Clay Data Handling

Overview

Manage lead data through Clay enrichment pipelines safely. Covers data import validation, deduplication, enrichment data retention, GDPR-compliant management, and secure CRM export.

Prerequisites

• Clay account with API access

• Understanding of data enrichment sources

• CRM integration for lead export

• Knowledge of GDPR/CCPA lead data requirements

Instructions

Step 1: Validate and Clean Import Data

Use Zod schemas to validate email format, company domain, and optional fields. Reject invalid records with error details. Track valid rate percentage.

Step 2: Deduplicate Before Enrichment

Key on email (primary) or domain:first_name:last_name (fallback). Remove duplicates before sending to Clay to avoid wasting enrichment credits.

Step 3: Add Retention Metadata

Tag each enriched record with enriched_at , retention_expires (default 365 days), and enrichment_source . Run weekly cleanup to remove expired records.

Step 4: GDPR-Compliant Export

Strip PII for analytics exports (hash company names, remove emails). Add consent_basis: legitimate_interest for CRM exports. Include enrichment timestamp for audit trails.

For complete TypeScript implementations of validation, dedup, retention, and export, load the reference guide: Read(${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/implementation-guide.md)

Error Handling

Issue Cause Solution

High duplicate rate Same list imported twice Run dedup before enrichment

Invalid emails Bad source data Validate with Zod before import

Expired data in CRM No retention cleanup Schedule weekly expiration check

Missing consent No legal basis tracked Add consent_basis to all exports

Resources

• Clay API Documentation

• GDPR Lead Data Requirements

Output

• Configuration files or code changes applied to the project

• Validation report confirming correct implementation

• Summary of changes made and their rationale

See compliance implementation details for output format specifications.

Examples

Basic usage: Apply clay data handling to a standard project setup with default configuration options.

Advanced scenario: Customize clay data handling for production environments with multiple constraints and team-specific requirements.