Block someone
Set the block on the person, from the contact panel or the memory viewer. It is stored as a directive against that contact with a channel tag, which is why one action holds everywhere rather than needing repeating per channel — and why it applies to conversations that do not exist yet. Removing it is the same action in reverse, and takes effect from the next piece of work.
What a block is, mechanically#
It is not a column on a record and it is not a filter rule. A block is a memory row held against the contact, carrying a channel tag in its tag list. The directive reader looks only at tags, never at the body of a memory, which has two consequences worth knowing before you rely on it.
- Writing "do not contact this person" in the body of a note blocks nothing. It reads as a block to a human and is invisible to the reader that enforces one. Use the block action, not a written note.
- One block reaches every channel it is tagged for. The person is the subject, so the same directive is in force whether the next contact would have been an email, a WhatsApp message, an SMS or a call.
- It survives the conversation. Because it lives on the person rather than on the thread, a new enquiry from the same person six months later is still covered.
Doing it#
Open the person — from the conversation, from relationships, or wherever their contact panel is reachable — and confirm you have the right individual rather than a namesake. One person can hold several identities: an address, a number, a handle.
Result You are about to act on the human, not on one address, which is the point of doing it here.
Set the block, choosing the channels it applies to.
Result A directive row exists against that contact with the channel tags you chose.
Open the memory viewer for that person and read what is now stored at the contact tier.
Result This is the verification. The block is visible as a row you can read, at the tier that owns it — the same viewer is reachable from the mailbox row, the channel screen and the contact panel.
If anything is already in flight for that person — a held draft, a scheduled follow-up — deal with it explicitly.
Result A block governs what Connect decides to do next. It is not a recall for something a provider has already accepted.
Blocking is not suppression#
| Block | Suppression / do-not-contact | |
|---|---|---|
| Who creates it | You do, deliberately | The recipient's own action, or a compliance decision — an unsubscribe, a complaint, an SMS STOP, a WhatsApp opt-out |
| Where it lives | A directive on the contact, tagged per channel | The compliance surface checked in one place before any outreach |
| Scope | Every channel it is tagged for | Outreach on the channel it was recorded for |
| Removing it | The same action in reverse | Only where the entry is one that may legitimately be cleared |
| The Assistant may clear it | Yes, within a person's own rights | No — the Assistant cannot clear a do-not-contact entry |
Undoing one, and what to check after#
Remove the directive from the same place you set it. It takes effect from the next piece of work rather than retroactively: nothing that was held while the block was in force is now sent, because holding was a decision at the time and reversing it is a new decision. If there is something you want sent, send it.
- The person is still being contacted
- Check which channel the contact came on and whether the block carries that channel's tag. A block tagged for email does not cover a call.
- The block seems to have vanished
- It may be recorded against a different identity of the same human. Merging duplicates preserves identities from both sides, and is the usual repair.
- Outreach stopped for someone you did not block
- That is compliance rather than a block: a suppression, an unsubscribe or a complaint. Its origin is shown with the entry.
- A colleague reversed it
- Memory is editable by people, and the decision log records who decided what and under which rule, which is how this gets settled without argument.
Questions#
Does a block stop inbound mail and calls arriving?
No. Mail still arrives and a phone still rings — Connect does not stand between a correspondent and your provider. What the block governs is what Connect does about it, which is nothing on the tagged channels.
Can I block a whole company?
The directive is held against a person. For an organisation, the practical route is to block the individuals you correspond with and record the reason at the company record, so whoever encounters a new contact there understands the position rather than starting again.
Is a block visible to the person being blocked?
No. Nothing is sent to them, and nothing about their own delivery changes. From their side it is silence, which is worth remembering if the relationship is one you may want back.
Where do I check what blocks exist?
The memory viewer, at the contact tier for one person. It shows what Connect knows at every tier and lets you forget any of it, with an empty tier shown as empty rather than hidden — so "nothing is set here" is a visible answer.