Contacts & Tasks
Two ways to connect people and tasks - assignees and CRM linking - and when to use each. Plus the "How do I assign a task to my mom?" answer.
In PrimeTask, contacts and tasks can relate to each other in two distinct ways: as task assignees and via CRM task linking. They look similar at first, but they're different mechanisms with different consequences. Understanding the distinction is important - and it directly answers a common question new users ask: "How do I assign a task to my mom?"
PrimeCRM is a Pro feature
Everything in this article requires a Pro license with CRM enabled. See License Settings.
The two methods at a glance
| Method | What it does | Best for | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task Assignees | Marks a person as responsible for a task. Organisational only - no side effects beyond the assignee field. | Tracking who is responsible for any task. Works with personal contacts too. | The person must exist as a CRM contact. |
| CRM Task Linking | Creates a bidirectional relationship between a task and a contact/company. The task appears in the contact's Tasks section and the company's page. | Tracking work that's specifically for a particular client or company. | The task must be a CRM task (with linked contact/company fields filled in). |
You can use both methods on the same task. A CRM task can have a linked contact (CRM linking) AND an assignee - they're independent fields.
Answering "How do I assign a task to my mom?"
This is the most common question from new users, and it reveals how PrimeCRM is designed.
Short answer: Add your mom as a CRM contact, then assign her like any other contact.
There is no separate "personal contacts" or "local people" feature - PrimeCRM is the single source of truth for everyone, professional or personal.
Step 1
Open PrimeCRM → Contacts (see Contacts)
Step 2
Click Add Contact
Step 3
Enter at minimum a first and last name
Step 4
Save
From this point on, your mom is available as an assignee on any task in PrimeTask - regular tasks, project tasks, CRM tasks, recurring tasks. You don't need to link her to a project or create a CRM task - she just needs to exist as a contact.
CRM must be enabled in the Space
If you've disabled CRM for your current Space, you cannot add contacts and you cannot assign tasks to anyone other than yourself. Re-enable CRM from CRM Settings.
Things worth knowing
Method 1 - Task Assignees
Task assignees mark a person as responsible for a task. They're a logical relationship only - no bidirectional sync, no project linking, no "the task appears on the contact's page" behaviour.
Who can be assigned:
- Yourself - always available, even with no contacts
- Any CRM contact in your current Space
You can assign multiple people to the same task.
How to assign someone:
- From the task editor: Open any task and use the Assignees field. See Task Details Page.
- From Quick Add: Type
+followed by a name - autocomplete suggests matching contacts. See Quick Add Settings. - Bulk: Select multiple tasks in the Tasks list and use the bulk assign action. See Tasks Overview.
Where assigned tasks appear:
- Regular Tasks page (filterable by assignee)
- Today widget (tasks due today)
- Calendar (based on due date)
- ❌ NOT on the contact's detail page. The contact's Tasks section only shows tasks linked via CRM linking - not tasks where the contact is just an assignee.
This is the key distinction
Assigning a task to someone is NOT the same as linking it to them in CRM. If you want the task to show up on the contact's detail page in their Tasks section, you need a CRM task with a linked contact - not just an assignee.
Method 2 - CRM Task Linking
CRM Task Linking creates a bidirectional relationship between a task and one or more contacts/companies. The task appears in the contact's Tasks section, on the company's page, on the CRM Tasks page, and across all the regular task views - all from a single record.
A CRM-linked task is a task with its linked contact and/or linked company fields filled in. See CRM Tasks for how to create one and for the full list of places CRM tasks appear.
When to use CRM linking:
- The task is for a specific person or company (e.g., "Send proposal to Acme Corp")
- You want the task visible on that contact's history when you re-open their page later
- You need the task discoverable from the company's page
- You want the task to count toward CRM analytics
When to use assignees only (no CRM linking):
- The task is something you need to do yourself that mentions a contact (e.g., "Buy birthday gift for Mom")
- The contact is incidental rather than central to the task
- You want a quick task without the CRM overhead
You can do both
A CRM task can have a linked contact AND an assignee at the same time. This is common when you're tracking a task for a client (linked) and the work is done by someone on your team (assigned).
