Guidance for Updating Existing Records in Clay via Webhook Integration | Clay

Guidance for Updating Existing Records in Clay via Webhook Integration

Hello Clay Support Team, We're integrating Clay with our application (Puppydog) and need guidance on updating existing records rather than creating duplicates. Currently, we're using the webhook URL (e.g., https://api.clay.com/v3/sources/webhook/pull-in-data-from-a-webhook-[UUID]) to send data from our system to Clay. However, when we send data for contacts that already exist in Clay, it creates new records instead of updating the existing ones. Is there a way to configure the webhook or modify our API calls to update existing records when they match on email address? We're specifically looking to update fields like thumbnailUrl, demoUrl, and custom data fields for contacts already in our Clay tables. Any documentation, parameters, or alternative endpoints you can recommend would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your assistance.

13 comments

Channeled
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To update existing records instead of creating duplicates, you'll need to use Clay's auto-dedupe feature. Here's how to set it up: 1. Set up your webhook as a data source in Clay. 2. Enable auto-dedupe: • Click the Auto-dedupe icon at the bottom right of your table. • Click "Enable automatic deduplication". • Choose the email address column as your unique identifier. • Click "Save Changes". 3. When sending data via webhook, include the email address in your JSON payload. This setup will update existing rows instead of creating new ones when it receives data with matching email addresses. Fields like "thumbnailUrl", "demoUrl", and custom fields will be updated accordingly. If you're experiencing any JSON-related issues, please copy and paste your JSON into the chat so we can troubleshoot further.
Sources: Webhook source guide | Documentation | Clay University Using Webhooks to Update Existing Rows in n8n Scraping Agent | Clay
Muhammad S.
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zapier has a built in clay integration that helps you update records in clay
Muhammad S.
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There is no direct way to update a record in clay via webhook.
Channeled
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Unfortunately, there's no direct way to update existing records in Clay via webhook based on email address matching. Webhooks in Clay are designed to create new rows by default when receiving data. However, you can use the auto-dedupe feature to prevent duplicate entries: 1. Set up your webhook as a data source in Clay. 2. Enable auto-dedupe: • Click the Auto-dedupe icon at the bottom right of your table. • Click "Enable automatic deduplication". • Choose the email address column as your unique identifier. • Click "Save Changes". 3. Include the email address in your JSON payload when sending data via webhook. Alternatively, you can use integrations like Zapier to manage updates. Zapier allows you to send data from your Zaps to Clay, which can be useful for updating existing records. If you're experiencing any JSON-related issues, please copy and paste your JSON into the chat so we can troubleshoot further.
Sources: Import Data to Clay Using Webhooks Integrations | Clay.com Using Webhooks to Update Existing Rows in n8n Scraping Agent | Clay
Sulaiman S.
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Hi Muhammad S. , You mentioned "There is no direct way to update a record in clay via webhook." Could you please clarify if this means the auto-dedupe feature won't actually update our existing records with new values? We specifically need to update fields like thumbnailUrl and demoUrl for existing contacts when we send data via webhook. Will auto-dedupe accomplish this field updating, or will it only prevent duplicates without modifying the original record's data? Thanks for your help.
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The auto-dedupe feature in Clay won't update existing records with new values. It's designed to keep the oldest record and remove newer duplicates. For updating existing rows, you'll need to use an "upsert" operation through integrations like Snowflake. This allows you to: 1. Update existing rows when a match is found 2. Create new rows when no match exists 3. Use a unique identifier to determine matches If you're experiencing JSON-related issues with your webhook, please copy and paste your JSON into the chat so we can troubleshoot further.
Sources: Using Webhooks to Update Existing Rows in n8n Scraping Agent | Clay Using Webhooks to Update Existing Rows in n8n Scraping Agent | Clay
Muhammad S.
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Auto dedupe feature removes the duplicates, it will keep the oldest record and will remove the newer duplicate one.
Muhammad S.
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so it wont help with updating
Bo (.
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Hey — thanks for reaching out. At the moment, we don’t support upserting or updating existing records from external sources — there’s no way to override data directly in Clay. What you can do instead is use a lookup to check if a record with the same email (or other identifier) already exists in the table before triggering enrichments or creating new entries. Let us know if you’d like help setting that up.
Sulaiman S.
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Hey Bo (. , thanks for the information. I understand Clay doesn't support direct updates to existing records. We're sending webhook payloads with data like {email: email, thumbnailUrl: "", demoUrl: "url"} and other fields. Could you explain how we could implement the lookup approach you mentioned? Specifically:
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How would we check if a record with the same email already exists before creating new entries?
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If we find a matching record, what's the recommended way to handle the new data we want to update?
Sulaiman S.
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Thanks for your previous response. I have an additional question about record identification: Does Clay provide any unique identifier or row ID for each record that we could use in our integration? If so, could we include this ID in our webhook payloads to help identify specific records we want to work with?
LuisArturo
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Hey there Sulaiman thanks for reaching out, jumping in for Bo here, to clarify here Clay does not have a unique ID that can be referenced in a Webhook payload. Normally for the Lookup integration, we would recommend using a value or ID that is unique to each record. For example, if working with companies a unique ID that can be used is the company domain URL or a Company LinkedIn Profile URL, as other records will not have the same url as another company. In this case for your webhooks you can try using the Company domain URL values as the IDs to work with.
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