CRM deduplication
State: to-be-approved. Deploy-verified against a live workspace: not yet. Treat Done when
below as the acceptance test and review cargo-ai cdk plan before deploying. Make no outcome claim
for this skill until it is approved.
The outcome
Choose the account path, contact path, or both. Each selected path has its own CRM model, identity audit, matching policy, survivor policy, disabled play, cost preview, pilot approval, and acceptance criteria. Approval for one path does not authorize the other.
Path 1: Account deduplication
deduplicate_accounts searches live CRM companies by LinkedIn company ID, LinkedIn company page,
and non-generic domain. It scores the evidence, selects a deterministic survivor, and merges only
an exact shared LinkedIn company ID when there is no identity, protected-ID, or parent-subsidiary
conflict. Every other candidate reaches Cargo's native Human Review node. Company name never
creates or scores a candidate.
The default survivor policy prefers protected business IDs, customers, commercial activity, populated records, recent activity, older creation time, then the smallest CRM record ID.
Path 2: Contact deduplication
deduplicate_contacts searches live CRM contacts by LinkedIn person ID, normalized LinkedIn URL,
exact email, and exact stored phone. A second search expands the direct results into transitive
clusters using normalized identity values from retrieved records. Phone normalization also compares
records inside the cluster. The play merges automatically only on an exact LinkedIn person ID,
exact LinkedIn URL without a person-ID conflict, exact non-generic email without a LinkedIn conflict,
or a conflict-free transitive chain of those classes.
LinkedIn identity conflicts, generic or shared email, and phone-only matches never merge automatically. Low-confidence clusters reach Human Review when that path is enabled and otherwise remain untouched. The native merge is the final CRM write. Normalization, enrichment, and association changes belong in a separately approved workflow.
Shared merge contract
Both plays run directly on authoritative CRM-backed models, refresh candidates from the CRM before scoring, and stop when the queued source record is missing or no duplicate remains. Automatic and approved Human Review paths are the only merge paths. Decline or timeout leaves records separate. No candidate or staging model is created.
The checked example in infra/ is HubSpot. Salesforce and Attio adapt the connector, extractor,
record-ID field, search action, merge action, and property slugs together. Keep one CRM shape across
the selected paths.
When matching-key coverage is weak, recommend crm-enrichment before building the affected path.
That is a recommendation, not a dependency: crm-deduplication installs and operates independently.
Example
Merge duplicate HubSpot companies automatically only when the LinkedIn company ID matches, and send everything else to #crm-hygiene for a human to approve.
Illustrative output, fictional records:
#crm-hygiene · Review CRM account merge into 18234
Duplicate score: 72/100
Survivor: 18234
Records to merge: 20911
Identity conflict: false
Protected ID conflict: false
Parent/subsidiary warning: false
Evidence:
18234, linkedin id none, linkedin northwind-traders, domain northwind.example, protected no, parent none
20911, linkedin id none, linkedin northwind-traders, domain northwind.example, protected no, parent none
[Approve] [Decline]
Two records sharing a LinkedIn page and a domain, but no LinkedIn company ID, wait for a reviewer; approve merges 20911 into 18234, while decline or 24 hours of silence leaves both untouched.
Put it in your project
This folder is a worked example: real CDK resources written for another company. The job is to end with the code this company would have written in its project.
Install the required authoring skill first. If cargo-cdk is absent, run:
npx skills add getcargohq/cargo-skills --skill cargo-cdk
Read .agents/skills/cargo-cdk/SKILL.md directly after installation. Complete its bootstrap and use
its authoring, state, plan, and deployment rules throughout this pipeline.
- Install it: the CLI does the copy. From inside the CDK project,
cargo-ai cdk add cookbook/crm-deduplicationwrites this example toinfra/crm-deduplication/and this procedure to.claude/skills/crm-deduplication/. No project yet?cargo-ai cdk init <dir> --cookbook crm-deduplication && cd <dir> && npm installdoes both; this folder never ships a shell. If you are reading this from the project's.claude/skills/, the install already happened. Start at step 2. On a CLI too old to haveadd, copy this folder in as a sibling of what is there by hand; everything below is unchanged. - Choose paths and reconcile resources. Select account deduplication, contact deduplication, or
both. Remove unselected model and play files, then update the contract's exact resource inventory,
connector assertions, and object-specific assertions. Rewire each selected path to compatible CRM
resources already in the project and remove duplicate declarations. Keep each play on its
object-specific CRM model. Append environment requirements to
.env.example; preserve existing content. - Audit and approve each selected path. Follow the matching path in
references/audit.md. Present its identity coverage, candidate classes, conflicts, survivor policy, automatic class, and review destination. Stop for approval of that path's policy and disabled deployment. Approval does not carry across paths. - Adapt and deploy disabled. Follow the matching path in
references/configure.md. Record adaptations under## Decisionsin the copied skill. Run the executable contract, generated types, check, and plan. Inspect the selected graph and deploy only its approved resources withisEnabled: false. Never runcargo-ai cdk init --forcein a non-empty directory. - Hand off each path for pilot approval. Send its direct play link, exact population, current action costs, and approved policy. Stop for explicit approval of that merge-capable pilot.
