# 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.

Source: https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/organizations
Last updated: 2026-10-05
Keywords: organizations, external organizations, companies, company directory, clients, customers, vendors, subcontractors, suppliers, partners, accounts, crm, firms, businesses

**Organizations** is the company directory in Cooper. Every external organization your company works with gets an organization record: clients, vendors, subcontractors, suppliers, partners and leads. Office admins, project managers, estimators and buyers use it to look up a company, keep its details current, see the people who work there, rate its work on projects, keep its documents in one place and check whether it is compliant.

Organizations hold company-level information. The people who work at an organization are [humans](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/humans.md) linked to it.

![The All Organizations list with the Relationship Stage filter, All filters button, search box and Add Organizations button](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/screenshots/connect/organizations-list.png)

*Screenshot: The Organizations list. 1: Relationship Stage filter, 2: All filters, 3: search, 4: Add Organizations, 5: an organization's name (opens its panel).*

## Key concepts

| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Organization** | One external company. An organization has a name, a stage, a relationship type, an organization type and an industry, plus optional contact, address and finance details. |
| **Stage** | Where the relationship stands: **Lead**, **Prospect**, **Opportunity**, **Counterparty**, **Dormant** or **Inactive**. |
| **Relationship type** | How the company relates to you, such as Client or Subcontractor. Your admins define the list in [Connect settings](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/settings.md). |
| **Organization type** | What kind of company it is, such as Corporation. Defined in [Connect settings](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/settings.md). |
| **Industry** and **Sub-Industry** | The company's line of business. Each sub-industry belongs to one industry. Defined in [Connect settings](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/settings.md). |
| **People** | The [humans](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/humans.md) who work at the organization. |
| **Rating** | A score of 1 to 5 stars that your team gives the organization for its work on one project, with optional notes. |
| **Confidential document** | An organization document that only members of selected [teams](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/teams.md) can see. |

## Open Organizations

1. In the sidebar, open **Connect**.
2. Click **Organizations**.

The list opens at `/connect/organizations` with the title **All Organizations**.

You need the **Organizations** permission in the **Connect** module to see this page. If your company's plan does not include Organizations, Cooper shows a plan-locked screen instead. See [Permissions](#permissions).

## Read the Organizations list

Each row is one organization. The columns shown by default are:

| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Organization** | The logo or initials, the name and the organization type. Click the name to open the organization's panel. Hover the row to show the copy icon. |
| **Stage** | The relationship stage. |
| **Relationship** | The relationship type. |
| **Industry** | The industry. |
| **Email** | The company email. Click it to write an email in Cooper. A copy icon copies the address. |
| **Invoices** | How many invoices the organization has. Click the number to open the **Invoices** tab. |
| **People** | Avatars of the linked people. Click them to open the **People** tab. |
| **Ratings** | The project of the first rating, the average star rating and the number of ratings. Hover to see every rating with its notes and dates. Click to open the **Ratings** tab. |

Hidden columns you can turn on: **Phone**, **Website**, **Location**, **Tax ID**, **Chart of Account**, **Org Type**, and the modified-by and modified-time columns.

### Show or hide columns

1. Click the **Toggle Columns** button (the columns icon) next to the search box.
2. Tick or untick the columns you want.

Cooper remembers your choice.

### Group the list

Drag a column header onto the bar that says **Drag a column header here to group rows**. You can group by **Stage**, **Relationship**, **Industry** or **Org Type**. To stop grouping, click the **x** on the column chip in the **Grouped by** bar.

The list loads more organizations as you scroll. The footer shows how many organizations are showing out of the total.

## Search for an organization

Type in the **Search organizations…** box at the top of the list. The list shows organizations whose name contains your text.

## Filter the Organizations list

### Step 1: Filter by stage
Click **Relationship Stage** and select one or more stages, for example **Lead** and **Prospect**.

### Step 2: Filter by type or industry
Click **All filters**. Choose a **Relationship Type**, **Organization Type**, **Industry** or **Sub-Industry**. Each filter applies as soon as you choose it. **Sub-Industry** lists the subcategories of the chosen industry.

