Duplicates & data hygiene

How Kepler prevents duplicates

Kepler checks several identity signals. For candidates, a matching email or LinkedIn URL blocks creation and opens merge review; a matching phone number or an exact name warns you but can be overridden. Contact creation checks for matching contacts and also warns you when the person already exists as a candidate. Wherever Kepler creates records automatically, it matches on those signals first:

• Accepting an inbound applicant finds an existing candidate with the same email instead of creating a twin — the application and CV attach to the existing record.
• The CV import flags drafts that match existing candidates and asks whether to attach the CV only, update the existing profile, or create a new candidate.
• The Chrome extension checks by LinkedIn URL and email before saving.
• Contact auto-creation from synced mail checks for an existing contact before creating one.
• Portal applications from the same email to the same job within 24 hours are deduplicated automatically.

Merge dialogs

If you set an email on a contact or candidate that another record already uses — or a domain another company uses — Kepler opens a merge dialog instead of silently creating a conflict, so you can combine the records deliberately.

You can also start a merge yourself: on the Contacts or Companies list, tick exactly two rows and choose Merge from the More actions menu in the selection bar.

Editing at the same time as a teammate

Kepler protects concurrent edits: if two people change the same record at once, the second save shows "Conflict Detected — this record was updated by another user" and refreshes the data. Nothing is silently overwritten — just re-apply your change on the fresh values.

Habits that keep data clean

• Always capture an email address. Records with emails self-link to conversations and resist duplication; records without them are orphans.
• Import in order — companies, then contacts, then candidates — so links resolve as records land.
• Use selects over free text for anything you'll filter by. "London", "london" and "Greater London" are three filters; one select option is one.
• Review Notifications regularly — AI-proposed updates (new phone numbers, title changes) keep records current with one click instead of drifting stale.

Spotting duplicates

Global search is the quickest duplicate check — search a name before creating a record and Kepler's matching surfaces near-identical spellings. On list pages, sort by name or email to eyeball clusters.