Understanding Importing and Action Order in Clay

Amit L. · 2025-03-24 15:27:12.973135+00

Hey everyone, and been working on Clay for a few months now. I am trying to understand 2 processes that are unclear to me: 1. When importing from Hubspot, I can see new data coming in all the time but the update is set to max once daily. Does the system pull data from HS if it's new but doesn't go over existing records data? Can I manually pull data from Hubspot for a a few rows? 2. Is there a way to control the order of actions in Clay? Is the current order by column or in parallel? How do I force specific columns to wait until a previous action completed?

Understanding Importing and Action Order in Clay | Clay

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We handle data updates from HubSpot in a few ways: 1. Automatic updates: CRM sources, including HubSpot, can be set to update hourly. 2. Manual updates: You can use the "Update now" option in each source menu to pull new records immediately. 3. Scheduled updates: You can set up scheduled sources to run at your preferred frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly). For controlling the order of actions, we don't have a built-in feature to force specific columns to wait for previous actions. However, you can use conditional run criteria in your columns. This allows you to set conditions where a column only runs if certain criteria are met, which can help manage the order of operations. If you need more specific control, you might consider using our "write to table" feature to manage data flow between operations.
Sources: Clay Scheduling, Trigify integration, group column templates, Metaprompter updates, and more! Import from CRM [Clay 101] - Clay University HTTP API integration overview | Documentation | Clay University
Jacob T.
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Amit L. are you asking about protecting existing data from being overwritten with Clay data?
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Yes, you can manually pull data from HubSpot for specific rows. To do this, right-click on the column and select "Play" > "Run All Rows that haven't run or have errors". You can also run starting from a specific row by choosing "Run Column" > "Choose Number of rows to run". For controlling the order of actions, Clay doesn't have a built-in feature to force specific columns to wait for previous actions. However, you can use scheduled columns to manage the order of operations. Click the "⛭ icon" > "Run the table" > "On a schedule" and choose to run all columns or only selected ones. If you need more precise control, consider using our "write to table" feature to manage data flow between operations.
Sources: Clay Scheduling, Trigify integration, group column templates, Metaprompter updates, and more! Run Options
Amit L.
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I didn't see an automatic option. Checking
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Yes, you can manually pull data from HubSpot for specific rows. To do this, use the "Update now" option in each source menu to pull new records immediately. For automatic updates, CRM sources like HubSpot can be set to update hourly, which is the most frequent update schedule available. You can also set up scheduled updates to run daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on your needs. To ensure your table has the latest data, you can re-run the import process using the "Update Now" option. This will pull in the most recent updates and refresh your current table.
Source: Import from CRM [Clay 101] - Clay University
Amit L.
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How do I set it up for hourly?
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To set up automatic hourly updates from HubSpot, follow these steps: 1. Go to the source column containing your HubSpot data. 2. Click on the column title. 3. Under "Sources," select your HubSpot source. 4. Choose "On a schedule." 5. Set the frequency to hourly. This will ensure your HubSpot data is automatically refreshed every hour, keeping your Clay table up-to-date with the latest information from your CRM. If you need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.
Sources: Clay Scheduling, Trigify integration, group column templates, Metaprompter updates, and more! Scheduled sources | Documentation | Clay University
Amit L.
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nope:
Amit L.
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what am I missing?
Amit L.
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https://app.clay.com/workspaces/419678/workbooks/wb_f2FwdkeYNMNs/tables/t_3NnEPqpVGBiW/views/gv_4dwbM2essrvg
Jacob T.
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Amit L. daily is the fastest out of the box. You can use webhooks to go faster if you want. In terms of protecting from data overwrite, this is not-native either. We built a custom integration to handle faster refresh times and handling data collision.
Amit L.
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I am not looking for overwriting protection (it'll probably be an issue in the future )
Daniel K.
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Hey there, thanks for reaching out! ☺️ The issue with your HubSpot deal not syncing in your Clay table is due to how the integration works. Existing records in a Clay table don’t automatically update when changes are made in HubSpot. Instead, Clay pulls in new records, but previously imported ones remain unchanged. This means your Clay table reflects the state of HubSpot data at the time the records were first introduced, rather than providing a live sync. As a workaround, you can create a lookup hubspot column and set it to run on a schedule to check for new data.
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In Clay, you can control the order of actions by arranging columns from left to right. Actions are processed sequentially, not in parallel, meaning a column will only execute after the previous one has completed . To ensure specific columns wait until a previous action is completed, you can use conditional runs. This involves setting conditions under which an enrichment or action should run, allowing you to prevent unnecessary or premature executions . For example, placing an HTTP API column to the right of a waterfall column ensures the HTTP request only runs after the waterfall completes . You can also use conditional formulas to further refine when actions should occur. If there's anything else I can assist you with, please let me know! 😊 Have a great Tuesday, Daniel
Amit L.
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This was super helpful. Are there any documents that explain these things? I tried the university but I didn't find something specific
Mark L.
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Hey Amit. Our guides here touch on most of the features that Daniel outlined earlier – including the Hubspot integration, scheduled columns, conditional runs, etc.: https://www.clay.com/university/guide Was here anything in particular you were hoping to dive deeper into?

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