Deals, contacts, and companies
The three record types you work with every day: where each one lives, how they connect, and how archiving keeps data recoverable.
Almost everything in Ikigai hangs off three record types: deals, contacts, and companies. Understanding how they relate saves you from duplicate data and lost history.
Where each record lives
| Record | Sidebar item | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Deal | Pipeline | One sales opportunity moving through the stages of a pipeline. |
| Contact | Contacts | A person: name, emails, phone numbers, channel profiles. |
| Company | Companies | An organization that contacts belong to. |
Deals are worked on the kanban board: each column is a stage, each card is a deal. Contacts and companies live in list views with their own detail cards.
How they connect
- A deal points at a primary contact — the person you are actually talking to. It can also be linked to a company.
- A contact can have several deals over time. Closing one deal and opening another keeps the person's whole history in one place.
- A company groups contacts, so you see every conversation with that organization side by side.
The record card is where the connections pay off: the timeline on a deal collects the emails and chat messages exchanged with its contact, and the sidebar of the card shows the linked contact and company with a one-click jump between them.
Which record should I create?
- A new person reached out → they become a contact, and the sales conversation is a deal on the board.
- The same person comes back with a new request → do not duplicate the contact; add a new deal for them.
- Several people from one organization → one company, several contacts linked to it.
Archiving instead of deleting
The everyday way to remove a record is archiving, not deletion. Each deal, contact, and company card has an "Archive" action in its menu. Archiving hides the record from lists, boards, and search, but keeps all of its history recoverable.
- On the deal board, switch the toggle to "Archive" to browse archived deals. Selecting one offers "Restore" — the deal returns to its pipeline and stage.
- The confirmation dialog says it plainly: the record "will be moved to the archive. You can restore it from trash."
- Permanent deletion does exist — a separate "Delete" action asks "Delete deal forever?" and warns that the action cannot be undone. It is available to administrators and owners only; for everyone else, archiving is the way.
- Archiving is permission-gated. If you do not see the "Archive" action, your role does not include it — ask an administrator.
Rule of thumb: archive freely, duplicate never. A restored record keeps its full timeline; a duplicate splits the history in two. More basics live in Ikigai 101.
Was this article helpful?