Detecting duplicate candidates

Last updated: November 4, 2026

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.

Who can do this: Anyone with access to create or edit candidates can see duplicate warnings when they come up. Merging duplicate profiles follows the same access as editing candidates.

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, merge them yourself when you spot them.

  • 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. Kula blocks this when you use Add to job; if it has already happened, reject one of the two applications with the "Duplicate" rejection reason.

Merging duplicate profiles

When two records exist for the same candidate, merging combines them into one so your pipeline, activity history, and outreach records stay accurate.

How to merge duplicate profiles

  1. Go to the account-wide Candidates page.

  2. Select the candidate records you believe are duplicates, up to 3 at a time.

  3. Choose Merge from the bulk actions. The Merge Candidates window opens with a card for each profile.

  4. Check the cards to confirm they're the same person. To add another profile, search for it in the box. To drop one, remove its card.

  5. Click the card of the profile you want to keep. This is the primary profile. By default it's the profile you started from.

  6. Click Merge candidate.

The current picker also supports searching for a specific record to merge against, and excludes the record you're already viewing from its own merge search results, so you can't accidentally try to merge a candidate with themselves.

A merge can't be undone. Kula has no unmerge option. Check that you've picked the right profile to keep before you click Merge candidate. If you merge by mistake, contact support.

What happens to the profiles

  • The primary profile keeps its own details. Its name, phone number, source and other profile fields stay as they are. Kula doesn't overwrite them with details from the other profile, so merge into the profile with the most accurate details.

  • Details the primary lacks are added. All email addresses, resumes, notes, files, conversations, interviews and offers move to the primary. So do skills, tags, education, work experience and social links that the primary doesn't already have.

  • The other profiles are removed. After the merge they no longer appear in Kula.

  • If both profiles applied to the same job, the other profile's application is moved over and marked Duplicate, and the primary's application stays active.

What's not yet possible

  • You can merge at most 3 records at a time. If more than 3 duplicate profiles exist for the same person, you'll need to merge them in more than one pass.

  • The merge picker's matching signals are basic. It doesn't yet show which details (LinkedIn profile, email, name) match, so check the records yourself before you merge.

  • If a merge fails, contact support.

What doesn'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.

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, Kula won't catch the duplicate. Merge the profiles yourself.

  • 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.

Need help?

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