Push qualified leads into Instantly

Connect Instantly with an API key, then add configurations that send each agent's leads into its own campaign, with the signal as the opener.

Solo and above Updated 7 min read

Instantly runs cold email sequences; Embers decides who is worth one. Connect the two and a lead Embers qualified lands in an Instantly campaign as soon as it surfaces, with the signal that surfaced them as the opening line.

Embers never emails a lead. Instantly does the sending, from the mailboxes the campaign already owns; Embers pushes the lead.

Before you start

  • An Instantly workspace you administer, and a campaign or lead list to receive the leads.
  • A paid plan, for leads to actually arrive. See Every lead needs an email.
  • At least one agent producing leads, if you want to route agents to different campaigns.

Connect Instantly

  1. Create an Instantly API key

    In Instantly, open Settings, then Integrations, then API keys, and create a key. Give it the campaign, lead list, and lead scopes, and nothing more; read access to accounts is optional and only feeds the mailbox count Embers shows. Instantly has no sign-in for other apps, so a key is the only way in.

  2. Save it in Embers

    Open Integrations in the sidebar (/integrations) and choose Instantly (/integrations/instantly). On the Setup card, paste the key under API key and choose Save API key. Open Instantly API settings under the field goes straight to the key page.

    Embers checks the key against Instantly before storing it. The page then shows three cards: Connection (with your Instantly workspace name), Configurations, and Delivery.

  3. Add a configuration

    Choose Add configuration. A configuration is one route, and you can add one per campaign:

    • Signals: All agents, or Only some to pick the agents it listens to.
    • Send leads to: Campaign or List. There is no sender to choose, because an Instantly campaign already owns the mailboxes it sends from.
    • Who gets delivered: starts at a minimum score of 70 with ICP matches only on.
    • Also send leads you already have: sends the matching leads Embers already found, once. Each still needs an email, so leads without one are looked up first.

    Choose Add configuration and it starts sending new leads as they qualify; to push particular leads now, use Send to. How configurations route leads covers agent matching and overlapping configurations.

  4. Check it

    Open the configuration’s … menu. For a campaign, Check readiness checks the key and the campaign, and never pushes a lead. For a list, Send a test lead pushes one person named “Embers Test” after you confirm, which proves the whole path. Remove them from the list afterwards.

Every lead needs an email

Instantly addresses a lead by email, and public LinkedIn activity carries none. So when a lead headed to Instantly has no email, Embers looks it up first, with the same contact lookup as the Reveal button, and holds the delivery until the lookup finishes.

  • Found: the lead goes to Instantly with its email, usually within a minute or two.
  • Not found: skipped with no email found for this lead. Embers remembers the empty result for 30 days rather than paying for the same lookup again.
  • Too slow: a lookup still running after 30 minutes is skipped with the email lookup did not finish in time.

A lead is looked up once, however many configurations are waiting on it. These skips stand even with ignore rules or Send anyway, because there is nothing to send to.

During the free trial contact details are locked, so leads headed to Instantly are skipped with emails are revealed on paid plans, not during the free trial. They start flowing once you choose a plan.

What Instantly receives

Each push creates one Instantly lead with the email, first and last name, company name, job title, and phone when Embers holds one. The signal fills Instantly’s own {{personalization}} field, so it drops into your opening line with nothing to configure. Seven custom variables come with it, usable in a sequence as {{embers_signal}} and so on: embers_signal, embers_icp_reason, embers_score, embers_source, embers_lead_url, linkedin_url, and location.

Instantly accepts leads into a campaign in any status and holds them until it runs. A campaign that is not active shows “Campaign is not running (Draft). Instantly holds the leads until you start it.” on the configuration: nothing is lost, and nothing is sent until you start it.

Change which Embers value fills each field

On the Delivery card, choose Edit fields. The mapping belongs to the connection, so every configuration sends the same fields.

  • Any unlocked field can take any Embers value, or Not sent. Website is not sent by default, since Embers holds no company website.
  • Email is locked: Instantly finds the lead by it.
  • Add custom variables with a name and a value. Names use letters, digits, and underscores, start with a letter, and you can have up to 25.
  • Embers reads the chosen campaign’s sequence and offers each {{variable}} it uses that nothing fills yet, as a one-click row. Variables Instantly fills itself, such as {{firstName}}, are not offered.
  • Reset returns every field to the defaults. Choose Save fields to keep your changes.
Campaign statuses

Instantly reports Active, Running subsequences, Draft, Paused, Completed, Accounts unhealthy, Bounce protect, and Account suspended. Only the first two are sending, but every status accepts pushed leads and holds them. Embers never starts, pauses, or resumes a campaign. The only thing it creates in Instantly is an empty lead list, from Or create a new list.

