Use Clay with MonstarX
In shortPaste a Clay API key into the Clay row in Backend → Cloud. MonstarX's builder can then check your Clay account and credit balance, and — when you ask — search Clay's database of people and companies and page through the results. Searches may use Clay credits.
Search Clay’s people and company data, and check credits.
- Type
- Business tool · API key
- Category
- Sales and CRM
- Connect with
- API key
Clay is a go-to-market data platform: it finds companies and people that match a description and enriches them with details. Connect it with an API key (a password-like code that lets software use your account) and MonstarX’s builder — the AI you chat with — can run a Clay search while it works: find agencies of a certain size in your city to seed a directory, or check who fits your ideal customer before it builds a sales page.
This is a business tool: MonstarX uses Clay for you. The app you build never gets your key.
What can MonstarX do with it?
Section titled “What can MonstarX do with it?”| What MonstarX can do | When |
|---|---|
| Check your account — which Clay user and workspace the key belongs to | Any mode |
| Check your credit balance | Any mode |
| Start a search of Clay’s people and company database, with a query of up to 5,000 characters | Any mode, only when you ask for a search |
| Page through a search’s results, up to 100 at a time | Any mode, only when you ask for a search |
What it never does: read or change your Clay tables, run enrichments or workflows, or change your Clay account.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- A Clay account and workspace. Checking your balance is free; searches may use credits from your Clay plan.
- You own the MonstarX project. Only the owner can connect or disconnect a tool.
Get your key
Section titled “Get your key”-
In Clay, open Settings → Account and the API keys tab (or API and CLI in the sidebar, then API keys).
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Add an API key, name it
MonstarX, and copy it. Clay shows it only once.
Clay’s own guide: Authentication.
Connect it in MonstarX
Section titled “Connect it in MonstarX”-
Open your project and click Backend in the top bar, then Cloud.
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Scroll to Connectors, find Clay and click Connect.
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Paste the key into the API key field and click Connect.
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MonstarX checks the key by reading your Clay account. When it works, the row says Connected. If the key is refused, you see the error and nothing is saved.
Ask MonstarX to use it
Section titled “Ask MonstarX to use it”| You type | What happens |
|---|---|
| “How many Clay credits do I have left?” | MonstarX reads your balance and tells you. |
| “Use Clay to find 30 physiotherapy clinics in Melbourne and add them as sample listings in my directory.” | It runs the search, pages through the results and, in Build mode, adds them to your app. |
| “Search Clay for marketing managers at SaaS companies with 50–200 staff, and show me the first ten.” | It runs the search and lists the first page in the chat. |
Security and privacy
Section titled “Security and privacy”- Stays with MonstarX. The key is stored encrypted on MonstarX’s servers. It is never written into your app’s code or given to your app.
- Your key, your workspace. Clay keys belong to a Clay user and act with that user’s access.
- Read as information. Search results are treated as information, never as instructions.
- Disconnect any time. Click Disconnect beside Clay in BackendCloud and confirm Disconnect Clay from this project?. MonstarX forgets the key. Delete it in Clay too if you no longer need it.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- MonstarX writes the search in Clay’s advanced search language from your description. Say who or what you want, where, and how many.
- A search stays open while MonstarX pages through it; each page brings the next results.
- This connection does not touch your Clay tables. To use them, export what you need and attach it in the chat.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Does MonstarX spend my Clay credits without asking?
It starts a search only when you ask for one. Checking your account and balance never uses credits.
Can MonstarX read or update my Clay tables?
No. It can check your account and credits, and run searches of Clay's database.
Can my app run Clay searches for its users?
Not with this connection: the key is for MonstarX's builder only. For an app feature, add a Clay key under Backend → Secrets and ask MonstarX to build it. See Store API keys safely.