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

# Add a customer profile

> Create a basic customer contact, understand email matching, and recognize the current dashboard editing limitations.

Use **Browse → Customers → Add Customer** to create a basic contact before a conversation exists. Owners, Admins, and Agents can create customers; Viewers cannot save new customers.

## Add a basic contact

1. Search the directory by name or email first, to avoid creating a duplicate.
2. Select **Add Customer**.
3. Enter the required **Name**.
4. Enter the customer's **Email** and **Phone** if known. Use contact details the customer has provided or your team has established.
5. Select **Add Customer** to save.
6. Search for the saved profile and check its basic contact details. Refresh the page if the directory has not updated.

Adding a profile does not send a message or create a conversation. Open or create a conversation separately when you are ready to contact the customer.

## Understand matching

When an active customer already has the same email address, this flow reuses that record instead of deliberately creating another one. It is not a general-purpose edit operation: existing contact details are not overwritten simply by submitting the same email with different values.

Without an email, each successful creation can produce a separate record. If the result is unclear after a connection error, check the directory before submitting again.

## Current form limitations

The current dashboard save path supports name, email, and phone for basic creation. Although the form also displays Company, Timezone, Language, External ID, and Tags, those extra values are not saved through this path. Existing records may show information supplied through other supported data paths.

The current **Edit** form is not a reliable way to update an existing profile: it uses the same email-based creation flow instead of targeting the customer record. Do not use it to change a customer's identity or contact details. Ask your administrator or Protodesk support for help with corrections until a supported editing flow is available.

Changing a customer's contact identity, merging records, and deleting a customer are different operations. Do not create a second profile or delete the first one as a workaround for editing.


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