CRM & Projects

Projects and PrimeCRM are designed to work together. A project can be linked to one or more contacts and companies - a freelance project for a single client, an agency project for a customer, a team project where stakeholders need to be tracked. When contacts are linked to a project, you get extra capabilities inside the project: linked-contact assignees, project-scoped CRM tasks, and an activity timeline filtered to that project's people. The project also starts showing up on each linked contact's and company's detail page, so the relationship is visible from both sides.

This article covers the CRM side of the project-CRM relationship. The project side - how to manage a project team, including the difference between manual team members and CRM-linked contacts - is covered in Project Team & CRM in the Projects documentation. For the full picture of what projects are and how they work, see Projects Overview.

PrimeCRM is a Pro feature

Everything in this article requires a Pro license with CRM enabled. See License Settings to upgrade and CRM Settings to enable CRM per Space.

What you can do

Link contacts and companies to any project

from the contact's detail page, the company's detail page, the project's team management, or in bulk from the Contacts or Companies list

Switch a project between Shared and Isolated CRM

to control whether it uses the Space-wide CRM or its own private data

Assign CRM contacts to tasks within a project

linked contacts appear in the task assignee picker

Create CRM tasks linked to both a contact and a project

the task shows up everywhere: the contact's page, the project's task list, and the CRM Tasks page

Log activities scoped to a project

when working in an Isolated CRM project, choose whether an activity is project-private or shared

See the full CRM context for a project

linked contacts, linked companies, CRM tasks, and an activity timeline, all visible inside the project

How to reach CRM & Projects features

There's no single "CRM & Projects" page - the features live across several places:

From a contact's detail page: Open any contact, find the Linked Projects section, and use Manage to add or remove project links. See Contact Details.
From a company's detail page: Same - find Linked Projects and use Manage. See Company Details.
From the project's team management: Open the project's team section and use the Add from Contacts option to pull in CRM contacts. See Project Team & CRM.
From the Contacts list in bulk: Select multiple contacts, then use the Link action and pick a project. See Contacts.
From CRM Settings: Configure per-project CRM mode (Shared vs Isolated) at Settings → PrimeCRM Settings → Per-Space Settings. See CRM Settings.

Things worth knowing

Two kinds of people on a project - Manual vs CRM

PrimeTask projects support two different concepts for "people on this project":

Concept	What it is	Source	Can be assigned to tasks?
Manual team members	Stakeholders added by name only - for visibility and tracking	A name typed into the project's team field	No - manual members are display-only
CRM contacts	Real CRM contacts linked to the project	Pulled from your CRM	Yes - full contacts with all their fields, assignable to tasks

The key difference

Manual team members are just labels. They can't be assigned to tasks, linked to activities, or tracked in any CRM view. CRM contacts linked to a project can do all of those things. If you need to actually work with someone on a project - assign them tasks, log calls, track activities - link them via CRM, not as a manual member.

For the full project-side workflow, see Project Team & CRM.

CRM modes - Shared vs Isolated

Every project uses one of two CRM modes:

Mode	What it means	Best for
Shared (default)	The project sees the Space's main CRM - all contacts and companies are visible across every project	Most users - personal contacts, internal teams, any work where the same people show up across projects
Isolated	The project gets its own private CRM storage - contacts and activities created inside this project are invisible to other projects	NDA client work, sensitive prospect lists, projects requiring strict separation

You configure the mode per project in Settings → PrimeCRM Settings → Per-Space Settings. When you switch a project to Isolated, PrimeTask explains what the change means and asks you to confirm. The full comparison of the two modes - auto-sync, source indicators, deletion behavior - lives in Shared vs Isolated CRM.

Start with Shared, switch to Isolated only when you need it

Shared mode is simpler and works for almost every project. Only switch to Isolated when you have a genuine confidentiality requirement - like an NDA that prevents one project from seeing another's contacts.

Linking contacts to projects

Linking a contact to a project makes two things happen:

The contact appears in the project's CRM context

you'll see them in the project's linked contacts, and they become available as assignees for tasks inside the project.

The project appears on the contact's detail page

open the contact and you'll see which projects they're linked to, creating mutual visibility.

You can link contacts from several places (see "How to reach" above). The reverse - unlinking - works from the same places: remove the project link from the contact's Linked Projects section, or use the Unlink bulk action from the Contacts list.

