview** that counts
  the contacts you meant.

## Troubleshooting

- **Next stays disabled when importing.** All 3 required fields must be mapped,
  and **Category Name** and **Tag Name** filled in.
- **The import fails.** The **Import Failed** notification carries the reason.
  Download the template for your format and compare its header row with yours.
- **A contact has a dash for Category and Tag.** It was created without them.
  Edit it; a campaign cannot select a contact that has no tag.
- **Deleting a contact did not stop its calls.** A running campaign keeps the
  numbers it selected when it started; the delete confirmation and a
  campaign's **Contact Preview** warn about this. Stop the campaign instead.

## Related

- [Audience, tags and categories](/deploy/campaigns/audience-tags-and-categories)
- [Create an outbound campaign](/deploy/campaigns/create-an-outbound-campaign)
- [Dynamic variables](/build/dynamic-variables)
- [Memory](/build/memory)