# Push qualified leads into Smartlead

URL: https://useembers.com/help/integrations/smartlead/
Category: Integrations
Plan: Solo and above
Updated: 2026-10-01
Last verified: 2026-10-01

> Connect Smartlead with an API key, then add configurations that send each agent's leads into its own campaign, with the signal as a custom field.

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

> **Warning: Solo and above, administrators only**
>
> Integrations require Solo or above, and only an account administrator can connect Smartlead or change its configurations. One Smartlead account per Embers workspace, and it can run beside Instantly. Missing emails are looked up on paid plans only, not during the free trial.

Embers never emails anyone. Smartlead does the sending, from the mailboxes the campaign rotates; Embers pushes the lead.

## Before you start

- A Smartlead account and a campaign to receive the leads. Campaigns are created in Smartlead, never in Embers.
- A paid plan, so Embers can look up leads' emails. See [Every lead needs an email](#every-lead-needs-an-email).

## Connect Smartlead

### Copy your Smartlead API key

In Smartlead, open **Settings**, then **API key**, and copy the key. Smartlead keys have no scopes, so this key has full access to your Smartlead account. Embers never starts, pauses, or edits a campaign with it.

### Save it in Embers

Open **Integrations** in the sidebar (`/integrations`) and choose **Smartlead** (`/integrations/smartlead`). On the **Setup** card, paste the key under **API key** and choose **Save API key**. Embers checks the key with Smartlead first; a bad key gets "Smartlead rejected that API key." The key is stored encrypted and never shown again.

The page then shows three cards: **Connection**, **Configurations**, and **Delivery**. Smartlead shares no account name or mailbox count, so the Connection card shows neither.

### 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](/help/getting-started/choose-your-agents/) it listens to.
- **Send leads to**: a Smartlead campaign. Smartlead keeps leads in campaigns, so there is no list option, and archived campaigns are left out. There is no sender either: a Smartlead campaign rotates its own mailboxes.
- **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. Leads without an email are looked up first.

[How configurations route leads](/help/integrations/delivery-rules/#how-configurations-route-leads) covers agent matching and overlapping configurations.

### Put the signal in your sequence

The signal travels as the custom field `embers_signal`, so write `{{embers_signal}}` where the opening line goes in the campaign's sequence. Then choose **Check readiness** from the configuration's **...** menu. It checks the key and the campaign's status and never pushes a test lead, because Smartlead has no list to hold one safely.

## Automatic and manual delivery

A switched-on configuration sends each new lead as it qualifies, once it passes the configuration's [delivery rules](/help/integrations/delivery-rules/): minimum score, ICP only, and excluded titles and industries. Switching it off stops automatic sending only.

[Send to](/help/leads/send-to-destination/) pushes leads you pick now, through the same rules, into the configuration you choose. With Smartlead connected but no campaign configured, Send to shows a **Set up a campaign** row instead. When every Smartlead configuration is paused, or the connection itself is, the row carries a hint to resume, linking to the Smartlead page (`/integrations/smartlead`). Send to never pushes from that row.

## Every lead needs an email

Smartlead addresses a lead by email, which public LinkedIn activity never carries. So Embers looks a missing email up first, with the same [contact lookup](/help/outreach/lead-enrichment-and-contact-info/) as the **Reveal** button, and holds the delivery until the lookup finishes. Found, the lead goes to Smartlead, usually within a minute or two. Otherwise it is skipped with one of these reasons:

- `no email found for this lead`: the lookup found none. Embers remembers that for 30 days rather than paying again.
- `no email on file for this lead`: no lookup could run.
- `the email lookup failed`, or `the email lookup did not finish in time` after 30 minutes.
- `emails are revealed on paid plans, not during the free trial`.

During the [free trial](/help/account-and-billing/free-trial/) the Connection card says "Emails are looked up on paid plans, not during the free trial, so until then only leads that already have an email are sent." These skips stand even with **ignore rules** or **Send anyway**, because there is nothing to send to.

## What Smartlead receives

Each push adds one lead to the campaign with the email, first and last name, company name, phone, location, and LinkedIn profile URL, when Embers holds them. Six custom fields come with it, usable in any step as `{{embers_signal}}` and so on:

| Custom field | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| `embers_signal` | The engagement that surfaced the lead, as one sentence |
| `embers_icp_reason` | Why Embers judged them a fit |
| `embers_score` | The Embers score |
| `embers_source` | The agent the lead came from |
| `embers_lead_url` | A link to the lead in Embers |
| `embers_title` | The job title |

Smartlead's own lists are always respected: its global block list, unsubscribe list, and community bounce list, and people already in another campaign. A lead Smartlead refuses shows as **skipped** with `Smartlead skipped it:` and Smartlead's reason. It is never retried and nothing pauses.

