Precleared

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Check leads with Precleared before your agent enrols them in Needle

Needle is an outbound engine you drive from your own AI agent. Connect Precleared's MCP server next to Needle's, so your agent checks a lead's email address before enrolling it in a campaign that sends email, and suppresses the rest.

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.
  • Needle's MCP server. It signs in through your browser by default, or takes a Needle API key as Authorization: Bearer sk-ndl-.... Each connection covers one user and one workspace.

1. Connect both servers

In Claude, add Needle in one click, then Connect, sign in and allow. Add Precleared from the Claude directory, or as a custom connector with https://precleared.dev/mcp?src=guide-needle.

In Claude Code, add both, then run /mcp to sign in to Needle:

claude mcp add --transport http precleared "https://precleared.dev/mcp?src=guide-needle" --header "Authorization: Bearer pc_live_..."
claude mcp add --transport http needle https://needle.app/mcp/v1

See Needle's MCP docs.

2. Give your agent the rule

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

Before enrolling a lead in a Needle campaign that sends email, call Precleared's contact_check once for the lead's 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 with needleCreateLead or needleUpsertLead, then enrol it with needleEnrollCampaignLeads. Keep the receipt id with the lead.
- consent_needed or blocked: don't enrol the lead. Suppress it with needleCreateSuppressions, giving the reason, and note the next_step.
- unknown: don't enrol the lead 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 Needle
ok_to_emailCreates and enrols the lead, keeping the receipt id
consent_needed or blockedLeaves the lead out and suppresses it
unknownHolds the lead until the missing fact is supplied, then checks again

Good to know

  • Enrolment skips suppressed leads, and needleCheckSuppressions shows what's suppressed.
  • Needle keys leads on LinkedIn or Instagram profiles, and its campaigns mainly run there. Precleared checks email addresses, so this applies to email outreach. Suppressing a bare email address isn't documented, so suppress the lead or its company domain.
  • Tool names come from Needle's MCP docs as of 30 October 2026. If they change, your agent sees the new names in the server's tool list.
  • The ?src=guide-needle 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.