Merge Rules

Merge Rules give you complete control over how your records are merged. By establishing a default hierarchy and custom logic, you can tell Dedupely exactly which specific field values are kept or discarded during a merge.

Configuring the Primary Record

The Primary Record is the one that "wins": it provides the core data whenever no field-level rule applies.

Choose how the Primary is picked:

• Oldest Record
• Newest Record
• Last Updated Record
• Most Field Data
• Custom

Configuring Field-Level Merge Rules

You can configure exactly how data is handled on a field-by-field basis under the Common Fields and Other Fields lists.

Next to each field, use the dropdown menu to select how data is retained:

• Primary: The field automatically inherits the value from your designated Primary Record.
• Only Primary: The system strictly uses the value from the Primary Record, provided that field is not blank on the Primary Record.
• Append: Designed for multi-value fields (such as multiple email addresses). This combines and retains all unique values from duplicate records rather than overwriting them. Append is not available for single-value fields.
• Custom: Opens advanced rule builders allowing you to define precise, conditional Win and Lose logic for that specific field.

Building Custom Merge Rules

If you select Custom for a field-level rule, you will configure the following components to determine the exact outcome of the merge:

• Rule Type: Define whether you are creating a Win Rule (selects the winning value) or a Lose Rule (prevents specific values from winning).
• When Field: Choose which synced field triggers the condition. This can be the target field itself or any other synced field in your CRM (enabling cross-field logic).
• Operator: Select the comparison logic to evaluate the data (e.g., is equal to, contains, is proper case, is longest, is blank).
• Target Terms: Enter the specific value or term required to trigger the condition.
• Duplicate Search: Apply the rule universally across all searches or restrict it to a specific Duplicate Search.

Example: Custom Merge Rule

If your objective is to ensure the "First Name" from the oldest contact is never kept, configure the custom rule as follows:

1. Rule Type: Lose Rule
2. When Field: Create Date
3. Operator: is oldest
4. Duplicate Search: All

This ensures the winning name is chosen from a newer record instead. You can stack multiple rules per field to handle various scenarios.

Rule evaluation and fallbacks

Dedupely evaluates your rules in this order:

• Execution Order: Lose Rules are evaluated before Win Rules to prevent unwanted values from winning, unless no other data exists.
• Priority: Win Rules are evaluated from top to bottom. You can change their priority sequence by reordering them in your list.
• The Fallback: If custom Win/Lose conditions are not met by any record in a duplicate set, the system automatically falls back to the value from your designated Primary Record.

Visualizing Merge Rules

Once your rules are created and saved, navigate to your Duplicate Searches to review their impact. You can confirm the exact outcome of your rules in two ways before executing a manual or automated merge:

1. In-line Preview: Within each duplicate group, the specific field values set to win will appear in bold text directly on the search results page.
2. Preview Merge Panel: For a comprehensive look at the final resulting record, open the match details window for a specific duplicate group and review the Preview Merge panel.

Default merge behavior

You do not need to set up any custom rules to start merging. Out of the box, Dedupely executes merges using your CRM’s native core functionality. This means the merges happen within your platform, following its exact native logic without bypassing built-in rules.

Usually, when relying on the default behavior:

• The most recent field values are typically retained.
• The oldest Record ID is preserved.
• Blank fields will never overwrite existing data.

FAQs about Merge Rules

• Why is my custom merge rule not applying to a specific field? Check if the target field is marked as read-only in your CRM. Dedupely cannot overwrite or dictate rules for read-only fields.

Mentioned in this article: Duplicate Searches, Merging duplicates, and Merge Safety.