Docs · Recipes

Check leads with Precleared before your agent adds them to a Hunter sequence

Hunter finds and verifies email addresses and sends sequences from your own inbox. Connect Precleared's MCP server next to Hunter's, so your agent checks each address before adding it to a sequence.

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.
Hunter's MCP server, on every Hunter plan including Free. It signs in with OAuth in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Codex, or takes your API key in the X-API-Key header.

1. Connect both servers

In Claude Code, install Hunter's plugin and add Precleared:

claude plugin marketplace add hunter-io/claude-plugin
claude plugin install hunter@hunter
claude mcp add --transport http precleared "https://precleared.dev/mcp?src=guide-hunter" --header "Authorization: Bearer pc_live_..."

In Cursor, add both to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hunter": { "url": "https://mcp.hunter.io/mcp", "headers": { "X-API-Key": "YOUR_HUNTER_API_KEY" } },
    "precleared": { "url": "https://precleared.dev/mcp?src=guide-hunter", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer pc_live_..." } }
  }
}

See Hunter's MCP page.

2. Give your agent the rule

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

Before adding a new recipient to a Hunter sequence, call Precleared's contact_check once for the 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: create the lead if needed with Create-Lead-If-Missing, then add it with Add-Sequence-Recipients. Keep the receipt id with the lead.
- consent_needed or blocked: don't add it. List the address for Hunter's Unsubscriptions and note the next_step.
- unknown: don't add it yet. Supply the missing fact (recipient_country, default_recipient_country if all your prospects are in one country, or company_number), then check again.
Only run Start-Sequence once every recipient in the sequence has been cleared.
Every email must meet footer_text: usually who you are, a postal address and a way to opt out.

What happens to each lead

Verdict	What your agent does in Hunter
`ok_to_email`	Adds the recipient to the sequence, keeping the receipt id
`consent_needed` or `blocked`	Leaves the recipient out and lists the address for Unsubscriptions
`unknown`	Holds the recipient until the missing fact is supplied, then checks again

Good to know

Start-Sequence sends real emails, so start a sequence only after its recipients are checked.
Hunter's MCP tools can't add unsubscriptions. Add the listed addresses at hunter.io/campaigns/unsubscriptions: New, then paste emails or domains, or upload a CSV. It applies to your whole team.
Tool names come from Hunter's docs as of 30 October 2026. If they change, your agent sees the new names in the server's tool list.
The ?src=guide-hunter 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.