Quick Add CRM tokens - +, &, %
PrimeTask's Quick Add input parses three CRM-related tokens as you type:
| Token | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
+name | Adds the matching contact as an assignee | Send proposal +Sarah |
&name | Links the matching contact as a CRM linked contact | Follow up &John from yesterday's demo |
%company | Links the matching company as a CRM linked company | Send invoice %AcmeCorp by Friday |
You can combine all three in one line:
Schedule call with +Sarah &John about renewal %AcmeCorp tomorrow !high
This creates a task with Sarah as assignee, John as linked CRM contact, AcmeCorp as linked company, due tomorrow, priority High.
`+` is assignment, `&` is linking
+ says "this task belongs to this person" - organisational, no CRM side effects. & says "this task is about this person" - bidirectional CRM linking that makes the task visible on the contact's detail page. A common pattern: +me &ClientName for "I'm doing it, but it's about the client."
What kind of task gets created depends on which tokens you used:
- Only
+(assignee): Creates a regular task with the assignee set. No CRM linking. - Any
&or%: Creates a CRM task with linked contacts/companies. Appears on contact/company detail pages, the CRM Tasks page, and all regular task views.
For the full Quick Add syntax, see Quick Add Settings and Quick Add.
Quick comparison
| Feature | Assignees | CRM Linking |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Track who's responsible | Track which client/contact a task is for |
| Requires CRM Task type | No - works on any task | Yes |
| Shows on contact's detail page | No | Yes |
| Shows on company's detail page | No | Yes |
| Shows on CRM Tasks page | No (unless also CRM-linked) | Yes |
| Shows on regular Tasks page | Yes | Yes |
| Bidirectional | No | Yes |
| Multiple values | Yes (multiple assignees) | Yes (multiple contacts and companies) |
| Counts in CRM analytics | No | Yes |
Common questions
"I need to remember to call my friend Sarah on her birthday."
Add Sarah as a CRM contact. Create a regular (non-CRM) recurring task "Call Sarah for her birthday", set it to recur yearly, and assign it to yourself. No CRM linking needed - this is for your own task list. See Creating Tasks.
"I need to send a proposal to Acme Corp by Friday."
Create a CRM task with the linked company set to Acme Corp. Assign it to yourself (or whoever's writing it). The task shows up on your Tasks page, on Acme Corp's company detail page, and on the CRM Tasks page. See CRM Tasks.
"Our designer needs to mock up a landing page for our client Beta Inc."
Create a CRM task with linked company Beta Inc, assignee = the designer. The designer sees it on their task list; you can track it on Beta Inc's company page; both views stay in sync.
"I want to track a task involving multiple people from different companies."
Create a CRM task, set linked contacts to both people, linked companies to both companies, and assign it to whoever's doing the work. The task shows up on all four detail pages - one task, four cross-references.
"I assigned a contact to a task but they're not showing on the contact's detail page."
That's expected if you used the assignee field only. The contact's detail page Tasks section only shows tasks linked via CRM linking (the linked contact/company fields). To make the task appear there, add the contact as a linked contact on a CRM task - not just as an assignee. See the comparison table above.
Where to go next
| If you want to… | Read this |
|---|---|
| Add and manage contacts | Contacts |
| See a contact's tasks and activity timeline | Contact Details |
| Create CRM tasks with linked contacts/companies | CRM Tasks |
| Use Quick Add to assign and link in one step | Quick Add Settings |
| Manage all tasks (regular and CRM) | Tasks Overview |
| Create tasks | Creating Tasks |
| See how CRM tasks integrate with projects | CRM & Projects |
| See CRM task analytics | CRM & Reports |
| Use AI agents to assign and link tasks | CRM & MCP |
| Return to the CRM hub | PrimeCRM Overview |