Humans
Humans is Cooper's people directory. Use it to add, find, edit and remove the people you work with (teammates, client contacts, vendor contacts and leads) and to see everything that has happened with each one.
Humans is the people directory in Cooper. Every person your company deals with gets a human record: your own team members, client contacts, vendor and subcontractor contacts, leads and partners. Office admins, project managers and estimators use it to look someone up, keep contact details current, link people to their organizations and see the full history with a person in one place.
Each human has a detail panel. It shows their contact details, their organization, open action items, activities, a timeline of everything that happened with them, their text messages and their email threads.
Key concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Human | One person in your directory. A human has a name and, optionally, contact details, an organization, a relationship stage and a relationship type. |
| Internal human | A human marked as part of your own team. Internal humans appear under Our Team and show a Team Member badge. |
| External organization | The company a human works for, such as a client, vendor or subcontractor. See Organizations. |
| Relationship stage | Where the relationship stands: Lead, Prospect, Opportunity, Counterparty, Dormant or Inactive. New humans start as Lead. |
| Relationship type | A category your company defines, such as Client or Subcontractor. Admins manage the list in Connect settings. |
| Services | The labor services a person provides. You pick them from the labor items in your catalog. |
| System user | A human who has a login to your Cooper workspace. A system user cannot be deleted from Humans. |
| Action item | Something somebody still owes, such as a document to send or an approval to give. See Action items. |
Open Humans
- In the sidebar, open Connect.
- Click Humans.
The page lives at /connect/allHumans. You see it only if your role has access to Humans. If your company's plan does not include Humans, you see a plan-locked screen instead.
A link that ends in ?humanId=<id> opens Humans with that person's detail panel already open. When you close the panel, the humanId part is removed from the address.
Switch between all humans, your team and clients
Three tabs sit at the top of the page. Hover over a tab to see what it holds.
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| All Humans | Everyone in your directory: team members, clients and partners. |
| Our Team | Internal humans, the members of your own team. |
| Clients & Partners | External people who have a login to your workspace, such as portal users, client users and members from other organizations. |
The page title changes to match the tab. Your search and filters stay applied when you switch tabs.
Read the Humans list
Each row shows one human:
- Contact: the photo or initials, the display name, and a line with their title, relationship type and organization.
- A small colored dot on the photo shows how recently the record was updated. Hover over the photo to read it, for example "Updated today", "Getting stale" or "Dormant — 90+ days". Team members show "Team member".
- A Draft badge marks a human saved with Draft status.
- Organization: the organization name, logo and up to two industries. Hover over it for a summary card. Click the name to open the organization's details.
- Contact Info: email and phone. A highlighted icon marks the preferred contact method.
- Context: a summary that adapts to the person. Team members show Team Member. Leads and prospects show their stage. Dormant and inactive humans show a warning pill.
- Activity: when the record was created and last modified, and by whom.
More rows load as you scroll down.
Sort the list
Click the Contact, Organization or Activity column header to sort by that column.
Show or hide columns
Click the Toggle Columns button (the columns icon) and tick or untick columns. Cooper remembers your choice in this browser.
Group humans by organization
Drag the Organization column header into the bar above the list that says Drag a column header here to group rows. To remove the grouping, click the x on the Grouped by chip.
Search for a human
- Click the Search icon in the toolbar.
- Type in the Search humans… box.
The search matches first name, display name and email address. It works together with any filters you have applied.
Filter the Humans list
Use the filter buttons in the toolbar:
| Filter | What it does |
|---|---|
| Relationship Stage | Show humans in one or more stages. |
| Relationship Type | Show humans with one or more relationship types. |
| Organization | Show only humans who belong to one organization. |
Active filters appear as chips under the toolbar, after Filtered by. Click the x on a chip to remove that filter, or click Clear all to remove every filter. Filters are saved in the page address, so you can bookmark or share a filtered view.
Add a human
You need permission to add humans. Without it, the Add Human button does not appear.
Open the form
Click Add Human at the top right. The Add Human panel opens. If you are on the Our Team tab, Internal Human is already switched on.
