Harvest uses Salesforce Duplicate Rules and Matching Rules to identify and link incoming emails data to existing records in Salesforce. Each organisation must maintain proper configuration to ensure accurate matching as per expected business flows.

Note: to get up to date information on possible duplicate rules configuration, please use Salesforce documentation.

How to enable Duplicate detection

1. Go to Setup
2. In Quick Find, type Duplicate Rules
3. Click Duplicate Rules
4. Open the Duplicate Rule for the object. If duplicate rule is missing, click New rule and choose a needed object to proceed with creation.
5. Click Edit on the corresponding Duplicate rule and check if Matching rule is valid. To create or verify Matching Rules please use Salesforce documentation.

Recommended setup: If your org uses AscendixRE, do not build the rules by hand. Use Autogenerate xRE Duplicate rules (see below) and activate a rule for every object Harvest parses. Harvest checks for duplicates only on objects that have an active duplicate rule. Create your own rules only for objects the predefined rules do not cover.

General Best Practices for matching rules

• Prefer unique identifiers (Email, External ID, Property Code) over names\
• Use Exact match for unique fields; Fuzzy match for names\
• Keep rules simple (2–3 fields max) to avoid false negatives\
• Normalize data (lowercase emails, trim spaces) where possible\
• Test with real data samples before activating

Recommended setup: Start with the matching rules Harvest generates (listed at the end of this page). Change them only when your data needs it, and test the change on real records before you activate it.

Which records the duplicate check compares against

In Salesforce, not every user sees every record. Users see the records they own, plus the records your org shares with them (through sharing rules, roles or teams).

Each duplicate rule has a Record-Level Security setting. It decides which existing records Salesforce compares a new record against:

Recommended setup: Enforce sharing rules. This is the setting the duplicate rules Harvest generates use. Each broker is warned only about records they can see and open, and teams' records stay separate.

Consider Bypass sharing rules only when your org wants one shared database with no duplicates across teams, and accepts that users may be warned about records they cannot open.

To change the setting, go to Setup → Duplicate Rules, open the rule, click Edit and change Record-Level Security.

To learn more about how records are shared, see Salesforce documentation.

Actions for duplicates
Under Actions for Duplicates, Salesforce allows admins to configure whether users can Allow, Allow with Alert, or Block record creation/editing when a duplicate is detected, and optionally Report as Duplicate to create duplicate record sets for tracking and cleanup.

If your actions are set to Block, you will not be able to create suggested record if identified as duplicates as per standard Salesforce behaviour.

Note: A duplicate rule that blocks saving applies to every user and tool in your org, not only Harvest - for example, a Sale rule that blocks would stop a broker from recording a second sale of the same building. Harvest's own duplicate check (Review & Compare) works with active rules that allow the save.

Recommended setup: Allow with Alert on both Action On Create and Action On Edit. Do not use Block. This is how the rules Harvest generates are set up.

Please use Salesforce documentation for more.

Predefined Duplicate Rules for AscendixRE Objects
If your org has the AscendixRE package installed, Harvest can auto-generate matching rules and duplicate rules for 10 xRE-related objects. This eliminates manual rule creation and provides ready-to-use duplicate detection for common real estate workflows.

To generate predefined rules:

1. Open the Harvest Admin Console.
2. Navigate to the Setup tab.
3. In Step 5: Review Duplicate Rules, click Autogenerate xRE Duplicate rules.

4. A confirmation message appears: "Duplicate rules creation has been queued. Activate them manually in Setup once ready."

Note: The button is only visible when the AscendixRE package is active and xRE duplicate rule set does not yet exist.

Note: Auto-generated rules are created in inactive state. You must manually activate each rule in Setup > Duplicate Rules after reviewing the configuration.

Note: None of the predefined rules blocks saving a record. The full list of rules and their matching criteria is at the end of this page.

Recommended setup: Generate the rules, review them, then activate the rule for every xRE object that is active in your parse settings. If Harvest parses Inquiries, keep the xRE Property Duplicate Rule active - Harvest needs it to link an Inquiry's Property to an existing record and fill the Inquiry's Listing.

Re-running Autogenerate xRE Duplicate rules

Clicking Autogenerate xRE Duplicate rules re-creates only the unique duplicate rules and matching rules that are missing; existing activated rules are left untouched.

Note: The button is hidden if at least one auto-triggered duplicate rule has been removed from the org. Restore or rebuild the missing rule manually if needed.

Note: New rules created via this flow remain inactive — activate them manually under Setup → Duplicate Rules.

Predefined Duplicate Rules for Capital Markets Objects

If your org has Capital Markets Support enabled, Harvest can auto-generate matching rules and duplicate rules for Capital Markets objects in a single action, so brokers placing debt and equity are warned about near-duplicate profiles, engagements, and quotes.

To generate predefined Capital Markets rules:

1. Open the Harvest Admin Console.
2. Navigate to the Setup tab.
3. In Step 5: Review Duplicate Rules, click Autogenerate Capital Markets Duplicate rules.

4. A confirmation message appears: "Duplicate rules creation has been queued. Activate them manually in Setup once ready."

Note: The button is only visible when Capital Markets objects are enabled and the Capital Markets duplicate rule set does not yet exist.

Note: Auto-generated rules are created in inactive state. You must manually activate each rule in Setup > Duplicate Rules after reviewing the configuration.

The Setup tab also shows how many Capital Markets duplicate rules exist and are currently active, so you can confirm duplicate protection is live without leaving Harvest.

Recommended setup: If Capital Markets objects are enabled, generate and activate all 3 Capital Markets rules. Check on the Setup tab that all 3 show as active.

Reference: predefined rules and matching criteria

All 13 predefined rules are set to Allow on create and edit and show the alert "Potential duplicate record created." Brokers can still create legitimate records such as repeat sales, follow-up inquiries and same-name contacts, and Harvest still offers the existing match for review.

Note: Before Harvest 1.7, the Contact, Inquiry and Sale rules blocked saving. If your org created the rules with an earlier version, they are not changed on upgrade. To update them, open each rule in Setup → Duplicate Rules, set Action On Create and Action On Edit to Allow with Alert, and set Alert Text to "Potential duplicate record created."

Note: For a suggested Inquiry, Harvest fills its Listing from the existing Property's Listings. This needs the Inquiry object to be active in parse settings and the xRE Property Duplicate Rule to be active, so that the Inquiry's Property is matched to an existing record.