apollo-cost-tuning

name	apollo-cost-tuning
description	Optimize Apollo.io costs and credit usage. Use when managing Apollo credits, reducing API costs, or optimizing subscription usage. Trigger with phrases like "apollo cost", "apollo credits", "apollo billing", "reduce apollo costs", "apollo usage".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Bash(gh:*), Bash(curl:*)
version	1.13.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","apollo","api","cost-optimization"]
compatibility	Designed for Claude Code

Apollo Cost Tuning

Overview

Optimize Apollo.io API costs through credit-aware enrichment. Key cost model: search is free, enrichment costs credits. Apollo charges per unique contact/company lookup. Credits do not roll over. Strategies: deduplicate before enriching, score leads before spending credits, and track daily budget.

Prerequisites

• Valid Apollo API key
• Node.js 18+

Instructions

Step 1: Understand Apollo's Credit Model

Action                      | Credits | Notes
----------------------------+---------+-----------------------------------
People Search               | 0       | /mixed_people/api_search (free!)
Organization Search         | 0       | /mixed_companies/search (free!)
People Enrichment (single)  | 1       | /people/match
People Enrichment (bulk)    | 1/match | /people/bulk_match (up to 10/call)
Organization Enrichment     | 1       | /organizations/enrich
Reveal Personal Email       | +1      | reveal_personal_emails param
Reveal Phone Number         | +1      | reveal_phone_number param

Plans (approximate):

• Free: 50 credits/month
• Basic: 1,200 credits/month (~$0.04/credit)
• Professional: 6,000 credits/month
• Organization: 12,000+ credits/month

Step 2: Track Credit Usage

// src/cost/credit-tracker.ts
class CreditTracker {
  private daily: Map<string, number> = new Map();
  private readonly budget: number;

  constructor(dailyBudget: number = 200) {
    this.budget = dailyBudget;
  }

  record(count: number = 1) {
    const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0];
    this.daily.set(today, (this.daily.get(today) ?? 0) + count);
  }

  todayUsage(): number {
    const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0];
    return this.daily.get(today) ?? ;
  }

  ():  {
     .() >= .;
  }

  ():  {
     used = .();
     ;
  }
}

  creditTracker =  (
  (process.. ?? , ),
);

Step 3: Deduplicate Before Enriching

// src/cost/dedup.ts
import { LRUCache } from 'lru-cache';

// Track enriched contacts to avoid paying twice
const enrichedCache = new LRUCache<string, boolean>({
  max: 50_000,
  ttl: 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,  // 30 days
});

export function enrichmentKey(params: { email?: string; linkedin_url?: string;
  first_name?: string; last_name?: string; organization_domain?: string }): string {
  // Prefer email as unique key, fall back to LinkedIn, then name+domain
  return params.email
    ?? params.linkedin_url
    ?? `${params.first_name}:${params.last_name}:${params.organization_domain}`;
}

export function isAlreadyEnriched(key: string): boolean {
  return enrichedCache.has(key);
}

export function markEnriched() {
  enrichedCache.(key, );
}

Step 4: Score Leads Before Enriching

Only spend credits on leads worth contacting.

// src/cost/lead-scorer.ts
interface LeadSignals {
  seniority?: string;
  title?: string;
  companyEmployees?: number;
  hasEmail: boolean;
  hasPhone: boolean;
  hasLinkedIn: boolean;
}

export function shouldEnrich(signals: LeadSignals, threshold: number = 40): boolean {
  let score = 0;

  // Seniority — only enrich decision-makers
  const topSeniority = ['c_suite', 'vp', 'founder', 'owner'];
  if (topSeniority.includes(signals.seniority ?? '')) score += 40;
  else if (signals.seniority === 'director') score += 30;
  else if (signals.seniority === 'manager') score += 15;
  else score += 5;

  // Company size — mid-market is highest value
  if (signals.companyEmployees && signals. >=  && signals. <= ) score += ;
    (signals. && signals. > ) score += ;

  
   (!signals.) score += ;
   (!signals.) score += ;

   score >= threshold;
}

Step 5: Budget-Aware API Client

// src/cost/budget-client.ts
import axios from 'axios';
import { creditTracker } from './credit-tracker';
import { isAlreadyEnriched, markEnriched, enrichmentKey } from './dedup';

const client = axios.create({
  baseURL: 'https://api.apollo.io/api/v1',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'x-api-key': process.env.APOLLO_API_KEY! },
});

// Credit-consuming endpoints
const CREDIT_ENDPOINTS = ['/people/match', '/people/bulk_match', '/organizations/enrich'];

// Block requests when over budget
client.interceptors.request.use((config) => {
  const isCreditEndpoint = CREDIT_ENDPOINTS.some((ep) => config.url?.includes(ep));
  if (isCreditEndpoint && creditTracker.isOverBudget()) {
    throw new Error(`Daily credit budget exceeded (${creditTracker.report()})`);
  }
  return config;
});

// Track credit usage on success
client...( {
   isCreditEndpoint = .( response..?.(ep));
   (isCreditEndpoint) {
    
     matchCount = response.?.?. ?? ;
    creditTracker.(matchCount);

    
     email = response.?.?.;
     (email) (email);
  }
   response;
});

 { client  budgetClient };

Step 6: Cost-Optimized Pipeline

import { budgetClient } from './cost/budget-client';
import { shouldEnrich } from './cost/lead-scorer';
import { isAlreadyEnriched, enrichmentKey } from './cost/dedup';
import { creditTracker } from './cost/credit-tracker';

async function enrichHighValueLeads(people: any[]) {
  let enriched = 0, skipped = 0, deduped = 0;

  const toEnrich: any[] = [];

  for (const person of people) {
    const key = enrichmentKey({ email: person.email, linkedin_url: person.linkedin_url,
      first_name: person.first_name, last_name: person.last_name });

    if (isAlreadyEnriched(key)) { deduped++; continue; }
    if (!shouldEnrich({ seniority: person.seniority, hasEmail: !!person.email,
      hasPhone: false, hasLinkedIn: !!person.linkedin_url })) { skipped++; ; }

    toEnrich.(person);
  }

  
   ( i = ; i < toEnrich.; i += ) {
     batch = toEnrich.(i, i + );
     budgetClient.(, {
      : batch.( ({
        : p., : p.,
        : p.?.,
      })),
    });
    enriched += batch.;
  }

  .();
  .();
}

Output

• Credit model reference table (free vs paid operations)
• CreditTracker with daily budget enforcement
• LRU deduplication preventing double-enrichment charges
• Lead scoring to enrich only high-value contacts
• Budget-aware client blocking requests at daily limit
• Cost-optimized pipeline combining all strategies

Error Handling

Issue	Resolution
Budget exceeded	Increase APOLLO_DAILY_CREDIT_BUDGET or wait until tomorrow
High dedup misses	Extend LRU TTL, verify key generation logic
Enriching low-value leads	Lower the shouldEnrich threshold
Month-end credit crunch	Spread enrichment evenly with daily budgets

Resources

• Apollo API Pricing
• Apollo Plans
• View API Usage Stats

Next Steps

Proceed to apollo-reference-architecture for architecture patterns.