Precleared

Docs

Check a campaign before it sends

Check every lead in a paused Instantly, Smartlead or Woodpecker campaign. Keep held leads out of outreach and save the signed receipts.

For Instantly and Woodpecker, a hold adds the address to the account-wide block list, so it affects other campaigns too. Only report avoids this.

Pause first

  • Instantly: open Campaigns, choose the campaign and pause it. Wait until its status is paused.
  • Smartlead: open Email campaigns, choose the campaign and set it to Paused.
  • Woodpecker: open the campaign and pause it. Wait until its status is PAUSED.

Keep the campaign paused until the job is done and you have reviewed every held lead and any write-back errors. Do not add or remove leads while the gate is running. Precleared never starts a campaign, sends an email or unblocks a lead. If you start a campaign while a job is running, some leads could receive an email before the next status check.

Run the gate

  1. Open the campaign gate. Paste your Precleared key and validate it. Validation uses no check.
  2. Choose Instantly, Smartlead or Woodpecker. Paste that tool's API key and load campaigns. API access may require a paid plan or add-on in the sending tool.
  3. Choose the paused campaign, sender country and where the addresses came from. Leave the source unknown if you do not know.
  4. Choose Block them in the tool or Only report, then Run. The tool key is encrypted while the job runs, cleared from the field and removed from the saved job when it finishes or fails.

The minute worker checks up to 50 leads per pass per job. Large campaigns need several passes. Progress shows checked, cleared, held and could not check. A rate limit waits for a later pass. Exhausted daily allowance or credits stops the job with the same message and purchase links as an ordinary check.

What gets held

Only ok_to_email clears. consent_needed, blocked and unknown are held. A lead that could not be checked is also held in block mode. Cleared leads are never changed.

  • Instantly: held addresses go on its account-wide block list. This can prevent outreach in other campaigns too. No tag is added because the documented API does not establish a safe lead-tag operation for this purpose.
  • Smartlead: held leads are paused individually in this campaign. The documented API supports pausing a lead, not setting its status to BLOCKED. Do not resume those leads without reviewing their receipts.
  • Woodpecker: held addresses go on its account-wide blacklist. This affects other campaigns too. Woodpecker updates prospect blacklist status during campaign processing, not immediately.
  • Only report: no leads are changed in the sending tool. Review the report and hold those leads yourself before starting.

A tool error appears beside the lead as “The tool said: ...”. Other leads continue. The written-back count includes only confirmed successful hold requests. If any write-back failed, keep the campaign paused and hold those leads yourself.

Receipts and CSV

The results table lists each held lead, verdict, first reason, next step and receipt id. Open a receipt to see the evidence behind that check. Download the CSV to keep a record. Only the Precleared key that created the job can read its results.

While a job runs, progress shows counts only. Completed results are shown in pages of up to 500 leads. The CSV includes only leads already checked, never pending leads. Saved lead results are deleted 30 days after the job finishes. Download your CSV before then.

The tool cannot lock a campaign against edits or a manual start. The gate is a check of the paused campaign's lead list, not a promise that later additions are checked. Run it again after changing that list.

Allowance

A campaign check uses one check per lead, using the same REST trial, plan, free allowance and pack credits as an ordinary check. The existing uncharged unknown-country answers and qualifying free re-check rule apply. See pricing and the docs.

Decision support with sources, not legal advice.