**Change which Embers value fills each field**

On the **Delivery** card, choose **Edit fields**. The mapping belongs to the Smartlead connection, so every Smartlead configuration sends the same fields. It is separate from Instantly's.

- Any unlocked field can take any Embers value, or **Not sent**. Website and company URL are not sent by default.
- Email is locked: Smartlead finds the lead by it.
- Under **Custom fields**, add 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.
- **Reset** returns every field to the defaults. Choose **Save fields** to keep your changes.

**Campaign statuses**

Smartlead reports Active, Paused, Stopped, Draft, and Completed. Only Active is sending. Archived campaigns are not offered.

- **Paused** or **Draft**: a warning, never a pause. The campaign holds pushed leads until you start it, and the configuration shows "Campaign is not running (Paused). Smartlead holds the leads until you start it." with the current status in the brackets.
- **Stopped** or **Completed**: Smartlead would take the lead but never email it, so Embers checks the status before each push and refuses it. The configuration pauses with "Campaign is not running. Start it in Smartlead, then resume." and warns "Campaign is Stopped. Smartlead does not send to new leads in it, so delivery pauses. Choose a running campaign."

**Smartlead and Instantly side by side**

Both email tools can be connected on one Embers workspace, each with its own page, key, field mapping, and configurations. 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. To keep one tool per lead, split them by agents or by delivery rules. In Send to you pick the configuration. A paused Smartlead connection only stops its own configurations; Instantly keeps sending, and the other way round.

**Repeat pushes, rate limits, and the key**

Embers sends a lead to each campaign once, whichever configuration sends it; another push to the same campaign is skipped as `already pushed to` that campaign. A person Smartlead already holds in that campaign counts as delivered.

Smartlead allows 60 API requests a minute per key on its standard plan, and Embers takes at most 30 a minute per connection. Waiting on that budget never uses up a retry or pauses anything, so a large **Also send leads you already have** backfill drains at that pace. When Smartlead answers that the limit is hit, Embers waits and retries on its own; outages are retried on the standard schedule.

**Disconnect** wipes the key and stops every Smartlead configuration; anything already in Smartlead stays there, and Instantly is untouched.

## What is not included

Embers does not create campaigns, sequences, or mailboxes in Smartlead, warm up mailboxes, or route by Smartlead agency client. Replies, opens, and lead categories are not read back into Embers yet.

## Troubleshooting

A problem with one campaign, including a Stopped or Completed one, pauses only the configuration that sends to it; a problem with the key pauses the whole Smartlead connection. [Smartlead delivery is paused](/help/troubleshooting/smartlead-delivery-paused/) covers each reason in depth.

**The Connection card shows "Smartlead API key was rejected. Generate a new key in Smartlead and reconnect."** The key was regenerated or deleted in Smartlead. Choose **Disconnect** and save the current key on the **Setup** card.

**A configuration shows "Campaign or list no longer exists in Smartlead."** The campaign was deleted. Choose **Edit** and pick another; other configurations keep sending.

**The Connection card shows "Smartlead delivery retries were exhausted."** Smartlead kept failing for about 6.3 days. Check Smartlead, then choose **Resume**.

**The signal is missing from the email.** The sequence does not reference `{{embers_signal}}`, or spells it differently.

**A configuration shows "Campaign is not running. Start it in Smartlead, then resume."** The campaign is Stopped or Completed. Choose **Edit** and pick a running campaign, or restart it in Smartlead, then choose **Resume**.

**Leads are in the campaign but nobody is emailed.** The campaign is Paused or Draft. Start it in Smartlead.

## Related

- [Smartlead delivery is paused](/help/troubleshooting/smartlead-delivery-paused/): Every pause reason and how to clear it.

- [Control which leads reach each destination](/help/integrations/delivery-rules/): Rules, configurations, and the delivery log.

- [Push leads into Instantly](/help/integrations/instantly/): The other email tool, which can run beside Smartlead.

- [Reveal a lead's email and phone](/help/outreach/lead-enrichment-and-contact-info/): Where the email comes from.

## Frequently asked questions

**Does Embers send the emails?**

No. Embers never emails anyone. Smartlead does, from the mailboxes the campaign rotates. Embers pushes leads.

**Can I connect Smartlead and Instantly on the same workspace?**

Yes. Each has its own page and its own 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.

**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. A lead with no email found is skipped. Embers never guesses an address.

**Will Embers push someone on my Smartlead block or unsubscribe list?**

No. Embers always respects Smartlead's global block list, unsubscribe list, and community bounce list, and never adds someone already in another campaign. Those leads show as skipped with "Smartlead skipped it:" and Smartlead's reason.