# Filter contacts and save a segment

Build a filter on any contact detail, watch the count change, then save it as a segment a broadcast can send to.

## Quick start

1. Open **Contacts** and click the funnel button beside the search box. On the app, tap **Filters**.
2. Pick a **Category**, then an **Operator**, then a value for the row.
3. Read the contact count in the panel header. It is how many people the rows match.
4. Click **Save as Segment**, give it a name, and save. Owners, admins and agents can.
5. Find it later under **Segments** in the left rail. Saving a segment messages nobody.

## Watch out

- A segment is a rule, not a frozen list. Who is in it changes as your contacts change.
- A segment does not check marketing consent, so a broadcast built on it can reach fewer people.

![A filter row built on Contact Tag, with the matching count in the panel header.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/filter-contacts-and-save-segments-1.webp)

![Save New Segment, naming the filter to reuse later.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/filter-contacts-and-save-segments-2.webp)

## Getting here

**Contacts** → the funnel button beside the search box, which carries the number of rows your filter has. On the app, the **Contacts** tab → **Filters**; saved segments are the chips above the list.

## Before you start

- Owners, admins and agents can save, rename and delete a segment. A **viewer** can apply one; the save itself is refused by the database rather than hidden.
- Saving a segment sends nothing; it is a saved question about your contacts. **Run a workflow** beside the filter is different: that workflow can message the people the filter matches.

## Fields

| Field | What it means | Limits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Category | What the row asks about: **Contact Field**, **Lifecycle**, **Channel**, **Contact Tag**, **Last Interacted Channel**, **Time Since Last Incoming Message** or **From ad**. | — |
| Contact field | Only for **Contact Field**. Your own fields appear here beside **Name**, **Phone Number**, **Email Address**, **Country**, **Language**, **Bot Status**, **Assignee**, **Collaborators**, **Conversation Status** and the three time fields. | — |
| Operator | How to compare. Text offers **is equal to** and **contains** with their opposites, plus **exists** and **does not exist**. A list offers **has any of**, **has all of** and **has none of**. | — |
| Value | A typed value, a picked value, or several chips. | **exists** and **does not exist** take no value. |
| Timestamp / From / To | For a comparison against a date. | — |
| Unit | For a "time since" comparison: seconds, minutes, hours or days, counted back from now or forward from now. | — |
| And / Or | How the rows join. A filter group is a box of rows carrying its own **And** or **Or**. | — |

## How it works

- Opening an empty panel starts one row and opens its category menu, so there is always something to fill in.
- The list behind the panel reloads about half a second after you stop editing, so the table and the count follow the rows you build.
- The count in the panel header is how many contacts the rows match. A broadcast built on the same rows sends only to people with marketing consent and a usable number, so its audience can be smaller.
- A row you have not finished is ignored, and rows you never filled in are dropped when the panel closes.
- **Save as Segment** opens **Save New Segment**: a name, up to 64 characters, and nothing else. The segment stores the rows, not the people.
- Because it stores the rows, who is in a segment changes as your contacts change. Somebody who earns a tag tomorrow is in it tomorrow.
- Saving from the list opens the new segment, so what you see next is the segment rather than unsaved rows.
- Opening a segment from the rail opens the panel on it. Changing a row then marks the header **Unsaved** and offers **Save** and **Save as new Segment**.
- **Reset Filter** puts the rows back to the segment's saved version, or clears them when you are not in a segment.
- A segment's **⋮** menu holds **Rename** and **Delete**. Deleting asks first, and removes it for the whole workspace.
- Leaving the page with unsaved rows asks **Discard unsaved filters?**, with **Discard filters** and **Keep editing**.
- Filter rows are written once and copied to the app, so a row built on a phone means the same thing as the same row built on the web.
- The app's sheet holds the same **Category**, **Contact field**, **Operator**, **Add value**, **Timestamp**, **From**, **To** and **Unit**, and can save a new segment or save over the one you opened.

