Clay Deploy Integration

Overview

Deploy applications that integrate with Clay (webhook receivers, enrichment processors, CRM sync services) to production platforms. Clay itself is a hosted SaaS -- you deploy the code that interacts with Clay, not Clay itself. The critical requirement is a publicly accessible HTTPS endpoint for Clay's HTTP API columns to call back to.

Prerequisites

• Application code that handles Clay webhooks or HTTP API callbacks
• Platform CLI installed (vercel, gcloud, or docker)
• Clay webhook URL and/or API key stored securely
• HTTPS endpoint accessible from the public internet

Instructions

Step 1: Vercel Deployment (Serverless)

Best for: Webhook receivers, small-scale enrichment handlers.

# Set Clay secrets in Vercel
vercel env add CLAY_WEBHOOK_URL production
vercel env add CLAY_API_KEY production
vercel env add CLAY_WEBHOOK_SECRET production

# Deploy
vercel --prod

// api/clay/callback.ts — Vercel serverless function
import type { VercelRequest, VercelResponse } from '@vercel/node';
import crypto from 'crypto';

export default async function handler(req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) {
  if (req.method !== 'POST') return res.status(405).end();

  // Validate webhook signature
  const signature = req.headers['x-clay-signature'] as string;
  const secret = process.env.CLAY_WEBHOOK_SECRET!;
  const expected = crypto.createHmac('sha256', secret)
    .update(JSON.stringify(req.body))
    .digest('hex');

  if (!crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(signature || ''), Buffer.from(expected))) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' });
  }

  // Process enriched data from Clay HTTP API column
  const enrichedLead = req.body;
  console.log('Received enriched lead:', {
    email: enrichedLead.email,
    company: enrichedLead.company_name,
    score: enrichedLead.icp_score,
  });

  // Push to CRM, database, or outreach tool
  await processLead(enrichedLead);

  return res.status(200).json({ status: 'processed' });
}

Step 2: Cloud Run Deployment (Container)

Best for: High-volume enrichment pipelines, CRM sync services.

# Dockerfile
FROM node:20-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY dist/ ./dist/
EXPOSE 8080
ENV PORT=8080
CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]

# Build and deploy to Cloud Run
gcloud builds submit --tag gcr.io/$PROJECT_ID/clay-handler

gcloud run deploy clay-handler \
  --image gcr.io/$PROJECT_ID/clay-handler \
  --platform managed \
  --region us-central1 \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --set-secrets "CLAY_API_KEY=clay-api-key:latest,CLAY_WEBHOOK_SECRET=clay-webhook-secret:latest" \
  --min-instances 1 \
  --max-instances 10

Step 3: Docker Compose (Self-Hosted)

Best for: On-premise deployments, development staging.

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
  clay-handler:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - CLAY_WEBHOOK_URL=${CLAY_WEBHOOK_URL}
      - CLAY_API_KEY=${CLAY_API_KEY}
      - CLAY_WEBHOOK_SECRET=${CLAY_WEBHOOK_SECRET}
      - DATABASE_URL=${DATABASE_URL}
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

Step 4: Configure Clay to Call Your Deployed Endpoint

Once deployed, update your Clay table's HTTP API column:

1. Get your deployment URL (e.g., https://clay-handler.vercel.app or Cloud Run URL)
2. In Clay table, edit the HTTP API column
3. Set URL to: https://your-deployment.com/api/clay/callback
4. Test on a single row before enabling auto-run

Step 5: Health Check Endpoint

// src/health.ts — health check that verifies Clay connectivity
app.get('/health', async (req, res) => {
  const checks: Record<string, string> = {
    server: 'ok',
    clay_webhook: 'unknown',
    database: 'unknown',
  };

  // Check Clay webhook reachability
  try {
    const webhookTest = await fetch(process.env.CLAY_WEBHOOK_URL!, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify({ _health_check: true }),
    });
    checks.clay_webhook = webhookTest.ok ? 'ok' : `error: ${webhookTest.status}`;
  } catch {
    checks.clay_webhook = 'unreachable';
  }

  const allHealthy = Object.values(checks).every(v => v === 'ok');
  res.status(allHealthy ? 200 : 503).json({ status: allHealthy ? 'healthy' : 'degraded', checks });
});

Step 6: Production Environment Variables

# Required for all deployments
CLAY_WEBHOOK_URL=https://app.clay.com/api/v1/webhooks/your-id
CLAY_WEBHOOK_SECRET=your-shared-secret

# Optional (Enterprise only)
CLAY_API_KEY=clay_ent_your_key

# Application-specific
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...
CRM_API_KEY=your-crm-key
PORT=3000

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Clay can't reach callback	Endpoint not public HTTPS	Verify URL is accessible, check firewall
Cold start timeout	Serverless function too slow	Set min-instances=1 on Cloud Run
Missing secrets in deploy	Env vars not configured	Add via platform CLI before deploying
Health check fails	Clay webhook URL invalid	Re-copy webhook URL from Clay table

Resources

• Vercel Serverless Functions
• Cloud Run Documentation
• Clay University -- HTTP API Integration

Next Steps

For webhook handling patterns, see clay-webhooks-events.