Contacts
Contact Management
Contacts are the people who receive your emails. Synapse automatically creates and updates contact records when events are received from your application. Browse your contacts, view their activity timeline, and understand their engagement history.
Looking for the API? Contacts API | RFM API
How contacts are created
Contacts are created automatically when your application sends events to Synapse. Theexternal_idfield in the event maps to the contact. If a contact with that external_id already exists, it is updated. If not, a new contact is created.
You can also create contacts manually from the dashboard by clicking "Add Contact" on the Contacts page.
Test and live contacts
Contacts are fully separated between test and live environments. Contacts created via test API keys or in test mode are only visible in test mode, and contacts created via live API keys or in live mode are only visible in live mode. There is no overlap.
In test mode, contacts have a visible test badge and are the only contacts that receive emails from test flows. This prevents accidental emails to real users during development.
To create a test contact, add a contact while in test mode, or send an event using a test API key (psk_test_). Contacts cannot be cloned between environments — each environment has its own independent contact database.
Deleting contacts
You can delete a contact from the contact detail page using the dropdown menu. Synapse supports two types of deletion:
Standard delete
Soft-deletes the contact with a 30-day recovery window. The contact is hidden from lists and will not receive emails, but can be restored.
Available to users with contacts:write permission.
GDPR permanent delete
Permanently and irreversibly deletes the contact and all associated data: events, email logs, and flow trips. An audit log entry is created.
Requires settings:write permission (Admin or Owner).
Recently deleted contacts
Contacts that were soft-deleted within the last 30 days appear in the "Recently Deleted" view. From there, you can restore a contact or let it expire automatically after the 30-day recovery window.
To restore a contact, find it in the Recently Deleted list and click "Restore." The contact returns to your active list with subscription status set to "unsubscribed" — you may need to update this manually.
Contact fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| External ID | Your application's user identifier. Unique per workspace + environment. |
| Contact's email address. Required for sending emails. | |
| First Name / Last Name | Used for personalization in templates. |
| Phone | Optional phone number. |
| Timezone | Used for send-time optimization. |
| Custom Properties | Arbitrary key-value data (JSON). Use for segmentation and template variables. |
Detailed guides
Managing Contacts
Search, filter, and view contact event timelines and email history
Contact Properties
Standard fields, custom properties, and external ID mapping
RFM Analysis
Understand Recency, Frequency, and Monetary scoring for your contacts
RFM Segments
Pre-built segments based on RFM scores: Champions, At Risk, Lost, and more
Importing & Exporting
Bulk import contacts via CSV or API, and export your contact database