Contacts is a lightweight CRM that fills itself in as people talk to your support channels. You do not need to add anyone to get started, though you can (see Add contacts manually & import from CSV).
Automatic creation
A contact is created the first time someone reaches you through:
- Email: sending a message to your inbound address.
- AI chat: starting a conversation in your chat widget or help center.
Each later interaction updates the same contact: the last-seen date moves forward, the Inbox and Chats counters on the profile go up, and a missing name is filled in when a later message supplies one.
Verified users vs. leads
| Type | Created when | Keyed by |
|---|---|---|
| Verified user | Your widget identified the visitor through your logged-in-user identification setup | The user ID your app passed |
| Lead | The person is known only by an email address (an inbound email, or a chat where they typed an email) | The email address |
The two never blur into each other on their own: an unverified email is never attached to a verified user, even if the address matches, because anyone can type an email address. Instead the profile shows a "Possible same person" banner and you decide. See Merge a lead into a verified contact.