Candidates can end up in Kula more than once — reapplying to a job, being sourced twice, or coming in through different channels with slightly different details. This article covers how Kula currently detects likely duplicates, what happens when you merge two profiles, and where detection still has gaps.

Where to find it: Duplicate warnings appear automatically while creating or editing a candidate. To merge existing duplicate profiles directly, use Merge from the account-wide Candidates page — see "Bulk actions on candidates" for the merge steps.

How Kula detects a likely duplicate today

• Email address match — if you try to create a candidate using an email address that's already linked to an existing contact, Kula shows you that existing contact's information so you can choose to merge rather than create a new, separate record.

• LinkedIn URL match — the same check applies to LinkedIn URLs. A matching LinkedIn profile is one of the two primary signals Kula currently uses to catch duplicates.

• When creating or editing a candidate, a first name and at least one of email or LinkedIn is required — these are the fields duplicate detection relies on.

What's not yet possible

• Kula doesn't currently match duplicates by name alone. If the same candidate has two different email addresses on file and no matching LinkedIn URL, they won't automatically be flagged as a duplicate today — this has been raised as a priority gap and a broader revamp (adding LinkedIn, email, and first/last name as combined matching signals) is in progress, but not yet live.

• LinkedIn-URL matching can still miss real duplicates in some cases. A recent case showed two contact records with the exact same LinkedIn URL that weren't matched, apparently due to a mismatch in how the candidate's name was recorded between the two records. If you spot two profiles for the same person that Kula didn't flag, it's worth merging manually rather than assuming detection will always catch it.

• Merge fixes duplicate profiles, not duplicate applications on the same job. If the same candidate profile somehow ends up with two active applications on one job, Merge won't help — there's no second profile to select. A safeguard was added in mid-July 2026 to block this from happening through the internal "Add to job" path; if you're troubleshooting an older case, rejecting one of the two applications with a "Duplicate" rejection reason is the practical workaround.

Merging duplicate profiles

When you merge two profiles for the same candidate, the kept profile absorbs:

• Scorecards — interview feedback, ratings, and AI candidate reviews

• Files and attachments — resumes, cover letters, and other uploaded documents

• Conversations — recruiter-to-candidate and recruiter-to-recruiter messages, with threads staying intact

• Interviews and schedules, so scorecards stay linked to the right interview

• Offers

A few things intentionally don't carry over in a merge:

• Activity feed and timeline events — both profiles logged their own events (like "Applied" or "Moved to Screening"). Bringing both over would show every event twice, so Kula keeps a single clean timeline on the kept profile instead.

• Background checks, assessments, and auto-rejection rule results — these are tied to a specific evaluation run. Carrying them over would incorrectly imply the check or assessment happened on the profile that was kept.

Good to know

• Candidates involved in a data migration may not always auto-merge as expected. A migrated candidate who later reapplied wasn't automatically merged with their existing (migrated) profile in one real case — if a customer reports an unexpected duplicate involving a migrated account, that's a reasonable thing to double-check rather than assume is standard behavior.

• If you're not sure whether two profiles are the same person, it's worth checking both the email and LinkedIn URL directly rather than relying only on name similarity, since name alone isn't currently used to catch duplicates.

FAQ

• What does Kula check to flag a candidate as a possible duplicate? Primarily a matching email address or LinkedIn URL. Name alone isn't currently used as a duplicate signal.

• A candidate has two different email addresses and wasn't flagged as a duplicate — why? Today's duplicate check relies on email or LinkedIn matches. If neither matches across the two records, Kula won't automatically catch it — this is a known gap, and merging manually is the current workaround.

• I found two profiles for the same person with the identical LinkedIn URL that weren't merged automatically — is that expected? It shouldn't happen in most cases, but it has occurred, apparently linked to how the candidate's name was recorded differently between the two profiles. Merge them manually if you spot this.

• If I merge two duplicate profiles, do I lose the interview scorecards? No — scorecards, files, conversations, interviews, and offers all transfer to the kept profile. Activity timeline events and assessment/background-check results don't transfer, by design.

• The same candidate somehow has two applications on the same job — can I merge them? Not with the Merge tool, since that's for duplicate profiles, not duplicate applications. Reject one of the two applications using the "Duplicate" rejection reason. A safeguard added in mid-July 2026 now blocks most new cases of this from happening via the internal "Add to job" flow.

Need help?

If you have questions or need assistance, reach out to us at support@kula.ai or use the in-app chat.