> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alterhq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Manage contacts with Alter

> What Alter can currently do with Apple Contacts, with practical prompts and setup

This workflow helps you keep your contact book accurate before messaging, emailing, or planning follow-ups.

## What this helps you do

Use Alter to clean and maintain contact data while you work. You can search people quickly, add missing details, and keep groups organized without opening Contacts for every edit.

## Works with

* App: Apple Contacts
* Tool type: Local tool
* Permissions: Contacts

## What Alter can do today

Alter can find contacts by name/email/phone, list contacts by group, create new contacts, update existing records, and delete contacts with explicit confirmation.

## What Alter cannot do yet

Update and delete actions are ID-based behind the scenes, so the best user flow is usually lookup first, then edit/delete.

## A realistic workflow

<Steps>
  <Step title="Find the person first">
    Ask Alter to find the contact by name.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Apply updates">
    Add missing phone/email/company details or assign group info.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use contact in next action">
    Reuse that contact for Mail, Messages, or planning workflows.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Copy/paste prompts

* "Find contact Sarah Martin."
* "List 20 contacts in the Work group."
* "Create contact: first name Alex, last name Chen, work email [alex@company.com](mailto:alex@company.com), mobile +33612345678."
* "Update contact \[contact id] and add work email [alex.chen@company.com](mailto:alex.chen@company.com)."
* "Delete contact \[contact id] and confirm yes."

## How to enable

<Steps>
  <Step title="Enable Contacts in Tools Manager">
    Open Alter -> click the three dots -> **Tools Manager** -> **Local Tools** -> enable **Contacts**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Allow Contacts permission">
    On first use, macOS asks for Contacts access. Allow access for Alter.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run a quick test">
    Ask: "Find contact John." If results appear, setup is complete.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What to expect

* Many actions work best after a lookup step because updates/deletes use contact IDs.
* Deletion is protected by explicit confirmation (`confirm yes`).

## Related pages

* [Contacts app capabilities](/apps-tools/contacts)
* [Send iMessages faster](/workflows/send-messages-with-alter)
* [Check unread emails and draft replies](/workflows/manage-mail-with-alter)