## When it fails

- A row missing its value leaves the filter unfinished, and **Save as Segment** stays greyed out until it is complete.
- A name another segment already uses: **A segment with this name already exists.**
- An empty name: the dialog says **This field is required** and will not save.
- A save the server refuses: **Could not save the segment.**
- A deleted segment does not stop a draft broadcast that used it. The draft keeps the rules it copied when you picked the segment, and its **Segment** box then shows **All**.
- A segment whose rows no longer make sense is listed in the rail by name with only a delete action, so you can read it and get rid of it.
- On the app, a segment built from something the phone cannot run yet says: “This segment uses filters the app cannot run yet. Open it on the web.”
- On the app an unfinished filter says **This filter is not complete yet.**

## Limits

- A segment is never a frozen list of people. If you need the exact people of one moment, export the filtered rows instead.
- A segment does not check marketing consent. That check happens when a broadcast works out who it may send to.
- The **VIP only** control is not part of a segment. While it is on, the **Add segment** button beside the filter steps aside.
- A comparison on one of your own fields compares text, not numbers, so no greater-than is offered for one.
- The search box and a filter row are different things. The box reads name, phone and email; a row reads the field you picked.

## Best practices

- Build the filter first and watch the count. A segment saved from a filter you have not looked at is a broadcast you have not checked.
- Name a segment after the action you will take with it, not after the rule inside it.
- Use **has none of** on a tag to leave out people you have already contacted, rather than keeping a separate list.
- Re-open a segment before a broadcast. It is a question, and the answer has moved since you saved it.

## Use cases

- Everyone tagged for a product launch who has not bought yet: one **Contact Tag** row and one **Lifecycle** row, joined by **And**.
- People who went quiet: **Time Since Last Incoming Message** with **is greater than (time)** and a number of days.
- Everyone who arrived from an ad: a **From ad** row, saved as a segment you can broadcast to.
- A one-off clean-up: filter on **Email Address** with **does not exist**, then tick rows and fix them by hand.

## FAQ and troubleshooting

### Does saving a segment copy the contacts into it?

No. It saves the rules. Who is in it changes as your contacts change, which is why a broadcast works the rules out again the moment it publishes.

### Can I share a segment with a teammate?

Every segment belongs to the workspace, so your teammates already see it in the rail and in a broadcast's **Segment** picker.

### Why is Save as Segment greyed out?

A row is unfinished. Finish the row or remove it. Separately, **Add segment** beside the filter is hidden while **VIP only** is on.

### What happens to a broadcast if I delete its segment?

A broadcast that has already published carries its own list of recipients, so it is unaffected. A draft reads the segment's rules as they are when it publishes, so editing a segment changes the draft. Delete the segment and the draft falls back to the rules it copied when you picked it, with **Segment** showing **All**.

### Can I filter on something a workflow saved?

Yes, if it was saved into one of your own contact fields. Pick **Contact Field** and choose that field by name.

## Related

- [The contacts list](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/contacts-list-and-saved-views)
- [Choose who receives a broadcast](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/broadcasts/choose-who-receives-a-broadcast)
- [Tags and lifecycle stages](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/tags-and-lifecycle-stages)
- [Marketing consent, and blocking a contact](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/marketing-consent-and-blocking)
- [Save to Contact Field](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/workflows/save-to-contact-field)

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Source files: `src/components/contacts/ContactsFilterBuilder.tsx`, `src/components/contacts/filter/FilterPanel.tsx`, `src/components/contacts/filter/SaveSegmentDialog.tsx`, `src/components/contacts/filter/unsaved-filter-guard.tsx`, `src/components/contacts/SaveSegmentButton.tsx`, `src/components/contacts/SegmentRailList.tsx`, `src/lib/contacts/filter-conditions.ts`, `src/lib/contacts/segment-schema.ts`, `src/lib/contacts/segment-query.ts`, `src/app/(app)/contacts/actions.ts`, `src/app/(app)/contacts/page.tsx`, `src/lib/broadcasts/draft.ts`, `supabase/migrations/0010_broadcasts.sql`, `mobile/src/app/(tabs)/contacts.tsx`, `mobile/src/lib/i18n/en.ts`