### Step 3: Review or clear filters
Active filters appear as chips in the **Filtered by** row. Click the **x** on a chip to remove one filter. Click **Clear all** to remove every filter. In the **All filters** panel, **Reset all** clears the panel's filters.

The page address updates with your search and filters. Bookmark or share the address to come back to the same filtered list.

## Add an organization

### Step 1: Open the form
Click **Add Organizations** at the top right of the list. The **New Organization** panel opens.

### Step 2: Fill in the organization details
Under **Organization**, enter the **Organization Name** and choose the **Stage**, **Relationship Type**, **Organization Type** and **Industry**. All five are required. **Sub-Industry** is optional and becomes available after you choose an industry.

### Step 3: Add a missing list value without leaving the form
If the relationship type, organization type, industry or subcategory you need is not in the dropdown, click **+ Add Relationship Type**, **+ Add Organization Type**, **+ Add Industry** or **+ Add Subcategory** at the bottom of that dropdown. A small form opens beside the panel. Fill it in and click the create button, for example **Create Industry**. The new value is selected for you.

### Step 4: Add contact, address and finance details
Optionally fill in **Email**, **Phone** (with country code), **Website URL**, the address fields (**Street**, **City**, **State / Province**, **Zip / Postal Code**, **Country**), **Tax ID**, **Chart of Account** and **Description**.

### Step 5: Save
Click **Create Organization**. Cooper shows "Organization created" and the organization appears in the list.

![The New Organization panel with the Organization, Contact, Address, Finance and Notes sections](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/screenshots/connect/organizations-create.png)

*Screenshot: Adding an organization. 1: required fields, 2: an Add New option inside a dropdown, 3: Create Organization.*

> **Note**
>
> You add people, ratings and documents after the organization exists. Open the organization and use the **People**, **Ratings** and **Documents** tabs.

## View an organization

Click the organization's name in the list. The organization panel opens on the right. The page address gains the organization's ID, so you can share a link that opens the same panel.

The top of the panel shows the logo, the name and two buttons: **Copy organization info** (the copy icon) and **Edit**.

The panel has these tabs:

| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Details** | Name, stage, relationship type, organization type, industry, sub-industry, email, phone, website, address, tax ID and chart of account. |
| **People** | The humans linked to the organization, with email and call buttons. |
| **Ratings** | Project ratings for the organization. |
| **Invoices** | The organization's invoices with status, date, due date and total. Click **View Invoice** to open one. |
| **Documents** | Files stored on the organization, with confidential settings. |
| **Compliance** | The organization's compliance status, documents and evidence. |
| **Timeline** | Everything that happened with the organization, newest first. |

The **People**, **Ratings**, **Invoices** and **Documents** tab names show a count, for example **People (3)**.

![An organization's panel showing the header buttons and tab strip](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/screenshots/connect/organizations-panel.png)

*Screenshot: An organization's panel. 1: Copy organization info, 2: Edit, 3: tabs, 4: logo (click to upload).*

## Edit an organization

### Step 1: Open the organization
Click the organization's name, or click the row's **...** menu and choose **View** or **Edit**.

### Step 2: Switch to edit mode
Click **Edit** at the top of the panel. The same form as **Add an organization** appears.

### Step 3: Save your changes
Change the fields and click **Save Changes**. Cooper shows "Organization updated". Click **Cancel** to go back without saving.

## Change an organization's logo

1. Open the organization.
2. Click the logo or initials in the panel header (tooltip **Upload photo**) and choose an image.
3. Cooper saves the image right away and shows "Photo updated".

To remove the logo, click **Remove photo**.

## Add or remove people at an organization

The people at an organization are [humans](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/humans.md). Linking a person here sets that human's organization.

