People Search API Use Cases
Build B2B lead generation, candidate sourcing, and expert discovery workflows with clodo. Compare search endpoints and connect research, enrichment, and outreach.
Build workflows for B2B lead generation, candidate sourcing, and expert discovery with the clodo API. Start by describing the people you need, choose the search endpoint that fits the task, enrich selected profiles, and prepare outreach from a connected mailbox.
#Describe the exact person you have in mind
Get specific about the combination that matters: someone at a company using a particular technology, who has solved a particular problem, worked in a particular environment, or published or presented relevant work. Include examples, exclusions, priorities, and dates. An ICP or candidate persona can describe a story about the person's experience, not just a list of profile attributes.
For example: “Find fintech data leaders at companies using Snowflake who previously built banking infrastructure. Prioritize people who have given a talk about a migration since January 2025, and include supporting sources.” Agentic Search is the starting point for this level of detail. Review the returned evidence against your requirements and keep unverified criteria as open questions.
#Choose a workflow
| Goal | Guide | What you will build |
|---|---|---|
| Find prospects for your product | GTM Lead Generation | Turn an ideal customer profile into a prospect list, resolve email addresses, and draft relevant sales outreach. |
| Source people for an open role | Recruiting & Candidate Sourcing | Translate a job description into search criteria, research candidates, and prepare recruiter outreach. |
| Find people with first-hand expertise | Expert Discovery | Identify practitioners for research interviews, advisory projects, and industry discussions, then review their experience. |
#Which people search endpoint should I use?
| Endpoint | Best starting point | How results help |
|---|---|---|
| Agentic Search | A detailed combination of company tech stack, professional experience, accomplishments, public work, priorities, and exclusions | Researches matches and returns fit summaries, proof points, and source evidence. Set a maximum credit budget. Account enrollment is required. |
| People Search | A professional audience described by role, seniority, company, industry, or geography | Returns matching professional profiles. Continue a completed search to retrieve more non-overlapping results. |
| Deep Search | A focused search that needs a researched shortlist | Returns professional context, work experience, and fit scores, with standard and extended modes priced per successful run. |
Use the endpoint that fits the information you need. You do not need to call all three for every workflow. If a broad list answers your question, start with People Search. If the distinction between a good and a poor match depends on specific experience, describe it explicitly in Agentic Search or Deep Search.
#Before you start
- Create your account and get an API key. Run API calls on your server and send the key in the
x-api-keyheader. - Create a webhook signing secret and provide a public HTTPS receiver for search jobs. Verify webhook signatures before processing results.
- Store each accepted job ID. Use Async Polling if you need to retrieve its status or results directly.
- Check Credits & Pricing before choosing result counts, search modes, or an Agentic Search cap.
- If you plan to draft outreach, connect a mailbox and check Sending Accounts. Search alone does not require a sending account.
#Connect the steps in your application
Search → review matches → enrich selected people → draft outreach → approve sending.
Save the search criteria alongside each job ID so you can explain why a person was included. On completion, retain the professional URL, company, and relevant search context. Use those fields to deduplicate your own records and decide who needs further research.
Professional Profile Enrichment retrieves structured work history and education. Email Enrichment resolves an email from a professional URL or a name and company domain. Enrich only the people you intend to review or contact; search results do not guarantee a usable email address.
Outreach Emails turns recipient details and instructions into a draft. Set review: "required", inspect the draft, and approve it when ready. For follow-up workflows, see Sequences.
#Questions about building people discovery workflows
#Can I use one API for lead generation and recruiting?
Yes. The search endpoints accept descriptions of people rather than a fixed sales-only or recruiting-only request format. Change the query and your downstream review criteria to suit the workflow. The guides show different examples for each audience.
#Does finding someone automatically contact them?
No. Search and enrichment do not send emails. Outreach requires a separate request and a connected sending account. With review: "required", a draft waits for an explicit approval before entering the send queue.
#Can I connect results to my CRM, ATS, or research database?
Your application can map returned JSON into its own records and write to those systems through their supported APIs. These guides describe that application step; the search endpoints do not automatically create CRM records, ATS candidates, or research projects.