Linking companies to projects

Companies link to projects the same way contacts do - from the company's detail page or in bulk from the Companies list. When you link a company to a project, its individual contacts are not automatically linked. You link contacts and companies independently.

For client projects, link both the company AND the key contacts

The company link gives you the "who's the client" context. The contact links give you the "who specifically am I working with" context. Without both, you're missing half the picture.

CRM tasks within a project - they're the same tasks

A CRM task can be linked to one or more contacts, one or more companies, and a project - all at the same time. When it is, the task appears in:

The CRM Tasks page
The linked contact's detail page (Tasks section)
The linked company's detail page (Tasks section)
The project's task list
The regular Tasks page (all tasks, including CRM, live here)
Today / Calendar views (if the task has a due date)

This is the key insight: CRM tasks are not separate from project tasks. A CRM task with a project link IS a project task. You don't have to choose between "is this a CRM thing or a project thing" - it's both, and completing it from any of those views updates it everywhere.

For the full CRM task model, see CRM Tasks.

Activities scoped to a project

Activities (calls, emails, meetings, notes, demos, proposals, LinkedIn touchpoints) can be linked to contacts, companies, or both. When you log an activity from inside an Isolated CRM project, PrimeTask asks where to save it:

Shared - the activity is logged in the Space's shared CRM and linked to the project. Other projects can see it.
Project Only - the activity is logged in the project's private storage and never appears outside this project.

In Shared CRM mode, this choice doesn't arise - activities go to the shared pool automatically.

For the full set of activity types and how they work, see Activities Overview.

Cross-references - the same data appears in multiple views

Because contacts, companies, projects, activities, and tasks are all interconnected, the same piece of information shows up in multiple places:

Link a contact to a project → the project's linked contacts AND the contact's linked projects both update
Create a CRM task with a contact + project → appears in the project's task list, the contact's task section, the CRM Tasks page, and the regular Tasks page
Log an activity for a contact while inside a project → appears on the contact's activity timeline AND the project's CRM activity timeline
Complete a CRM task from any view → all views update simultaneously, because there's only one underlying record

Common questions

"I'm starting a new freelance project for one client."

Create the project, add the client as a CRM contact (if they're not already in your CRM), and link the contact to the project from either side. Optionally add their company too. Leave CRM mode as Shared - there's no need for Isolated mode for a single-client freelance project unless the work is under NDA.

"I'm an agency working with two competing clients who must not see each other's data."

Create both projects and switch each one to Isolated CRM mode from CRM Settings. Add each client's contacts directly inside their isolated project. Activities, tasks, and notes you log inside each project never cross over to the other. Use auto-sync if you want some agency-wide contacts (your account manager, billing) to appear in both projects' views.

"My project already exists but I want to start tracking CRM for it."

CRM is already available - every project supports Shared CRM by default. Add the relevant contacts and companies to your CRM, link them to the project, and you're done. No mode change required. The project immediately starts showing linked contacts in its CRM context.

"I linked a company to a project but its contacts didn't show up."

By design - linking a company doesn't auto-link its contacts. PrimeTask keeps these independent so you can link a company without dragging in every employee. Link the specific contacts you need separately, from either the contact's detail page or in bulk from the Contacts list.

"Where do I manage the project team (manual members, not CRM contacts)?"

That lives on the project side, not the CRM side. See Project Team & CRM for how to add and manage both manual team members and CRM-linked contacts from the project's own team management.

"Can AI agents link contacts to projects?"

Yes. The MCP server's CRM tools can create contacts, link them to projects, and create project-scoped CRM tasks programmatically. See CRM & MCP and External Integrations Settings.

Where to go next

If you want to…	Read this
Understand Shared vs Isolated CRM in depth	Shared vs Isolated CRM
Manage the project team (manual + CRM members)	Project Team & CRM
See the full Projects documentation	Projects Overview
Add and manage contacts	Contacts
Add and manage companies	Companies
Create CRM tasks linked to projects	CRM Tasks
Log activities scoped to a project	Activities
Configure CRM modes per project	CRM Settings
Use AI agents with CRM and projects	CRM & MCP
Return to the CRM hub	PrimeCRM Overview