### Step 1: Open the People tab
Open the organization and click the **People** tab.

### Step 2: Start editing
Click **Edit People**.

### Step 3: Link an existing human or create a new one
Click **+ Add Contact**. To link someone already in Humans, turn on **Link to existing person** and pick them in **Select person** (**Search by name...**). To create a new human, leave it off and fill in **First Name** (required), **Last Name**, **Title**, **Email** and **Phone**.

### Step 4: Remove a person
Click **Remove contact** (the x) on the person's card. This only unlinks the person. The human stays in Humans.

### Step 5: Save
Click **Save Changes**. Cooper shows "People updated".

![The People tab in edit mode with a new contact card and the Link to existing person option](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/screenshots/connect/organizations-people-edit.png)

*Screenshot: Editing an organization's people. 1: Link to existing person, 2: new person fields, 3: + Add Contact, 4: Save Changes.*

From the **People** tab you can also email a person (**Email** button) or call them from Cooper Phone (**Call ... from Cooper Phone**).

> **Note**
>
> A person's relationship stage follows their organization's stage. To change it, change the organization's **Stage**.

## Rate an organization's work on a project

### Step 1: Open the Ratings tab
Open the organization and click the **Ratings** tab.

### Step 2: Start editing
Click **Edit Ratings**, then **+ Add Rating**.

### Step 3: Fill in the rating
Choose the **Project** (**Select project...**), click 1 to 5 stars under **Rating**, and add **Notes** if you want.

### Step 4: Save
Click **Save Changes**. Every rating needs a project and a star rating. If one is missing, Cooper shows "Please select a project and rating for each row".

Each saved rating shows the project, the stars, **Submitted By**, **Last Updated By** and the notes. To delete a rating, click **Delete rating** (the trash icon) on it and confirm. Deleting needs the Organizations **Delete** permission.

## Upload and manage organization documents

### Step 1: Open the Documents tab
Open the organization and click the **Documents** tab.

### Step 2: Add files
Click **Upload Files** to upload from your computer, or click **Import from your media library** to pick files already in Cooper's Library. You can upload images, videos, PDFs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, CSV, Markdown and RTF files. Each file can be up to 2 GB.

### Step 3: Preview or remove a file
Click a document to preview it. Click **Remove** (the x) on a document to remove it from the organization. Cooper shows "Document removed".

### Make a document confidential

1. On the document card, click **Set confidential access** (or **Confidential:** if it is already confidential).
2. Turn on **Confidential**.
3. Choose one or more **Authorized Teams**. At least one team is required. If you choose none, Cooper shows "Please select at least one authorized team".
4. Click **Save**. Cooper shows "Confidential settings updated". Click **Cancel** to close without saving.

Only members of the authorized [teams](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/teams.md) can see a confidential document.

## Check an organization's compliance

Open the organization and click the **Compliance** tab. It shows the organization's compliance status with its **Compliance Documents** and **Compliance Evidence**. You can record compliance documents and notes here if you have the Organizations **Write** permission.

If the tab says "Could not load compliance status", click **Retry**.

## See an organization's history

Open the organization and click the **Timeline** tab. It lists everything that happened with the company, newest first, grouped by day. It shows open items at the top, split into **They owe us** and **We owe them**. Filter by category (**Money**, **Projects**, **Conversations**, **Meetings**, **Actions**, **Documents**, **Other**), type in **Search**, and click **Load more** to see older entries.

## Copy an organization's details

Hover an organization's row and click the copy icon (**Copy organization info**), or click the copy button in the panel header. Cooper copies the organization's details to your clipboard and shows "Organization copied to clipboard".

## Delete organizations

### Step 1: Choose what to delete
To delete one organization, click the row's **...** menu and choose **Delete**. To delete several, tick their checkboxes and click **Delete** in the footer.

### Step 2: Confirm
In the **Are You Sure?** window, click **Delete**. Cooper shows "Records have been deleted successfully."

Deleting an organization unlinks its people. The humans themselves stay in Humans.

## Use the full organization page

Some links in Cooper, such as service providers in the Equipment register, open an organization as a full page at `/connect/organizations/<id>` instead of the panel. Click **Back** to return.

