---
title: "Contacts: your customer list (CRM)"
description: "Contacts holds everyone who signs up, chats, texts or calls, with filters, notes, CSV export and follow-up enrollment."
canonical: "https://www.buildy.ai/docs/agents/contacts"
last_updated: "2026-10-28"
---

# Contacts: your customer list (CRM)

**Contacts** is your customer list. People are added automatically when they fill in a form, sign up in your app, chat on your website, or text or call your Business Phone Number. You can also add them by hand.

## Find your way around

- **Search** by name, email or tag.
- **Stages** filter by Subscribers, Leads, Customers, Churned or Unsubscribed.
- **Tags** and **Source** narrow the list further. Sources include Website, Text agent (website chat), Phone call, Text message, App signup, Manual and Import.
- Click a contact to open it. Edit any field, add notes and tags, and see which sequences they are in.
- The **Calls** tab lists calls to and from your Business Phone Number. Call summaries and transcripts show on the Max and Agency plans.

## Handle requests from your receptionist

An orange dot beside **Contacts** means a receptionist request needs attention. Open **Contacts > Needs attention** to see who needs help, their request, when it arrived, and whether it came from text or voice.

1. Click **View conversation** to read the chat or call. Call summaries and transcripts need Max or Agency. The saved request is visible on every paid plan.
2. Click the person's name to open their contact and reach out.
3. When you finish, click **Mark handled**. The request moves to **Handled requests**.

Opening a contact, reading a conversation, or clearing a bell notification does not mark the request handled. The orange dot clears when no requests remain. New requests from the same contact appear separately.

Older saved receptionist messages also appear here until you mark them handled. Ordinary chats and contact updates do not enter this list.

## Add a contact by hand

1. Click **Add Contact**.
2. Enter a name and an email or phone number. Pick a stage. Add tags by typing and pressing Enter.
3. Click **Add Contact**.

## See saved activity details

Open **Contacts**, select a person, and find the event in **Updates**. Click **View details** to see its saved fields. Empty fields do not appear. Refresh the contact to see details added later.

## Reach out to one person

Open the contact and use **Call**, **Text** or **Email** under "Reach out to". Call and Text need a [Business Phone Number](/docs/agents/business-phone-number) and a paid plan. Calls show on the contact. On Max and Agency you also see the call summary and transcript.

## Work with many contacts

Tick the boxes next to contacts, then:

- **Export** downloads a CSV with name, email, phone, stage, tags, source and date.
- **Add to sequence** puts them into a follow-up sequence.
- **Delete** removes them for good.

## Common problems

### "A contact with this email already exists"

Search for the email and edit that contact instead.

### I want to import a list from another tool

There is no CSV import for contacts. Ask Buildy in chat: "Import these contacts" and attach the CSV. Buildy adds them for you.

### A form entry did not create a contact

Check the form in your site: it needs at least an email or a phone field. Ask Buildy: "Make sure the contact form saves every entry to Contacts."

## Related

- [Add forms and capture leads](/docs/build/add-forms-and-capture-leads)
- [Set up follow-ups](/docs/agents/follow-ups)
- [Set up your AI Receptionist](/docs/agents/ai-receptionist)
- [Send email and SMS broadcasts](/docs/marketing/email-sms-broadcasts)