[Bug]: Contact interaction creates doubled contacts and there is no way to delete them

[vactomas]

⚠️ This issue respects the following points: ⚠️

• This is a bug, not a question or a configuration/webserver/proxy issue.
• This issue is not already reported on Github (I've searched it).
• Nextcloud Server is up to date. See Maintenance and Release Schedule for supported versions.
• I agree to follow Nextcloud's Code of Conduct.

Bug description

After accepting invitation to an event Contacts interaction created set of contacts with emails only. There is no way to delete them or add information.

The behaviour follows the issue #27524.

After deleting the event contacts still persist.

NC 24

Steps to reproduce

1. Accept an event from invitation
2. Contacts are created as read-only
3. Delete the event

Expected behavior

Contacts disappear or can be deleted

Installation method

Official Docker image

Operating system

No response

PHP engine version

No response

Web server

No response

Database engine version

MariaDB

Is this bug present after an update or on a fresh install?

No response

Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

Encryption is Disabled

What user-backends are you using?

• Default user-backend (database)
• LDAP/ Active Directory
• SSO - SAML
• Other

Configuration report

No response

List of activated Apps

Enabled:
  - accessibility: 1.10.0
  - activity: 2.16.0
  - bruteforcesettings: 2.4.0
  - calendar: 3.3.1
  - circles: 24.0.0
  - cloud_federation_api: 1.7.0
  - comments: 1.14.0
  - contacts: 4.1.1
  - contactsinteraction: 1.5.0
  - dashboard: 7.4.0
  - dav: 1.22.0
  - federatedfilesharing: 1.14.0
  - federation: 1.14.0
  - files: 1.19.0
  - files_pdfviewer: 2.5.0
  - files_rightclick: 1.3.0
  - files_sharing: 1.16.2
  - files_trashbin: 1.14.0
  - files_versions: 1.17.0
  - files_videoplayer: 1.13.0
  - firstrunwizard: 2.13.0
  - logreader: 2.9.0
  - lookup_server_connector: 1.12.0
  - nextcloud_announcements: 1.13.0
  - notes: 4.3.1
  - notifications: 2.12.0
  - oauth2: 1.12.0
  - password_policy: 1.14.0
  - photos: 1.6.0
  - privacy: 1.8.0
  - provisioning_api: 1.14.0
  - recommendations: 1.3.0
  - richdocuments: 6.1.0
  - richdocumentscode: 21.11.402
  - serverinfo: 1.14.0
  - settings: 1.6.0
  - sharebymail: 1.14.0
  - support: 1.7.0
  - systemtags: 1.14.0
  - tasks: 0.14.4
  - text: 3.5.1
  - theming: 1.15.0
  - twofactor_backupcodes: 1.13.0
  - twofactor_totp: 6.3.0
  - updatenotification: 1.14.0
  - user_status: 1.4.0
  - viewer: 1.8.0
  - weather_status: 1.4.0
  - workflowengine: 2.6.0
Disabled:
  - admin_audit
  - encryption
  - end_to_end_encryption: 1.10.0
  - files_external
  - survey_client: 1.8.0
  - user_ldap

Nextcloud Signing status

No response

Nextcloud Logs

No response

Additional info

No response

[jph76]

These doubled contacts sometimes break CardDAV sync with iOS: only the “phantom” contact created by Contacts Integration gets synced to iOS. Original contact data is unavailable. Strange when your wife complains you’re no longer available in her phone contacts.
Only remedy so far is to disable Contacts Integration app.

[Mannshoch]

It's a similar Problem to this one I wrote in 2018:
#9422

Here about reducing double contacts that appear because of shared Adress books. As a solution I propose to not use address books inside Nextcloud but only as a tool for connection with DAV.
In that case you could create "Address books" per sharing partner (Nextclouds/Users/Applications)

[szaimen]

cc @ChristophWurst @JohannesGGE

[jph76]

Things have turned worse with Contacts Interaction 1.8.0 in Nextcloud 27.

In the past my workaround was to disable Contacts Interaction app. This would stop the duplicate contacts being synced via CardDAV to mobile phone.

Now, having upgraded to Nextcloud 27, I activated Contacts Interaction 1.8.0. I found out now both contacts (the original one and the one created by CI) were being synced to my mobile phone with iPhone merging them into one. My wife was duplicated 🤔 with the duplicate contact having her mobile number as a “VOICE” one. This breaks use cases like telling Siri to call my wife on her mobile, with Siri responding she doesn’t know any mobile number. for her.

Turning off Contacts Interaction doesn’t help: The duplicate contact stays AND is write protected. I’m out of luck of working around. This also works the other way round with grave impact on WAF.

[ChristophWurst]

@jph76 you probably see the system addressbook. See #38880.

[jph76]

@ChristophWurst You’re right, it’s data from the system addressbook. I’ve got a dedicated admin account for my familiy Nextcloud and that shows in my phone’s address book, too.

I can’t remove the phone numbers from the profiles… there’s no option to save.

I will now wait for the option to disable system addressbook sync as announced in #38880 .

Thanks for your advice!

[MicKress]

Perhaps it's a way if you can exclude the SAB from DAVsync? Like it's possible in OpenXChange. So you can decide which addressbooks are on your mobile device ...

[jdaviescoates]

I just hit this issue (or something like it) too

Some contacts randomly end up in my Recently Contacted here:

But whilst they are then it's impossible to edit them, which is very frustrating. What possible purpose does this serve?

I mean, I can see why Recently Contacted could be useful, but why lock them in read-only mode?!?

In my case, it isn't even people I have actually recently contacted (I guess because I'm using the SnappyMail app and not Nextcloud Mail), it's only people the Nextcloud Calendar has recently contacted (and yet, somewhat bizarrely, it isn't even all of them).

On further investigation, I don't think I am hitting the same issue as the contacts don't appear to be duplicated, I just can't edit them, so perhaps I should create a new issue? Update: created this issue #41194

[ChristophWurst]

I mean, I can see why Recently Contacted could be useful, but why lock them in read-only mode?!?

The idea is that you can clone them to a personal, writable address book.

[ChristophWurst]

Duplicate of #31606

[jdaviescoates]

I mean, I can see why Recently Contacted could be useful, but why lock them in read-only mode?!?

The idea is that you can clone them to a personal, writable address book.

OK, but some of them appear to be existing contacts, not new ones. So cloning them would just create duplicates, no?

[ChristophWurst]

OK, but some of them appear to be existing contacts

Not after #41046.

Having duplicates after cloning is expected