The full page shows **Documents & Attachments**, **Contacts**, **Services Offered**, **Address Information**, **Recent Activities** and **Invoices**. Click **Edit** to change the details. In edit mode you can also:

- Edit the organization fields under **Edit Organization Details**: **Organization Name**, **Organization Type**, **Industry**, **Industry Sub Category**, **Relationship Stage**, **Relationship Type**, **Work Email**, **Mobile Number**, **Tax ID**, **Website URL** and **Description**.
- Set **Default Payment Accounts (optional)**. Click **Add Default**, then pick a **Legal Entity** and a **Default Account**. Each legal entity can have only one default account. Cooper suggests these accounts when you create payments to this vendor.
- Click **Add Contact** to add people.
- Click **Add Service** to record a service the organization offers, with **Item Class**, **Item**, **Unit Rate** and **Lead Time (days)**.
- Click **Add Activity** to log an activity with an **Activity Type** (**Meeting**, **Call**, **Email**, **Visit**, **Follow-up**, **Converted** or **Other**), **Date**, **Duration (minutes)**, **Participants** and **Description**.

Click **Save Changes** to save or **Cancel** to discard.

## Fields reference

| Field | Required | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| **Organization Name** | Yes | The company's name. |
| **Stage** | Yes | The relationship stage: Lead, Prospect, Opportunity, Counterparty, Dormant or Inactive. |
| **Relationship Type** | Yes | How the company relates to you. Comes from the Relationship Types list. |
| **Organization Type** | Yes | What kind of company it is. Comes from the Organization Types list. |
| **Industry** | Yes | The company's industry. Comes from the Industries list. |
| **Sub-Industry** | No | A subcategory of the chosen industry. |
| **Email** | No | The company email. Must be a valid email address. |
| **Phone** | No | The company phone number, with country code. |
| **Website URL** | No | The company website, for example `https://example.com`. |
| **Street**, **City**, **State / Province**, **Zip / Postal Code**, **Country** | No | The company address. |
| **Tax ID** | No | The company's tax identification number. |
| **Chart of Account** | No | The chart of accounts account linked to this organization. |
| **Description** | No | Free-text notes about the organization. |

People fields (**People** tab): **First Name** (required for a new person, 2 to 30 characters), **Last Name**, **Title**, **Email** (must be valid if entered) and **Phone**.

Rating fields (**Ratings** tab): **Project** (required), **Rating** (required, 1 to 5 stars) and **Notes**.

## Permissions

Access is controlled by the **Organizations** permission in the **Connect** module of a role. An admin sets it in **Settings → Roles**.

| Action | Permission needed |
|---|---|
| See the Organizations list and panels | Organizations **Read** (or **Write**) |
| Add or edit organizations, people, ratings and documents; record compliance | Organizations **Write** |
| Delete organizations and ratings | Organizations **Delete** |

Without **Write**, the **Add Organizations**, **Edit**, **Edit People** and **Edit Ratings** buttons are hidden. Without **Delete**, **Delete** is hidden from the row menu.

An admin can also limit which organizations a role sees. In the role's Organizations access, restrict it to selected **Relationship types**, **Organization types** or **Industries**. People with that role then see only matching organizations.

Workspace owners can see and do everything.

## Tips and best practices

- Set up your relationship types, organization types and industries in [Connect settings](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/settings.md) before you import or add many organizations. The values you choose there drive filters, grouping and role restrictions.
- Keep the **Stage** current. Cooper shows the organization's stage for everyone who works there.
- Link people to organizations instead of typing company names into human records. The People column, the Timeline and AI agents then see the full picture.
- Use confidential documents for contracts, insurance certificates and bank details, and authorize only the teams that need them.
- Rate vendors and subcontractors at the end of each project. The **Ratings** column then helps you pick who to invite next time.

## Troubleshooting

### I can't see Organizations in the sidebar

Your role does not have the **Organizations** permission in the **Connect** module. Ask an admin to grant it in **Settings → Roles**. If you see a plan-locked screen instead, your company's plan does not include Organizations.