- Run and report each approved path. Follow the matching path in
references/run.md, then walk its section inevals/acceptance.mdline by line.
Account path setup
Verify the live company schema, record ID, LinkedIn company properties, domain property, protected
business identifiers, parent-company property, and survivor inputs. The account audit and policy
must be approved before adapting crm_accounts or deduplicate_accounts.
Contact path setup
Verify the live contact schema, record ID, LinkedIn person properties, email, phone, association
evidence, and survivor inputs. Decide whether low-confidence clusters enter Human Review or remain
untouched. The contact audit and policy must be approved before adapting crm_contacts or
deduplicate_contacts.
Shared review setup
Resolve the default CRM connector for every selected path. Account deduplication requires Slack
Human Review. Contact deduplication requires Slack only when low-confidence review is enabled.
Replace each active PLACEHOLDER_REVIEW_CHANNEL_ID with its approved destination. If both paths use
one channel, each still needs its own approved review policy and pilot. No paid call, review request,
or CRM write occurs during either audit.
What you will be asked
Derive what can be discovered before asking the operator. Ask only for decisions that change the selected path's candidate population, merge policy, review ownership, or spend.
Shared inputs
| Input | Kind | How it is answered | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
crm_shape |
derived | Inspect authenticated connectors, selected extracts, and generated action types | Sets objects, IDs, search, merge, and property behavior |
selected_paths |
derived | Read whether the request names account deduplication, contact deduplication, or both | Sets which audits, resources, approvals, and pilots are in scope |
action_costs |
derived | Read current CRM metadata plus Slack metadata for paths with active review | Each path's handoff must disclose its current maximum cost |
Path 1: Account inputs
| Input | Kind | How it is answered | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
account_evidence |
derived | Audit company identifiers, conflicts, candidate classes, and survivor inputs | Grounds the account policy in current CRM records |
account_policy |
asked | Review keys, protected fields, survivor precedence, score, and automatic class | Controls every company candidate and unattended merge |
account_review |
asked | Select Slack channel, owner, and timeout for uncertain company clusters | Gives manual company decisions an accountable owner |
account_authorizations |
asked | Approve the disabled build, then the exact merge-capable pilot as separate decisions | Separates deployment from company-record mutation |
Path 2: Contact inputs
| Input | Kind | How it is answered | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
contact_evidence |
derived | Audit person identifiers, conflicts, candidate classes, and survivor inputs | Grounds the contact policy in current CRM records |
contact_policy |
asked | Review keys, global guards, survivor precedence, and automatic classes | Controls every person candidate and unattended merge |
contact_review |
asked | Decide whether low-confidence groups enter review; if yes, approve channel and timeout | Defines the non-automatic contact path |
contact_authorizations |
asked | Approve the disabled build, then the exact merge-capable pilot as separate decisions | Separates deployment from contact-record mutation |
What you can change
Offer only variations relevant to the selected path. Record each approved variation with its effect on candidates, safeguards, and validation.
Shared variations
| Variation | When it is right | How | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
crm |
The consumer uses Salesforce or Attio | Replace connector, extract, record ID, search, merge, and properties across selected paths | Generated types and native merge semantics must be revalidated |
structured_ai_review |
Ambiguous evidence needs a concise review aid | Add priced structured evidence before Human Review only; never use it to bypass deterministic guards | Adds model cost and a non-deterministic review surface |
Path 1: Account variations
| Variation | When it is right | How | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
account_matching_keys |
The CRM has another approved durable company identity | Add it to search, normalization, evidence, conflict gates, review, and contract tests | Wider matching can create new false-positive company classes |
account_survivor_precedence |
Protected lifecycle, billing, tier, or customer policy must win | Change the account ranker and its contract fixtures together | A policy change can select a different survivor for every cluster |
Path 2: Contact variations
| Variation | When it is right | How | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
contact_matching_keys |
The CRM has another approved durable person identity | Add it to both searches, normalization, evidence, conflict gates, review, and tests | Wider matching can create new false-positive person classes |
contact_survivor_precedence |
Commercial history or activity policy differs | Change the contact ranker and its contract fixtures together | A policy change can select a different survivor for every group |
low_confidence_review |
The operator wants phone-only or ambiguous groups surfaced | Keep Human Review enabled, or remove that branch and update the contact contract so those groups end untouched | Review volume changes; disabled review leaves more duplicates |
What should not change
Shared invariants
- Run on authoritative CRM models. (
infra/plays/) Each selected play uses its object-specific CRM extract and record ID. A candidate model introduces another identity system and can target the wrong record. - Search live CRM rows before scoring. (
infra/plays/) The CRM search refreshes candidate membership for every run. Audit snapshots can become stale before a merge. - Search, prepare, score, then decide. (
infra/scripts/) Deterministic preparation retains the fresh source once, normalizes evidence, and selects one survivor before the automatic gate. - Merge only on automatic or approved paths. (
infra/plays/) Human approval reaches the reviewed merge. Decline and timeout end without a CRM write. - Stop stale queued rows. (
infra/plays/) A source missing from the fresh search ends before scoring or emitting merge IDs. - Keep one CRM shape. Adapt HubSpot in place. Parallel CRM branches drift from the generated types connected to the selected paths.
