# Find a contact by description

Find someone in your contact graph by what you remember about them, location, company, project, vibe, instead of by name.

Source: https://get-alfred.ai/docs/prompt-book/cross-tool/reverse-contact-search  
Updated: 2026-05-01

Works in: Chat, Text

## The prompt

- Who's my contact at \[DESCRIPTION]?

This is one of the most distinctly useful prompts in alfred_. Instead of name-first lookup ("show me Sarah Lee"), it's attribute-first, *who do I know that fits this description?*

## What alfred_ does

1. Searches contacts by the attribute you describe (location, company, industry, role)
2. Cross-references your email history (so "old client in Azusa" works even if you haven't tagged them as a client)
3. Returns matches with: name, email, last interaction, any saved memory about them
4. Asks for clarification if multiple candidates match

## What kinds of descriptions work

**By location:**

- "What was my old client who's located in Azusa?"
- "Anyone I've emailed in Tokyo?"

**By company:**

- "Do I have any EPRI contacts?"
- "Who's my contact at Bosch?"
- "Anyone at Schneider Electric?"

**By industry / segment:**

- "Which VIP contacts do I have in industrial companies?"
- "Who do I know in solar?"
- "All my contacts at battery storage companies"

**By project / topic:**

- "Who was on that Tycool intro chain?"
- "Whoever I last talked to about the Q3 contract"
- "Who's the lead at the company I met at SID?"

**By role / relationship:**

- "Who's my CFO?" (if you've told alfred_)
- "My main contact at the Acme team"

## Pair with action

The most useful chain is *find them, then do something*:

- "Find Pablo's email and draft a check-in"
- "Who's my contact at Siemens, and send them my Raven intro"
- "Do I have an EPRI contact? If yes, draft an intro email"

## What if I don't remember anything?

Try the pattern *"the person who \[did X]"*:

- "Who replied to my last 2026 PMF email?"
- "Who introduced me to Cecil Park?"
- "Whoever I was last waiting on a contract from"

alfred_ pulls from your email history, not just contacts.

## Saving what you learn

After alfred_ identifies someone, you can save context for next time:

- "Remember Peter Wesslau is my main contact at RK"
- "Remember Cecil Park is a VIP contact"

See [Teach alfred_ something to remember](https://get-alfred.ai/docs/prompt-book/cross-tool/teach-alfred).

## Related

- [What do you know about \[person\]?](https://get-alfred.ai/docs/prompt-book/cross-tool/what-do-you-know-about-person)
- [Teach alfred_ something to remember](https://get-alfred.ai/docs/prompt-book/cross-tool/teach-alfred)
- [Send an intro using a saved template](https://get-alfred.ai/docs/prompt-book/email/send-intro-template)

## Variations

- What was my old client who is located in Azusa?
- Do I have any EPRI contact from my old emails?
- Which VIP contacts do I have in industrial companies, Siemens, Honeywell, Schneider Electric?
- Find the Pablo contact info
- Can you remember who Peter from RK is based on this result?
- What is Peter from RK looking for me to do?

## Best for

When you can almost remember who someone is, the company, the city, the deal, but not the name. alfred_ searches your contact graph + email history for the match.