### The Add Organizations or Edit button is missing

Your role has Organizations **Read** but not **Write**. Ask an admin for Write access.

### I can't find the relationship type or industry I need

Click **+ Add Relationship Type**, **+ Add Organization Type**, **+ Add Industry** or **+ Add Subcategory** at the bottom of the dropdown in the organization form. An admin can also add values in [Connect settings](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/settings.md).

### Sub-Industry is greyed out

Choose an **Industry** first. Sub-Industry lists only the subcategories of the chosen industry.

### An organization is missing from the list

Check the **Filtered by** row and click **Clear all**. If it is still missing, your role may be limited to certain relationship types, organization types or industries. Ask an admin.

### I removed every person but they are still linked

Saving the **People** tab with no people left does not unlink anyone. To unlink the last person, open that person in [Humans](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/humans.md) and change their organization.

### Upload failed: Some files exceed the 2 GB limit

Each file must be 2 GB or smaller. Split or compress the file and upload it again.

### I can't see a document on an organization

The document is confidential and you are not in one of its authorized teams. Ask someone in an authorized team, or an admin, to add your team.

## For AI agents

Agents work with organizations through the CooperBuild MCP server.

| Tool | What it does | Key parameters |
|---|---|---|
| `search_external_orgs` | Finds organizations with combined semantic and text search. Available to every user and returns summary fields only (id, name, email, phone, description, relationshipStage, relationshipStageLabel, status). | `search` (name, description, email, industry, city or role, for example "electrical sub NYC"), `organizationType` (an organization type ID), `relationshipStage` (`Lead`, `Prospect`, `Opportunity`, `Counterparty`, `Dormant`, `Inactive`), `limit` (1–50, default 20). Call with `{}` to list all organizations. |
| `person_timeline` | The company timeline, the same data as the **Timeline** tab. | `externalOrgId`; optional `categories`, `since`, `until`, `search`, `limit`, `pageNo` |
| `crm_relationship_brief` | Summarizes the relationship across every known contact at the company. Read-only. | `externalOrgId` |
| `crm_interaction_list` | Lists logged interactions with the company. | `externalOrgId` plus filters |
| `compliance_check`, `compliance_documents`, `compliance_applicability`, `compliance_blocks_payment`, `compliance_dashboard` | Read and record vendor compliance, the same data as the **Compliance** tab. | See each tool's schema. |

Rules and common errors:

- `search_external_orgs` needs no permission. Raw database tools (`db_find`, `db_update` and so on) on the `ExternalOrg` model need the Organizations permission.
- The compliance tools are gated on Organizations. Any compliance write needs Organizations **Write**.
- `person_timeline`, `crm_relationship_brief` and `crm_interaction_list` need **Humans** Read.
- The stage "Active" is retired. `search_external_orgs` still accepts it and treats it as `Opportunity`. Never write "Active" to an organization; the record rejects it.
- Creating or updating an organization requires `organizationName`, `organizationType` (ID) and `industries` (ID). Missing ones fail with "Field 'Organization Name' is required.", "Field 'Organization Type' is required." or "Field 'Industries' is required."
- Relationship type, organization type, industry and sub-industry are IDs from the Connect settings lists. Look them up first. See [Connect settings](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/settings.md).
- Filtering by an invalid ID fails with "Invalid ID value in advancedFilters.…". Pass a valid 24-character ID.
- Deleting an organization unlinks its humans. It does not delete them.

## Related

- [Humans](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/humans.md): the people who work at your organizations.
- [Teams](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/teams.md): group organizations into vendor lists, bid lists and subcontractor pools, and control who sees confidential documents.
- [Connect settings](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/settings.md): manage relationship types, organization types, industries and subcategories.
- [Action items](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/action-items.md): what an organization owes you and what you owe them.
- [Phone](https://docs.cooperbuild.ai/connect/phone.md): call an organization's people from Cooper.