/directory

name: "3CX Directory & Contacts"
description: >
  3CX's read-only directory surface: resolving a caller by email or by exact
  extension, searching the PBX's own phonebooks, searching contacts synced
  from an integrated CRM, and listing PBX users/extensions.
when_to_use: >-
  When looking up who a phone number, extension, or email address belongs to
  inside 3CX, or when listing the PBX's users and extensions. Use when: 3cx
  contact, 3cx extension, 3cx phonebook, 3cx directory, find caller 3cx, who
  is this extension, or 3cx user list.

3CX Directory & Contacts

Overview

3CX exposes read-only lookups across three sources: the PBX's own phonebooks (company and personal entries), the PBX's user/extension list, and — where the PBX has a CRM connector configured — contacts synced in from that CRM. All of it is read-only; nothing in this skill creates or edits a contact or extension.

Anti-triggers

• **The CRM record itself** — this skill only reads what 3CX has synced in

or is querying live from a connected CRM. To create or edit the actual CRM contact, use `hubspot-contacts` or `salesbuildr-companies-contacts`.

• **The client's documentation record** — extension lists and phone trees

that belong in runbooks live in `hudu-companies`, not here.

Capabilities

Exact tool names are not published by 3CX — see the `api-patterns` skill for why, and call `tools/list` for the authoritative names on a connected PBX. The read-only capabilities this skill covers:

• Find a contact by email
• Find a contact by exact extension
• Search CRM-integrated contacts
• Search 3CX phonebooks
• List PBX users/extensions

Common Workflows

Resolve a caller

1. If you have an email address or an exact extension number, use the matching exact-match lookup first — it's the most reliable signal. 2. If that comes back empty, fall back to a phonebook search or a CRM-integrated contact search for a partial or fuzzy match. 3. If you only have a name, search the phonebook and the CRM-integrated contacts in parallel — one may have an entry the other doesn't.

Cross-reference with the PSA or CRM

A miss on CRM-integrated contact search means "not synced to this PBX," not "doesn't exist in the CRM." The sync is whatever CRM connector is configured on that specific PBX — confirm the connector is active before concluding a contact genuinely doesn't exist anywhere.

Gotchas

• **Extension lookup is exact-match, not fuzzy.** A partial or

slightly-wrong extension number won't resolve — fall back to the user list or a phonebook search instead of retrying the same lookup.

• **CRM-integrated results reflect the PBX's own sync, not a live CRM

query.** Staleness depends entirely on how that PBX's CRM connector is configured — this skill has no visibility into that connector's refresh interval.

Related Skills

• [API Patterns](../api-patterns/SKILL.md) — connection setup and tool discovery
• [Calls, Queues & Profiles](../calls-queues/SKILL.md) — what a resolved contact is doing right now (on a call, in a queue)