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Check leads with Precleared when your agent works in Clay

Clay's MCP server lets your agent search and run Clay from a chat. Connect Precleared's MCP server next to it, so every lead your agent sends on to Clay's Sequencer or a campaign is checked first. For tables, the HTTP API column recipe checks every row inside Clay itself.

What you need

  • A Precleared key. Every new key starts with 14 days at 100 checks a day, then your own 100 a day over MCP, no card needed. Get a free key.
  • Clay's MCP server. The hosted one connects through Claude's Clay connector, or by typing @Clay in ChatGPT, and needs a workspace role above Viewer. There's also a local server in the Clay CLI.

1. Connect both servers

  • Claude.ai: add the Clay connector, then Precleared from the Claude directory or as a custom connector with https://precleared.dev/mcp?src=guide-clay.
  • Claude Code: run /plugin marketplace add clay-run/agent-plugins, then /plugin install clay@clay-plugins, and add Precleared with the command below.
  • Local: the Clay CLI runs a server with clay mcp. Sign in with clay login, or set CLAY_API_KEY.
claude mcp add --transport http precleared "https://precleared.dev/mcp?src=guide-clay" --header "Authorization: Bearer pc_live_..."

See Clay's MCP docs.

2. Give your agent the rule

Paste this into your agent's instructions, a project's instructions or a skill:

Before you send a lead on to Clay's Sequencer or any campaign, call Precleared's contact_check once for its email address. Send address_source (where you got the address) and sender_country, plus company_name and pitch when you know them.
- ok_to_email: carry on, using the Clay function your team set up for adding contacts. Keep the receipt id with the lead.
- consent_needed or blocked: don't send the lead on. Note the next_step, so the address can go on the Sequencer blocklist.
- unknown: don't send the lead on yet. Supply the missing fact (recipient_country, default_recipient_country if all your prospects are in one country, or company_number), then check again.
Every email must meet footer_text: usually who you are, a postal address and a way to opt out.

What happens to each lead

VerdictWhat your agent does in Clay
ok_to_emailSends the lead on, keeping the receipt id
consent_needed or blockedHolds the lead back for the Sequencer blocklist
unknownHolds the lead until the missing fact is supplied, then checks again

Good to know

  • Clay's MCP server has no built-in tool for adding contacts to a sequence. It runs Functions your admin builds, for example one that uploads contacts to Sequencer.
  • Block addresses in Sequencer's Blocklist tab, or with Clay's "Add email to blocklist" enrichment.
  • Settings come from Clay's docs as of 30 October 2026.
  • The ?src=guide-clay tag on Precleared's address only tells us which guide you used. It doesn't change your allowance or your results.

Every check has a signed receipt. Open precleared.dev/r/ followed by its id to show a client why an email went out.

Decision support with sources, not legal advice.