Enter the essentials
Type a First Name. This is the only required field. Add Last Name, Title, Email and Phone Number if you have them.
Link an organization
In External Organization, start typing and pick the person's company from the list. Leave it empty for someone with no company.
Set the stage and team status
Click the stage chip at the top of the form (it starts at Lead) to pick a different stage. Switch on Internal Human if this person is part of your team.
Add optional details
Open the collapsible sections to add more:
- More contact options: Alternate Email, Alternate Number, Preferred Contact Method.
- Relationship: Relationship Type and Services.
- Address: Street, City, State, Postal Code, Country.
To add a photo, click the round avatar at the top of the form and choose an image.
Save
Click Submit. The human appears in the list. Click Cancel to close without saving. If you entered anything, Cooper asks you to confirm before it discards your changes.
One active human per email address
Two active humans in your company cannot share an email address. If the email is already in use, Cooper shows "An active human with email … already exists in this organization" and names the existing person. Open that person instead of creating a duplicate.
Edit a human
- Hover over the human's row and click the ⋯ menu at the start of the row.
- Click Edit. The Update Human panel opens.
- Change any field.
- Click Submit.
After you save, the row updates in place and is highlighted briefly. If you edit your own human record, your name and profile picture in Cooper update too.
If you do not have permission to edit, the Edit option is hidden.
Stage comes from the organization
When a human belongs to an organization, Cooper shows the organization's relationship stage for that person. In the edit form the stage chip is locked, with the note "This human is associated with an organization and the stage cannot be changed." Change the stage on the organization instead.
Delete a human
You need delete permission. Without it, the Delete option is hidden.
Delete one human
- Open the ⋯ menu on the human's row.
- Click Delete.
- Confirm in the dialog.
Delete several humans at once
- Tick the checkbox on each row you want to remove. To select every loaded row, tick the checkbox in the header.
- Click Delete at the bottom of the list. The footer shows how many rows are selected. Clear Selection unticks them all.
- Confirm in the dialog.
Deleting archives the human. The human disappears from Humans and from search, and their email address becomes free to use on a new record.
You cannot delete people who have a login
A human who is a user of your Cooper workspace cannot be deleted. Cooper shows "You dont have permission to delete this human as this is a system user." In a bulk delete, Cooper names the system users and deletes nothing. Remove or archive the person's access in your team settings first.
Copy a human's contact details
- In the list, hover over the name and click the Copy contact info icon. The details are copied to your clipboard.
- In the detail panel, click the Copy profile icon next to the name. A formatted profile is copied to your clipboard.
- In the detail panel, hover over Email, Phone or another field and click its copy icon to copy just that value.
Email, call or text a human
From the list:
- Click an email address, or the Email from Cooper icon, to open Cooper's email composer addressed to that person. When the email is sent, Cooper logs an Email activity on the human's record.
- Click a phone number, or the Open in Cooper Phone icon, to open the Phone keypad with the number ready. The call starts only when you press call.
From the detail panel, use the Email, Call and Text buttons under the name. Text opens the Messages tab. Text is disabled when:
- The person has opted out of SMS. The tooltip says they must text START to resubscribe.
- You do not have permission to send messages from Humans.
Invite a human to Cooper
You can turn a human into a user of your workspace.
- In the list, hover over the human's name.
- Click the Invite to Cooper icon. It appears only for humans who have an email address and are not users yet.
- In the Invite a teammate panel, check Email and Full name, which are filled in from the human record.
- Choose a Role and the Access type: Web & mobile or Mobile only.
- Click Send invite.
The person gets an email to verify their address and set a password. They show as Invited in your team list until they accept. If the person is already a member, Cooper tells you so.
View a human's details
Click a human's row, or choose View from the row's ⋯ menu. The detail panel opens on the right with the person's name, stage, relationship type, organization and title at the top. It has four tabs: Overview, Timeline, Messages and Emails.
Overview tab
The Overview tab shows:
- Contact: Email, Phone, Preferred, Title, Alt Email, Alt Phone and Address.
- Organization: the linked organization with its stage and contact details.
- Services: the services this person provides.
