> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aresdeploy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CRM connection

> Connect your HighLevel account so Ares can work your contacts, conversations, and pipeline.

Ares uses your CRM as its home base for lead handling. Every lead, message, tag, and appointment lives there, in your account, under your control. Connecting it is the single most important setup step.

## What Ares can do once connected

| Area               | Capability                                                                                       |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Contacts           | Create and update contacts, tags, and custom fields                                              |
| Conversations      | Read SMS and email threads; send follow-up subject to your [approval settings](/using/approvals) |
| Pipeline           | Create and move opportunities through your stages as leads progress                              |
| Calendars          | Read availability and work toward booked appointments                                            |
| Forms and webhooks | Receive new lead submissions the moment they arrive                                              |

## What Ares will never do

* **Delete contacts.** Under no circumstances, including "cleanup." Cold leads get tagged and parked instead.
* **Message outside the guardrails you set.** Standing follow-up runs as authorized; anything beyond it goes through approvals.
* **Touch billing, account settings, or user management** inside your CRM.

## Connecting

1. Open [app.aresdeploy.com](https://app.aresdeploy.com) and go to the connections step of onboarding, or the connections panel on the dashboard.
2. Choose your CRM and sign in to the account you use for your business.
3. Ares confirms the connection, then reads in your pipelines, calendars, and existing contacts so it starts with full context.

The first sync can take a few minutes on large accounts. Ares tells you when it is caught up.

## Pipeline setup that works

Ares adapts to your existing pipeline, but simple pipelines produce better automation and cleaner reporting:

<Note>
  Start your pipeline at the booking, not before it. A stage set like **New lead → Contacted → Estimate booked → Quoted → Won** beats a dozen micro-stages. Fewer stages means fewer misfiled leads and numbers you can read.
</Note>

If your pipeline is a mess right now, connect anyway. Ask Ares in chat to propose a simplified stage set; it will map existing opportunities across for your approval.

## Working alongside Ares

You and your team keep using the CRM normally. Ares sees manual changes and works around them:

* If you reply to a lead yourself, Ares reads it and does not double-send.
* If you drag an opportunity to a new stage, Ares treats that as ground truth.
* If you tag a contact "do not contact," Ares honors it immediately.

## Disconnecting

Revoke access any time from the connections panel. Ares stops all CRM activity immediately. Your data stays in your CRM, untouched, because it never lived anywhere else.