- Keep pilots disabled, serial, and limited. (
infra/plays/) Each selected play remains disabled,noConcurrency, and limited to 15 rows until its verified pilot is approved for expansion.
Path 1: Account invariants
- Keep the automatic company class narrow. (
infra/plays/deduplicate-accounts.ts) Exact shared LinkedIn company ID, score at least 60, and no identity, protected-ID, or parent-subsidiary conflict are all required. Every other candidate reaches Human Review. - Keep names out of identity. (
infra/scripts/accounts/) Company name is excluded from candidate generation and scoring. The checked review payload does not rely on it. - Protect business identities and corporate structure. Conflicting protected IDs and parent-subsidiary clusters never merge automatically.
Path 2: Contact invariants
- Apply person guards globally. (
infra/scripts/contacts/evidence.ts) Every automatic contact class is disqualified by a LinkedIn identity conflict or generic or shared email. - Keep phone-only groups out of automatic merge. Phone is a candidate key and review aid, not sufficient unattended identity evidence.
- Expand transitive groups before deciding. (
infra/plays/deduplicate-contacts.ts) The second live search gathers every high-confidence identity key discovered by the direct search. - End after native merge. (
infra/plays/deduplicate-contacts.ts) Deduplication creates no post-merge update node. A separate approved workflow owns normalization, enrichment, and association changes.
Done when
Shared completion
- the operator selected account deduplication, contact deduplication, or both
- each selected path has its own reconciled audit, policy approval, disabled-build approval, priced pilot approval, and final report
- the selected resources use one CRM connector, a Slack connector for every path with active review, object-specific CRM models, and no candidate or staging model
- generated types confirm selected search and merge payloads plus Human Review for paths that use it
node --import tsx evals/contract.mjs,cargo-ai cdk types,cargo-ai cdk check, andcargo-ai cdk planpass after adaptation- every selected play is disabled,
noConcurrency, and limited to 15 CRM rows before its pilot
Path 1: Account completion
- the account audit reconciles company identifier coverage, mutually exclusive classes, conflicts, survivor evidence, and proposed merge IDs to the source total
deduplicate_accountsruns directly oncrm_accountsand searches companies live- its graph contains preparation, native Scoring, the guarded Branch, native Human Review, and CRM merges only on automatic or approved paths
- automatic merge requires exact shared LinkedIn company ID and every account conflict guard
- every account survivor and absorbed company ID is verified in the CRM
Path 2: Contact completion
- the contact audit reconciles source totals, person identifier coverage, unique candidate clusters, conflicts, survivor evidence, and proposed merge IDs, and reports overlapping matched classes separately
deduplicate_contactsruns directly oncrm_contactsand performs both direct and transitive live searches- its graph contains preparation, native Scoring, the guarded Branch, optional native Human Review, and CRM merges only on automatic or approved paths
- automatic merge requires one approved high-confidence class plus every global contact guard
- the merge is the final CRM write, and every contact survivor and absorbed ID is verified in the CRM
What it costs
Immediately before each selected path's preview, run
cargo-ai connection integration get <crm> and, when review is enabled,
cargo-ai connection integration get slack. Record the CLI version, lookup time, action slugs, and
current cost metadata. The repository does not hard-code pipeline action prices.
Path 1: Account cost
Price the account search, automatic or approved company merge, and Human Review actions against the exact account population. Approval authorizes only the company clusters shown for that pilot.
Path 2: Contact cost
Price both contact searches, automatic or approved contact merge, and enabled Human Review actions against the exact contact population. Approval authorizes only the person clusters shown for that pilot.
Enabling either recurring schedule is a separate final approval after that path's pilot passes.
Composes into
crm-enrichmentwhen either object path lacks reliable matching-key coverageaccount-scoringafter duplicate account records have been consolidated into authoritative survivors
