Contacts

This page explains the Contacts feature in GoAdmio. It automatically builds an address book for a domain by scanning received emails and using AI-assisted detection to extract people and organizations the account has communicated with.

Location: Admin Panel → Email → Contacts
Location (User Panel): Email → Contacts

Overview

Every domain on a GoAdmio server receives and sends email through its mailboxes. The Contacts page turns that mail traffic into a usable contact list — no manual address book entry required.

GoAdmio scans received emails for a domain, identifies the real people and organizations behind the messages, and builds a per-domain contact list. AI-assisted detection is used to:

• Separate real correspondents from automated senders (newsletters, notifications, no-reply addresses)
• Recognize contact names from message headers, signatures, and body text
• Group the same person across multiple email addresses
• Filter out noise (mailers, bounces, spam) so the list stays useful

> Note: Contacts are derived from received emails. Outgoing-only recipients may not appear until they reply or send something to the domain. The exact scope depends on the account's mail volume and the detection settings.

What the Page Shows

| Column / Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Detected contact name (from headers, signature, or body) |
| Email | Primary email address of the contact |
| Additional Emails | Other addresses linked to the same contact |
| Domain of Contact | The contact's email domain (e.g., clientcompany.com) |
| Last Contact | Date of the most recent received email from this contact |
| Message Count | Number of messages received from this contact |
| Source | How the contact was detected (e.g., header, signature, AI body analysis) |
| Actions | View details, merge, delete |

> Tip: Message Count and Last Contact are the two most useful columns for prioritizing — recent, frequent contacts are the ones the account actually works with.

How Contacts Are Built

1. Email ingestion

When a message arrives at a mailbox on the domain, GoAdmio records the sender address and stores the message.

2. Header analysis

The system extracts contact information from standard headers:

• From: — sender address and display name
• Reply-To: — preferred reply address
• Sender: — envelope sender when it differs
• X- headers — organization and campaign info where present

3. AI-assisted detection

The AI layer examines the message content to:

| Detection | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name extraction | Pulls the person's name from the signature, greeting, or body |
| Automated sender filtering | Identifies newsletters, no-reply addresses, transactional mail, and removes them from the contact list |
| Spam and bounce exclusion | Keeps spam, bounces, and undelivered mail out of the address book |
| Person vs. organization | Distinguishes a person's name from a company or brand name |
| Duplicate merging | Groups multiple addresses belonging to the same person |
| Domain classification | Tags contacts by their organization's domain |

> Note: AI-assisted detection is a best-effort process. It significantly reduces noise, but some automated senders may still appear, and some legitimate contacts may be missed — especially if the message body has no signature or name.

4. Continuous updates

As new mail arrives, the contact list is updated:

• New senders are added
• Existing contacts get updated names, addresses, and message counts
• The Last Contact date refreshes on each received message

How to Use Contacts

Browse the Contact List

1. Log in to the GoAdmio Admin Panel (or User Panel).
2. Navigate to Email → Contacts.
3. Select the domain whose contacts you want to view.
4. The page lists every detected contact for that domain, newest and most active first.

Search and Filter

Use the available filters to narrow the list:

| Filter | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Search by name | Find a specific person |
| Search by email | Find a contact by address |
| Filter by contact domain | Show only contacts from a specific organization |
| Filter by last contact | Show only recent or inactive contacts |
| Filter by message count | Show only frequent or one-time correspondents |

> Tip: Filter by Last Contact to find inactive contacts — useful for cleaning lists or re-engaging old clients.

View a Contact's Details

Click a contact to see:

• All known email addresses linked to the person
• Full message history (subject lines and dates)
• Detected name variants
• Organization/domain information

Merge Duplicate Contacts

If the same person appears under multiple addresses (e.g., john@company.com and j.doe@company.com), use the Merge action to combine them into one contact.

Delete a Contact

If a contact was incorrectly detected (e.g., an automated sender slipped through), use the Delete action to remove it. It will be re-added if a new message from that address arrives.

Contacts vs. Address Book in Webmail

This page describes server-side, domain-level contacts built from received email. This is different from:

| Feature | Where | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts (this page) | Admin/User Panel → Email → Contacts | Domain-level, AI-detected from received mail |
| Roundcube address book | Webmail → Address Book | Per-user, manually managed in the webmail client |
| Email Accounts | Email → Email Accounts | The mailboxes themselves |

> Tip: Use Contacts to understand a domain's real communication network. Use the Roundcube address book for the mailbox owner's personal contact book (to autocomplete recipients when composing mail).

Prerequisites

For Contacts to populate:

1. Mail services are running — Postfix (SMTP) and Dovecot (IMAP/POP3). See Service Status.
2. The domain receives email — MX records point to the server; see DNS Manager.
3. The domain has at least one active mailbox — see Email Accounts.
4. AI detection is enabled for the account or server (depending on your GoAdmio version).

Privacy and Data Considerations

Contacts are derived from the content of received messages. This has privacy implications:

| Consideration | What to know |
|---|---|
| Data retention | Contacts remain in the database until deleted or purged by retention policy |
| Content scanning | AI detection reads message content; ensure this complies with your privacy policy and applicable law (e.g., GDPR) |
| Customer consent | Inform customers that their received mail is analyzed for contact detection |
| Data export | Contact data can be exported; treat it as personal data |
| Deletion rights | Be prepared to delete a contact on request (data-subject rights) |

> Warning: If you host customers in jurisdictions with strict data protection laws, review the AI detection feature with your legal team before enabling it broadly. Provide clear notice in your privacy policy.

Related Commands

| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
| /go/mailtop | Identify the most active email accounts and senders |
| /go/undelivered | Manage bounced addresses (excluded from Contacts) |
| /go/checkmail | Verify port 25 is open for mail delivery |

See Command Reference for the full CLI list.

Related Pages

• Email Accounts — create and manage the mailboxes that feed Contacts
• Email Tracking — delivery-level view of mail activity
• Undelivered Emails — excluded addresses
• SPF / DKIM — authentication that improves delivery and contact detection accuracy
• Spammers — detect compromised accounts (their spam distorts Contacts)
• Default Address — catch-all addresses may add noise to Contacts
• Forwarders — forwarded mail may affect detection
• Email Content Filtering — filter mail before it reaches detection
• Notification Settings — alerts on large outbound volume

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Likely cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts list is empty | No received email, or AI detection disabled | Confirm the domain receives mail; enable AI detection in settings |
| Automated senders appear as contacts | Detection threshold too low, or no signature filtering | Adjust AI detection settings (if configurable); delete the false entries |
| Legitimate contacts are missing | No name in headers/body, or contact only replied once | Detection is best-effort; contacts will improve as more mail arrives |
| Same person appears multiple times | Different addresses not merged | Use Merge to combine them |
| Contacts not updating | Mail service stopped, or account suspended | Check Service Status; unsuspend via Suspend Account |
| Contact shows the wrong name | AI misread the signature | Manually correct the name if the panel allows; otherwise delete and let it re-detect |
| Privacy concern from a customer | Data retention or scanning notice | Provide a privacy notice; delete the contact on request |
| Contacts missing for one domain only | Domain has no active mailbox, or MX incorrect | Verify Email Accounts and DNS Manager |
| Cannot export contacts | Feature not available in this version | Use the panel's export if present; otherwise retrieve from the database via CLI |