How to Create a Formula in Clay to Concatenate Words in {{ term }}

Bruno V. · 2026-01-27T15:00:53.974Z

How can I create a formula in Clay that concatenates all the words in {{ term }} and outputs them as a string? I’m sharing the details in the thread.

How to Create a Formula in Clay to Concatenate Words in {{ term }} | Clay

Clay Support
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To concatenate all words from your column into a string, add a Formula column and use our AI generator:
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Add new column → select Formula
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In the AI Formula Generator, type something like: "Concatenate all words from /{{ term }} into a single string"
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Use / to reference your column
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Click Generate Formula
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Review the output and Save Formula
The AI will create the JavaScript code to join all words together. [1] You can also try our built-in AI tool Sculptor in the top-right corner - it's great for building formulas quickly.
Looking forward to seeing the details you're sharing in the thread!
Clay Support
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Is that what you were looking for?
Bruno V.
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In the example below, it would be something like:
Beratung|Planung|Einbau|(...)
Each row can contain any number of terms.
Clay Support
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Perfect! For your structured data with "Term" values, you have two quick options:
Option 1 - Direct from Cell Details:
In your Cell details window, hover to the right of the "Services Found" list and select "Combine items into one text field" - this will join all terms with commas. [1]
Option 2 - Formula Column:
Add a Formula column and tell the AI: "Extract all Term values from /{{ term }} and concatenate them with | separator" [2]
The AI will generate JavaScript code to pull out "Beratung", "Planung", "Einbau", etc. and join them exactly like your example: Beratung|Planung|Einbau|(...) [3]
Both methods work great - the first is faster if you just need it once, the second creates a reusable formula for all rows.
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Was that helpful?
Bruno V.
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I couldn't find the "Combine items into one text field" option in my case. I'd like support from a human.
Clay Support
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I understand your need for human support, and I’m connecting you to a teammate now who can assist further.
Clay Support
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Our support team has got your message and we'll get back to you soon!
If you’re dealing with a specific table, drop the URL below so we can help you quicker. Otherwise, someone from our team will be in touch soon!

image.png(93 kB)
Bruno V.
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Table Column > workCategoriesRawAi
Ariana (.
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Hey there, thanks for reaching out. You can try clicking on Take action on a list > Filter, find keywords, and more using formula. From there, you can use AI to create a formula.
I created the column here, but I would suggest starting from scratch following the above steps if you need to make changes!
Let us know if this helps or if you have any other questions!
Bruno V.
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Hi Ariana (.! That worked perfectly. Thank you so much!
Bruno V.
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Ariana (., I have a quick follow-up question here. I have this workCategories column with "Category A|Category B|Category C". It doesn't have to be in this format, by the way. Let's call this "List A". Now, let's say I have a "master list" with "Category A|Category D|Category E". It could be stored somewhere else, either in Clay or in a different format. Let's call it "List B". Is it possible to merge them, like an INNER JOIN between List A and List B, so the final output is just "Category A"? Do you get what I mean? The thing is, I need to make sure the final list comes from List A, but it should only include work categories that also exist in List B. If List A contains any work category that's not in List B, it should be discarded. Is that something we can achieve with formulas?
Ariana (.
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Hey there! Glad to hear the first solution worked! For your second example, is List B in Clay or in a source completely outside Clay? Could you send a loom showing your use case here? Happy to take a closer look!
Bruno V.
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Hey Ariana (.! List B can live in Clay. I can't send you a video since I don't have a use case yet, but the message above is exactly what I need. For example:
After the enrichment process, I end up with a workCategoriesV1 column in the format "A|B|C" (List A). You helped me build this with that formula.

There's a List B with ~300 work categories that's our master or reference list.
Part of my question is where we should store it for this. Should we add it to the same workbook but in a different table? In which format?

I need a new column (e.g., workCategoriesV2) in the same workbook table where we have workCategoriesV1, and it should only include the work categories that exist in List B. If List A has A, B, and C, but List B only has C, then workCategoriesV2 should only have C.
It's basically a VLOOKUP: for each work category in List A, look it up in List B. If it exists, keep it in workCategoriesV2. If it doesn't, drop it. Does that make sense?
Andrew Q.
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I'm a bit confused from your question. If you could record a video and use fake data to walk us through what you would like to happen, that would be amazing. However, going through your past messages, it sounds like we could do and use a combination of things from AI, formulas, and or lookup actions.
Feel free to chime in and provide us with more info the best way you can.

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