Table of contents
Contacts are the individual people you work with — the person at a client company who signs proposals, the billing contact who receives invoices, or the day-to-day liaison you email most often. In Cone, contacts live in their own directory and can be linked to one or more clients.
Contacts list
The contacts table shows all contacts in your firm. Each row displays the contact's avatar and display name, alias (if set), linked clients, phone, and email.
Linked clients are shown as stacked avatar pills — up to three are visible, with a +N badge for the rest. Click any pill to preview that client. Use the Search contact bar to filter by name, email, or alias. All columns are sortable.
Row actions
Hover over any row to reveal two controls in the Contact name column:
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Pencil icon — opens the edit modal directly
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Three-dot menu — reveals additional actions:
- Compose email — opens the email composer pre-filled with this contact's address (only shown if an email integration is connected)
- Create a deal — navigates to deal creation with this contact pre-selected
- Link to a client — opens a dialog to associate this contact with a client
- Delete contact — initiates the delete flow
Contact quick view
Click anywhere on a contact row to open the quick view panel on the right. This gives you a full summary without leaving the contacts list:
- Basic details — name, email, phone
- Linked clients — each client this contact belongs to. Click a client name to open the client info panel
- Custom fields — all custom field values. Click the edit button to update them inline
- Client portal — toggle to enable or disable portal access. Enabling sends an invitation email to the contact
Creating a contact
Click Create contact in the top right of the Contacts page. Fill in the details across two steps:
Step 1 - Basics
- First name and Last name (required)
- Middle name (optional)
- Alias — a preferred display name that overrides first/last name throughout Cone
- Email (required, must be unique within your firm)
- Phone number with country code selector
- Linked clients — optionally link this contact to one or more clients right away
Step 2 - Custom fields
If your firm has configured custom fields for contacts (under Settings → Custom Fields), they appear here. Fill in any relevant values and click Save.
Merging contacts
If you have duplicate contact records, you can merge them into one. Select two or more contacts using the checkboxes — the Create contact button changes to Merge contacts. Click it to begin.
Cone checks whether a merge is possible:
- If merging is possible — a modal shows both contacts side by side. Choose which record to keep as the primary. All client links, proposals, and deals from the other contact are reassigned to the primary, and the duplicate is deactivated.
- If merging is not possible — a conflict dialog explains why (for example, both contacts are the primary contact for the same client). Resolve the conflict first, then retry.
Deleting a contact
Select Delete contact from the row action menu or the quick view. Cone runs a check first:
- No dependencies — a simple confirmation dialog. Confirm to delete.
- Has draft proposals, deals, or is a primary contact — a reassign dialog appears. You must choose a replacement contact for each linked item before the deletion can proceed.
- Has active proposals or active client requests — deletion is blocked. Archive or complete those items first, then delete.
Client portal access
Contacts can be granted access to your client portal so they can view and sign proposals, submit forms, and access shared files. To enable access, open the contact quick view and toggle on Client portal access. An invitation email is sent automatically to the contact's email address.
To disable access, toggle it off in the quick view. The contact loses access immediately.