Getting Started

Authentication

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All ContactLevel API endpoints are authenticated using an API key.

API key authentication

The OpenAPI spec defines a single auth scheme:

• Type: API key
• Location: HTTP header
• Header name: X-Api-Key

The spec also sets this scheme as global security, which means every operation requires X-Api-Key unless explicitly overridden.

Base URLs

The API advertises this server URL:

• Production: https://clayapi.contactlevel.com

Send the API key

Export your key once:

Code
 
export CLAY_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

Include your key on every request using X-Api-Key.

For JSON POST requests, also include the header Content-Type: application/json (the API may return 415 Unsupported media type if you omit it or use a different content type).

Example: health check

Code
 
curl -sS \
	-H "X-Api-Key: $CLAY_API_KEY" \
	https://clayapi.contactlevel.com/

Example: authenticated JSON request (HEMs by email)

Code
 
curl -sS \
	-H "X-Api-Key: $CLAY_API_KEY" \
	-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
	-X POST \
	https://clayapi.contactlevel.com/v1/enrich/hems/by-email \
	-d '{"email":"ada@example.com"}'

Error responses

If your request body doesn’t match the schema, the API returns 422 Validation Error.

If your API key is missing or invalid, you should expect an authentication error response (for example 401 Unauthorized), depending on the gateway configuration.