Clay — start here. A table of contents for working with Clay and which skill to use for each thing — search (find people/companies), routines (run Clay-managed and custom functions), tables (query/export data), the CLI (ephemeral programmatic access), the Public API (build services on Clay), workflows (build automations, Alpha), and feedback. Read this first to answer "what can I do with Clay?"
Clay Public API — HTTP access for building services, apps, and integrations: structured-filter search over Clay's GTM database, structured table queries, and async routine and batch runs.
Clay search — find people or companies in Clay's GTM database from structured filters, and page through the matches. Use when the user wants to search Clay for prospects/accounts, not query an existing table.
Clay setup — authenticate both the `clay` CLI and the Clay MCP server (both are required to use the plugin). Use when `clay` is not found on PATH or the `clay` found in the PATH is the wrong version, `clay whoami` fails, the MCP tools (`read`, `edit_node`) error on auth or don't appear at all despite a Connected server, the CLI isn't signed in, the Cursor plugin never appears after a local install, or the user wants to configure Clay.
Clay tables — analyze what a table does: reconstruct the column DAG, stage it, and narrate the workflow encoded in its columns. Use when the user asks "what does this table do?", "explain the {table} workflow", "walk me through this table", or "what's set up here?".
Clay tables — locate a record by identifier and snapshot its state: which table(s) hold it and each cell's status. Use when the user has an id and asks "trace {id}", "where is {id}?", "what enrichments ran for this lead?", or "is this record done?".
Clay workflows — simplify a workflow: merge redundant nodes, cut unnecessary complexity, and replace LLM nodes with deterministic alternatives where possible.
Clay workflows — version history: view snapshots, see what changed, and restore or undo a previous state. Use when the user mentions snapshots or asks to undo an edit.