- Open items: up to three open action items in each direction, with a See timeline link.
- Activities: logged meetings, calls, emails and other activities. See Log an activity.
- Created by and Modified by, with how long ago.
Timeline tab
The Timeline tab lists everything that happened with this person, newest first and grouped by day: money, projects, conversations, meetings, actions, documents and more.
- Click a category chip, such as Money, Meetings or Documents, to show only that category. The chips show counts. Click All to see everything again.
- Type in Search to find rows by their text.
- Switch Include their company on or off to include or leave out rows about the person's organization. It is on by default.
- Click Details on a row to expand it.
- More rows load as you scroll. You can also click Load more.
If nothing has happened yet, you see "Nothing yet with name."
Messages tab
The Messages tab shows your text conversation with the person on your company's Cooper phone numbers. Type in the Text name… box and press Enter to send. Use From to pick which of your lines sends the text.
- If texting is not set up for your company yet, you see "Texting isn't set up for this organization yet" with a link to see progress.
- If no line can send texts, you see "No phone line can send texts yet" with a link to set one up.
See Phone for setting up lines.
Emails tab
The Emails tab lists the email threads with this person from the mailboxes you have connected to Cooper. Click a thread to read it. You can start a new email to the person from here.
Track what a human owes or is waiting for
The Timeline tab starts with Open items, the open action items that involve this person, in two columns:
- Name has to do: items this person owns.
- Name is waiting for: items somebody else owes this person.
To add one:
- Click Add item. You need permission to edit Humans.
- In What needs doing, describe the task, for example "Send John the updated drawings".
- In Who does it, pick a teammate.
- Optionally set Due.
- Click Add action item.
The new item is linked to this person. Depending on your rights on an item, you can tick it done, reopen it, or use its More menu to Set due date or dismiss it as Already done or No longer needed. For everything else, open Action items.
Log an activity with a human
- Open the human's Overview tab.
- In Activities, click Add.
- Pick the Activity Type: Meeting, Call, Email, Task, Other, Follow Up or Converted.
- Set the Date, the Participants and, if you want, the Duration.
- Type a Description. It is required.
- To make it repeat, switch on Recurring Activity and choose a Recurring Period.
- Optionally add Attachments, such as photos or paperwork.
- Click Save.
To change or remove an activity, open its ⋯ menu and click Edit or Delete.
Fields reference
| Field | Required | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Photo | No | The person's picture. Click the avatar to upload an image. |
| Stage | No | Lead (default), Prospect, Opportunity, Counterparty, Dormant or Inactive. Locked when the human belongs to an organization. |
| Internal Human | No | Marks the person as a member of your own team. |
| First Name | Yes | 2 to 30 characters. Cannot start with a special character. |
| Last Name | No | Up to 30 characters. |
| Title | No | Job title, up to 100 characters. |
| No | Must be a valid email address. Must not belong to another active human in your company. | |
| Phone Number | No | Includes a country picker. Defaults to the United States. |
| External Organization | No | The company the person works for. |
| Alternate Email | No | A second email address. Must be valid. |
| Alternate Number | No | A second phone number. |
| Preferred Contact Method | No | Free text, for example Email, Phone or WhatsApp. |
| Relationship Type | No | One of the relationship types your admin set up. |
| Services | No | Labor services from your catalog that this person provides. |
| Street, City, State, Postal Code, Country | No | The person's address. Country starts as United States. |
The display name is built from the first and last name.
Permissions
Access to Humans is set by your role, under Connect > Humans:
| Permission | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Read | Open Humans, search, filter and view details. |
| Write | Add humans, edit them, add action items from a person's page and send texts from the Messages tab. |
| Delete | Delete (archive) humans. |
Workspace owners have full access. An admin can also limit a role to certain relationship types or relationship stages. People in that role then see only the humans that match.
Only humans in your own company are visible or editable.
Tips and best practices
- Search before you add someone. Each email address can belong to only one active human.
- Link every external contact to their organization. Their stage, organization filter and timeline then work from the organization too.
- Set the relationship type for clients and vendors. It feeds the Relationship Type filter and the row subtitle.
