Default and Clay: webhooks and the API

Default and Clay connect by webhook. A Clay table calls a Default workflow through an Incoming Webhook URL or the Default API, and a Default workflow sends records to a Clay table with the Send to Webhook node. Clay is not a native integration in Default. It has no card under Settings → Integrations, and Default does not read or write Clay tables directly. Every connection on this page is an HTTP request that 1 tool sends to the other.

How Default and Clay connect

Direction	Default side	Clay side	Typical use
Clay to Default	Incoming Webhook trigger	An HTTP API column that posts each row to the Ingestion URL	Route, assign, or sequence rows that Clay built or enriched
Clay to Default	API trigger, through `POST /v1/triggers/{trigger}`	An HTTP API column that calls the Default API with an API key	The same, when you want the workflow’s execution ID and outcome in the response
Default to Clay	Send to Webhook node	A table that receives rows from a webhook	Send routed leads to Clay for research that can finish after the workflow run

Where Clay fits next to enrichment in Default

Teams that use both tools often keep Clay for work that can finish later, such as account research and list building, and keep it off the path a live inbound lead takes to routing and the scheduler. The 2 tools return data at different times:

	Enrich Data node in Default	A Clay table
When results arrive	Within the workflow run. Later nodes in the same run can branch, route, and write to the CRM on them.	After Clay runs the table’s columns on the row. The results reach Default only if Clay sends them back, for example to an Incoming Webhook, which starts another workflow run.
Where the data comes from	A single provider or a waterfall of up to 5 providers, such as Clearbit, Apollo, People Data Labs, and Wiza	The providers and columns set up in the Clay table
Keys and billing	Default supplies the provider data and bills it in enrichment credits, so you don’t need provider keys of your own.	Set up in Clay

For example, a demo request can run Enrich Data, then a Multi-Branch node on company size, then Round-Robin and Display Scheduler, all while the visitor waits. See Enrichment nodes and Waterfalls.

Call a Default workflow from Clay with an incoming webhook

An incoming webhook accepts any JSON body. Use it when Clay should start a workflow for each row.

Create the webhook in Default

In Workflows, create a workflow and add the Incoming Webhook trigger. Under Connected Webhook, select Create new webhook.

Copy the URL and the secret

The trigger shows the Ingestion URL and the Bearer secret. Copy the URL, then reveal and copy the secret. The secret is shared by every incoming webhook in your workspace. See Webhook Secret.

Add an HTTP API column in Clay

In the Clay table, add an HTTP API column that sends a POST request to the Ingestion URL. Add a header named Authorization with the value Bearer <your secret>, and build a JSON body from the row’s columns, for example:

{
  "email": "jordan@acme.com",
  "first_name": "Jordan",
  "company_domain": "acme.com",
  "employee_count": 420
}

Capture a sample

In the Default trigger, under Test event, select Listen for test event, then run the Clay column on 1 row within 5 minutes. Default stores that request as the sample and does not run the workflow for it. You can also select Paste a sample and paste the JSON.

Map the identity

Under Identity mapping, set Person email to the email field. Later nodes, such as Enrich Data, then treat the request as that person. If some rows have no email, also set Company domain to the domain field. Default uses the domain only for rows without an email.

Build and publish the workflow

Add the nodes that act on the row. Every field in the sample is in the data picker, so type {{ to use it. Select Publish, then check that the status next to the deployment switch reads Live. A new workflow goes live when you first publish it. If the status reads Paused, turn the switch on.

Send 1 row per request. A request whose body is a list starts 1 workflow run with the whole list. If the Clay column can run again on the same row, for example after the row changes, each run starts the workflow again. Check the CRM with Match Record first and route only new records, so a repeat request does not reassign an owner.

How the Ingestion URL responds

Response	What it means
`200` with `"accepted": true`	Default accepted the request. It returns `200` even when no published, enabled workflow uses the webhook.
`400`	The body is not valid JSON, or the value in the mapped Person email field is not a valid email.
`401`	The `Authorization` header is missing or the secret is wrong.
`404`	The webhook does not exist or was deleted.
`410`	The webhook is paused. Turn it back on in the trigger.
`413`	The body is larger than about 1 MB.

Call a Default workflow from Clay with the API

The API trigger starts a workflow from a request to the Default API. Use it when Clay needs the workflow’s result in the response.

	Detail
Endpoint	`POST https://api.default.com/v1/triggers/{trigger}`
Authentication	An API key with the `triggers:write` permission, sent as `Authorization: Bearer <key>`. Create keys in Settings → API Keys.
Request body	The lead’s `email`, the form’s field values in `responses`, and optional `context`, such as the page URL and referrer.
Fields	The trigger’s Connected Form defines which fields a request sends. `GET /v1/triggers` lists them.
Response	An `executionId` and an `outcome`: `scheduler`, `redirect`, or `none`.
Rate limit	30 requests per minute per API key. Above that, the API returns `429` with a `Retry-After` header.

Pace the Clay column so it stays under 30 requests per minute for each API key. For the request format and error codes, see Route and book through the API and Fire a trigger.

Send records from Default to Clay

The Send to Webhook node sends an HTTP request from a workflow to a Clay table’s webhook URL.

Set up the table in Clay

Create a Clay table that receives rows from a webhook, and copy its webhook URL. If Clay gives the webhook an authentication token, copy that too.

Add Send to Webhook

In the Default workflow, add Send to Webhook. Set Request Type to POST and Request URL to the Clay webhook URL. If Clay gave you a token, add it under Headers with the header name Clay uses.

Build the body

Under Body, use the Fields tab to add a key for each column the Clay table expects, for example email, company_domain, and assigned_rep. Type {{ to fill each value from the trigger or an earlier node.

Test the workflow

Select Test, fill in a sample, and select Run Test. Confirm the row arrived in Clay. A test sends the request for real.

Place the node where waiting on it costs nothing. It waits for Clay’s reply, for up to 30 seconds, before the next node runs. Good places are a workflow that no visitor waits on, such as one started by CRM Record Created, or the end of a workflow after Display Scheduler. Clay’s reply confirms it received the row. To use what Clay finds, have the Clay table post its results to a Default Incoming Webhook, and let that workflow write them to the CRM with Match Record and Update Record. Send to Webhook cancels a request after 30 seconds, does not follow redirects, and cannot reach private network addresses. See Send to Webhook.

Troubleshoot Clay and Default

What you see	What to check
Clay’s HTTP API column gets `401`	The `Authorization` header is missing, is not in the form `Bearer <secret>`, or the secret was rotated.
Clay gets `200` but nothing runs	No published, enabled workflow uses this webhook in its Incoming Webhook trigger.
Later nodes cannot find a row’s fields	The sample did not include them. Capture or paste a new sample that has every field.
Enrich Data finds nothing to work on	Set Person email or Company domain under Identity mapping, or pass the value into Email / Domain (optional) directly.
Match Record finds no record	Match Record matches only on the fields you set in Match Details. Pick the row’s email or domain there.
API calls from Clay get `429`	The column sends more than 30 requests per minute on 1 API key. Slow the column down.
The Clay table receives no rows from Default	Select Runs at the top of the workflow, open the run, and check the Send to Webhook status code and response. See Run logs.
A lead is routed again when Clay reruns a row	Add Match Record before Round-Robin, and route only on the No Match branch.

Related: Default integrations

​How Default and Clay connect

​Where Clay fits next to enrichment in Default

​Call a Default workflow from Clay with an incoming webhook

​How the Ingestion URL responds

​Call a Default workflow from Clay with the API

​Send records from Default to Clay

​Troubleshoot Clay and Default