Repeat pushes and verification

Embers sends a lead to each campaign or list once, whichever configuration sends it; another push to the same target is skipped as already pushed to that target. Instantly also skips anyone already in the campaign, so one person cannot enter it twice by two routes. A different campaign counts as a new push.

Embers never asks Instantly to verify leads on import, because verification spends your workspace’s credits.

Instantly and Smartlead side by side

Both email tools can be connected on one Embers workspace. Each has its own page, key, field mapping, and configurations, and each configuration picks one campaign or list in its own tool. Automatic delivery runs every matching configuration, and repeats are checked per tool and campaign, so if Instantly and Smartlead configurations listen to the same agents, one lead goes into both tools; the email is looked up once. To keep one tool per lead, split them by agents or by delivery rules.

When both could take a manual push, Send to lists each tool’s configurations under its name and you pick one. A paused Instantly connection only stops its own configurations; Smartlead keeps sending, and the other way round.

Rate limits and the key

Instantly allows 6,000 API requests a minute and 100 a second per workspace, shared by every key including its older API. Embers takes at most 600 a minute. Rate limits and outages are retried on the standard schedule.

The key is stored encrypted and is never shown again or returned by the Embers API. Disconnect wipes it and stops every configuration; anything already in Instantly stays there.

Troubleshooting

A problem with one campaign or list pauses only the configuration that sends to it; a problem with the key pauses the whole connection. Instantly delivery is paused covers each reason in depth.

The Connection card shows “Instantly API key was rejected.” The key was deleted, or lacks a scope. Check the scopes first; otherwise create a new key, choose Disconnect, and save the new key on the Setup card.

A configuration shows “Campaign or list no longer exists in Instantly.” It was deleted. Choose Edit, pick another target, and save. Other configurations keep sending.

The Connection card shows “Instantly delivery retries were exhausted.” Instantly kept failing for about 6.3 days. Check Instantly, then choose Resume on the Connection card.

Leads are skipped with “no email found for this lead”. The lookup found no address for that person. Nothing more can be done for Instantly; HeyReach or Emelia can reach them by LinkedIn profile.

Leads are skipped during the trial. Contact details unlock with the first paid month. See Change your plan.

Leads are in the campaign but nobody is emailed. The campaign is not active. Start it in Instantly.

One lead is marked failed and nothing paused. Instantly refused that lead alone, for example a malformed address. The row shows Instantly’s message.

Instantly delivery is paused Every pause reason and how to clear it. Control which leads reach each destination Rules, configurations, and the delivery log. Reveal a lead's email and phone Where the email comes from. Push leads into HeyReach The same idea for LinkedIn sequences.

Frequently asked questions

Does Embers send the emails?
No. Embers never emails a lead. Instantly does, from the mailboxes connected to the campaign. Embers pushes leads.
What happens to a lead that has no email yet?
On a paid plan, Embers looks the email up first, the same lookup as the Reveal button, and sends the lead once it is found, usually within a minute or two. A lead with no email found is skipped. Embers never guesses an address.
Can I push into a campaign that is not running yet?
Yes. Instantly accepts the lead and holds it until you start the campaign. Embers shows a warning on the configuration rather than pausing it.
Can I connect Instantly and Smartlead on the same workspace?
Yes. Each has its own page, key, field mapping, and configurations, and each configuration picks one campaign. If both listen to the same agents, a lead goes into both tools; split them by agents or delivery rules to keep one tool per lead. In Send to you pick the configuration.
Does Embers spend my Instantly verification credits?
No. Embers never asks Instantly to verify a lead on import. Verify inside Instantly if you want it.

Was this article helpful?

Troubleshooting Fix Instantly delivery when it is paused Solo and above A rejected or under-scoped key, a deleted campaign or list, or exhausted retries pauses Instantly delivery. How to read the reason, fix it, and resume. Integrations Control which leads reach each destination Solo and above Set a minimum score, ICP only, sources, and excluded titles and industries per destination, and route each agent's leads with configurations. Outreach Reveal a lead's email and phone Solo and above Look up a lead's work email and phone on a paid plan, read the source and confidence values, and see which exports and destinations carry them.

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