- Use the freshness dot on the photo to spot contacts you have not touched in a while.
- Log calls and meetings as activities so the Timeline tells the full story.
Troubleshooting
Your role does not have Read access to Humans, or your company's plan does not include it. Ask an admin to grant Connect > Humans > Read to your role.
Your role does not have Write access to Humans. Ask an admin for Connect > Humans > Write.
Another active human already uses that email address. The message names that person. Search for them and edit the existing record, or use a different email address.
The person has a login to your Cooper workspace. System users cannot be deleted from Humans. Manage their access from your team settings instead.
The human belongs to an organization, so the stage comes from the organization. Change the stage on the organization.
Check that no filter is active. Look for chips under Filtered by and click Clear all. Check that you are on All Humans and not Our Team or Clients & Partners. Your role may also be limited to certain relationship types or stages.
The icon appears only when the human has an email address and is not already a user. Add an email address to the human first.
Either the person has opted out of texts (they must text START to resubscribe), or your role cannot send messages from Humans.
For AI agents
Agents work with humans through the CooperBuild MCP server.
| Tool | What it does | Key parameters |
|---|---|---|
search_humans | Finds people. Available to every user and returns summary fields only. | search (name, email, phone, title or organization), id, email, phone, orgName, externalOrgId, type (member, employee, client, vendor, lead, guest, contact), humanCategory, limit (1–50, default 15), includeAccess |
person_status_brief | One plain-language answer to "where are we with X": who they are, open items both ways, money position, last contact, next meeting. | humanId (preferred) or query |
person_timeline | Everything that happened with one person or company, newest first, with category counts and open action items. This is the same data as the Timeline tab. | humanId, externalOrgId or query; categories (MONEY, PROJECTS, CONVERSATIONS, MEETINGS, ACTIONS, DOCUMENTS, OTHER); since; until; includeCompany; search; limit (max 50); pageNo |
crm_relationship_brief | A summary of the relationship: last outbound touch versus last inbound engagement, open follow-ups and open action items. Read-only. | humanId or externalOrgId |
crm_interaction_list | Lists logged meetings, calls, emails, texts and follow-ups row by row. | humanId, externalOrgId, projectId, activityTypes, direction, lifecycle, followUpStatus |
crm_interaction_log | Logs one interaction. Previews first; pass confirm: true to save. | activityType, direction (required: outbound, inbound, conversation or internal), summary, durationMinutes |
invite_user | Invites a person to the workspace. | See the tool schema. |
Rules and common errors:
person_timeline,person_status_brief,crm_relationship_briefandcrm_interaction_listneed Humans Read.crm_interaction_logneeds Humans Write.- To find a colleague, use
search_humanswithtype: "member". That matches people with a workspace login.type: "employee"matches only humans marked internal. - An empty
datawith anotefromsearch_humansmeans a type filter removed the matches. The person exists. - To check whether someone is already a user, call
search_humanswithincludeAccess: true. Do not send an invitation to find out. - An ambiguous name passed as
queryreturns candidates. Ask the user which one they mean. Never guess. - In
crm_interaction_log,durationMinutesis in minutes. Logging aninboundinteraction stops the person's scheduled campaign sends. The preview reports this undercadenceStop. - There is no dedicated tool to create or edit a human. The generic record tools (
db_create,db_update) on theHumanmodel need Humans permission. Creating a human with an email already used by an active human fails with "An active human with email … already exists in this organization". Find the existing human withsearch_humansand use that one.
Related
- Organizations: the companies your humans work for. Stage and industries come from here.
- Action items: what each person owes you and what you owe them.
- Teams: groups of humans you assign together.
- Phone: calls and texts with your humans on Cooper numbers.
Connect
Connect is where Cooper keeps the people and companies you work with, and every channel you use to talk to them — email, mail, chat, meetings and phone — tied back to your projects.
Organizations
Organizations is Cooper's list of external organizations and companies (clients, vendors, subcontractors, suppliers and partners). Use it to add, find, edit and remove companies, link their people, rate their work, store their documents and check their compliance.