Claude Code Plugins

Community-maintained marketplace

Feedback

instantly

@vm0-ai/vm0-skills
6
0

Instantly.ai API via curl. Use this skill for cold email outreach automation, managing campaigns, leads, and email accounts.

Install Skill

1Download skill
2Enable skills in Claude

Open claude.ai/settings/capabilities and find the "Skills" section

3Upload to Claude

Click "Upload skill" and select the downloaded ZIP file

Note: Please verify skill by going through its instructions before using it.

SKILL.md

name instantly
description Instantly.ai API via curl. Use this skill for cold email outreach automation, managing campaigns, leads, and email accounts.
vm0_env INSTANTLY_API_KEY

Instantly API

Use the Instantly API via direct curl calls to automate cold email outreach, manage campaigns, leads, and sending accounts.

Official docs: https://developer.instantly.ai/

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

  • Manage email campaigns - create, launch, pause campaigns
  • Handle leads - add, update, list leads in campaigns
  • Manage sending accounts - list and configure email accounts
  • Automate outreach - schedule sends and manage lead lists

Prerequisites

  1. Sign up at Instantly.ai (Growth plan or above required for API)
  2. Go to Settings > Integrations > API to create an API key
  3. Select appropriate scopes for your use case
export INSTANTLY_API_KEY="your-api-key"

API Scopes

Create API keys with specific permissions:

  • campaigns:read, campaigns:create, campaigns:update
  • leads:read, leads:create, leads:update, leads:delete
  • lead_lists:read, lead_lists:create
  • analytics:read
  • all:all (full access)

Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' | jq .

How to Use

All examples below assume you have INSTANTLY_API_KEY set.

The base URL for API V2 is:

  • https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2

Authentication uses Bearer token in the Authorization header.

1. List Campaigns

Get all campaigns:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq '.items[] | {id, name, status}

With filters:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns?status=ACTIVE&limit=10" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq '.items[] | {id, name}

Status values: ACTIVE, PAUSED, COMPLETED, DRAFTED

2. Get Single Campaign

Get campaign details by ID:

CAMPAIGN_ID="your-campaign-id"

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns/${CAMPAIGN_ID}" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq '{id, name, status, daily_limit}

3. Create Campaign

Create a new campaign (requires campaign_schedule):

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"'"'{
  "name": "My New Campaign",
  "daily_limit": 50,
  "campaign_schedule": {
    "timezone": "America/New_York",
    "days": {
      "monday": [{"start": "09:00", "end": "17:00"}],
      "tuesday": [{"start": "09:00", "end": "17:00"}],
      "wednesday": [{"start": "09:00", "end": "17:00"}],
      "thursday": [{"start": "09:00", "end": "17:00"}],
      "friday": [{"start": "09:00", "end": "17:00"}]
    }
  }
}'"'"' | jq .'

4. Pause/Activate Campaign

Control campaign status:

CAMPAIGN_ID="your-campaign-id"

# Pause campaign
bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns/${CAMPAIGN_ID}/pause" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq .

# Activate campaign
bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns/${CAMPAIGN_ID}/activate" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq .

5. List Leads

List leads (POST endpoint due to complex filters):

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/leads/list" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"'"'{"limit": 10}'"'"'' | jq '.items[] | {id, email, first_name, last_name}

Filter by campaign:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/leads/list" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"'"'{
  "campaign_id": "your-campaign-id",
  "limit": 20
}'"'"' | jq '"'"'.items[] | {email, status}'"'"''

6. Create Lead

Add a single lead:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/leads" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"'"'{
  "email": "john@example.com",
  "first_name": "John",
  "last_name": "Doe",
  "company_name": "Acme Corp",
  "campaign_id": "your-campaign-id"
}'"'"' | jq .'

With custom variables:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/leads" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"'"'{
  "email": "jane@example.com",
  "first_name": "Jane",
  "campaign_id": "your-campaign-id",
  "custom_variables": {
  "role": "CTO",
  "industry": "SaaS"
  }
}'"'"' | jq .'

7. Get Single Lead

Get lead by ID:

LEAD_ID="your-lead-id"

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/leads/${LEAD_ID}" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq .

8. Update Lead

Update lead information:

LEAD_ID="your-lead-id"

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/leads/${LEAD_ID}" -X PATCH -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"'"'{
  "first_name": "Updated Name",
  "custom_variables": {
  "notes": "High priority"
  }
}'"'"' | jq .'

9. List Lead Lists

Get all lead lists:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/lead-lists" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq '.items[] | {id, name}

10. Create Lead List

Create a new lead list:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/lead-lists" -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"'"'{
  "name": "Q1 Prospects"
}'"'"' | jq .'

11. List Email Accounts

Get connected sending accounts:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/accounts" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq '.items[] | {email, status, warmup_status}

12. Test API Key

Verify your API key is valid:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/api-keys" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq '.items[0] | {name, scopes}

Pagination

List endpoints support pagination:

# First page
bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns?limit=10" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq '{items: .items | length, next_starting_after: .next_starting_after}

# Next page
bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.instantly.ai/api/v2/campaigns?limit=10&starting_after=CURSOR" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${INSTANTLY_API_KEY}"' | jq .

Guidelines

  1. Use API V2: V1 is deprecated, use V2 endpoints only
  2. Bearer token auth: Always use Authorization: Bearer header
  3. Scope your keys: Create keys with minimal required permissions
  4. Custom variables: Values must be string, number, boolean, or null (no objects/arrays)
  5. Leads list is POST: Due to complex filters, listing leads uses POST not GET
  6. Rate limits: Respect rate limits based on your plan tier
  7. Growth plan required: API access requires Growth plan or above