CRM-in-a-Box

Bootstrap and manage an open, file-based CRM using the CRM-in-a-Box protocol (contacts, pipeline, interactions as NDJSON). Use when setting up a new CRM for a company, logging contacts/leads, updating deal stages, or recording interactions — all without any SaaS dependency.

CRM-in-a-Box Skill

An open, agent-native CRM protocol. One directory = one CRM. No vendor lock-in.

Files

• contacts.ndjson — one JSON object per line, each a contact/company record
• pipeline.ndjson — deal/opportunity tracking with stages
• interactions.ndjson — append-only log of emails, calls, notes, meetings
• config.yaml — pipeline stages and labels

Bootstrap a New CRM

Copy the baseline files into a company directory:

bash

mkdir -p ./mycompany/crm
cp /path/to/crm-in-a-box/{config.yaml,contacts.ndjson,pipeline.ndjson,interactions.ndjson} ./mycompany/crm/

Or start fresh with empty NDJSON files and the default config.

Contact Schema

json

{
  "id": "c001",
  "name": "Jane Smith",
  "email": "[e-mail]",
  "company": "Acme Corp",
  "phone": "[phone]",
  "stage": "new",
  "labels": ["hot-lead"],
  "notes": "Referred by John.",
  "created_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"
}

Pipeline Schema

json

{
  "id": "p001",
  "contact_id": "c001",
  "stage": "proposal_sent",
  "deal": "Enterprise License",
  "value": 12000,
  "updated_at": "2026-01-15T00:00:00Z"
}

Interaction Schema

json

{
  "id": "i001",
  "contact_id": "c001",
  "type": "email",
  "summary": "Sent intro email about Denver market sale.",
  "at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z"
}

Pipeline Stages (default)

new → contacted → meeting_scheduled → proposal_sent → negotiating → won / lost

Default Labels

hot-lead, warm-lead, cold-lead, referral, conference, inbound, outbound

Agent Instructions

• Log a contact: append a JSON line to contacts.ndjson
• Update a stage: append an updated entry to pipeline.ndjson (keep old entries — append-only)
• Log an interaction: append to interactions.ndjson
• Search contacts: grep -i "name" contacts.ndjson | python3 -m json.tool
• List pipeline: cat pipeline.ndjson | python3 -c "import sys,json; [print(json.dumps(json.loads(l), indent=2)) for l in sys.stdin]"

Forks / Verticals

Fork config.yaml to customize stages and labels for your vertical:

• pm-crm — Property management (tenants, owners, vendors)
• saas-crm — SaaS sales
• realestate-crm — Buyers, sellers, listings
• recruiting-crm — Candidates, jobs, placements

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Part of the biz-in-a-box family of open protocols.