smartlead-cli

CLI and MCP server for the Smartlead.ai API. Manage cold email campaigns, leads, email accounts, sequences, analytics, webhooks, and client sub-accounts from the terminal or from any AI agent via MCP.

Install

npm install -g @bcharleson/smartlead-cli

Authenticate

# Option 1: environment variable (recommended for agents and CI)
export SMARTLEAD_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

# Option 2: interactive login (stores to ~/.smartlead-cli/config.json)
smartlead login

# Option 3: per-command flag
smartlead campaigns list --api-key "your_api_key_here"

Get your API key from Smartlead → Settings → API Key.

Quick Start

# List all campaigns
smartlead campaigns list

# Create a campaign
smartlead campaigns create --name "Q1 Outreach"

# Add leads to a campaign
smartlead leads add-to-campaign --campaign-id 456 \
  --lead-list '[{"email":"[email protected]","first_name":"John","company_name":"Acme"}]'

# Activate a campaign
smartlead campaigns update-status 456 --status ACTIVE

# Get campaign analytics
smartlead analytics campaign-stats --campaign-id 456

MCP Setup (AI Agents)

Add to your MCP client config (e.g. ~/.claude.json or Claude Desktop settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartlead": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bcharleson/smartlead-cli", "mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SMARTLEAD_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or if installed globally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartlead": {
      "command": "smartlead",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SMARTLEAD_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

All 41 CLI commands are available as MCP tools instantly. Tool names use snake_case: campaigns_list, leads_add_to_campaign, analytics_overview, etc.

Output

All commands output compact JSON to stdout by default — ready for piping and agent parsing.

# Compact JSON (default)
smartlead campaigns list
# → [{"id":123,"name":"Q1 Outreach","status":"ACTIVE",...}]

# Pretty-printed
smartlead campaigns list --pretty

# Filter fields
smartlead campaigns list --fields id,name,status

# Suppress output (exit code only)
smartlead campaigns create --name "Test" --quiet

Errors go to stderr as JSON: {"error":"...","code":"AUTH_ERROR"}

Exit codes: 0 success · 1 error

Commands

campaigns

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | list | List all campaigns | | get <id> | Get a campaign by ID | | create | Create a campaign (starts in DRAFTED status) | | update-status <id> | Set status: ACTIVE, PAUSED, STOPPED | | update-settings <id> | Tracking, stop rules, unsubscribe text, AI ESP matching | | schedule <id> | Timezone, days, hours, max leads/day | | delete <id> | Delete a campaign (irreversible) |

smartlead campaigns create --name "Cold Outreach Q2"
smartlead campaigns schedule 456 \
  --timezone "America/New_York" \
  --days-of-week "[1,2,3,4,5]" \
  --start-hour "08:00" \
  --end-hour "17:00" \
  --max-leads-per-day 50
smartlead campaigns update-status 456 --status ACTIVE

sequences

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | get <campaign_id> | Fetch all steps with variants and delays | | save <campaign_id> | Replace entire sequence (all steps at once) |

smartlead sequences save 456 --sequences '[
  {
    "seq_number": 1,
    "seq_delay_details": {"delay_in_days": 0},
    "variant_distribution_type": "MANUAL_EQUAL",
    "variants": [{
      "subject": "Quick question, {{first_name}}",
      "email_body": "<p>Hi {{first_name}},</p><p>...</p>",
      "variant_label": "A"
    }]
  },
  {
    "seq_number": 2,
    "seq_delay_details": {"delay_in_days": 3},
    "variant_distribution_type": "MANUAL_EQUAL",
    "variants": [{
      "subject": "Following up",
      "email_body": "<p>Just checking in...</p>",
      "variant_label": "A"
    }]
  }
]'

Note: save replaces the full sequence. Always send all steps.

email-accounts

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | list | List all email accounts | | get <id> | Get an account by ID | | create | Add SMTP/IMAP account | | update <id> | Update account settings | | update-warmup <id> | Configure warmup (enable, daily volume, ramp-up) | | warmup-stats <id> | Last 7 days warmup stats | | list-campaign | List accounts for a campaign | | add-to-campaign | Assign account to campaign | | remove-from-campaign | Remove account from campaign |

smartlead email-accounts create \
  --from-name "John Smith" \
  --from-email "[email protected]" \
  --username "[email protected]" \
  --password "app_password" \
  --smtp-host "smtp.gmail.com" \
  --smtp-port 587 \
  --imap-host "imap.gmail.com" \
  --imap-port 993

smartlead email-accounts add-to-campaign --campaign-id 456 --account-id 789
smartlead email-accounts update-warmup 789 --warmup-enabled --total-warmup-per-day 20 --daily-rampup 2

leads

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | get-by-email | Find lead by email across all campaigns | | list-campaign | List leads in a campaign (paginated) | | add-to-campaign | Add leads JSON array to a campaign | | update | Update lead fields | | pause | Pause sending to a lead | | resume | Resume a paused lead | | unsubscribe-campaign | Unsubscribe from one campaign | | unsubscribe-global | Globally unsubscribe (all campaigns) | | delete | Delete lead from campaign | | get-campaigns | Get all campaigns a lead is in | | add-domain-block | Block an entire domain | | export | Export leads as CSV |

# Add multiple leads at once
smartlead leads add-to-campaign --campaign-id 456 --lead-list '[
  {"email":"[email protected]","first_name":"John","last_name":"Smith","company_name":"Acme Corp"},
  {"email":"[email protected]","first_name":"Jane","company_name":"Globex"}
]'

# Pause a lead
smartlead leads pause --campaign-id 456 --lead-id 789

# Block a domain
smartlead leads add-domain-block --domain "competitor.com"

Template variables in sequences: {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{company_name}}, {{email}}, {{custom_field_name}}

inbox

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | message-history | Full email thread for a lead in a campaign | | reply | Reply to a lead via the Master Inbox |

smartlead inbox message-history --campaign-id 456 --lead-id 789
smartlead inbox reply \
  --campaign-id 456 \
  --lead-id 789 \
  --email-body "<p>Thanks for your reply! Let's connect.</p>" \
  --email-stats-id 111 \
  --reply-message-id "[email protected]"

analytics

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | campaign-stats | Opens, clicks, replies, bounces summary | | campaign-analytics | Top-level performance metrics | | campaign-analytics-by-date | Time-series data by date range | | lead-stats | Lead funnel: interested, in progress, completed, etc. | | overview | Global analytics across all campaigns |

smartlead analytics campaign-stats --campaign-id 456
smartlead analytics campaign-analytics-by-date \
  --campaign-id 456 \
  --start-date "2024-01-01" \
  --end-date "2024-01-31"
smartlead analytics overview --pretty

webhooks

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | list | List all webhooks | | create | Create a webhook | | update <id> | Update a webhook | | delete <id> | Delete a webhook |

smartlead webhooks create \
  --name "Reply Notifications" \
  --url "https://your-server.com/hook" \
  --events "EMAIL_REPLIED,EMAIL_BOUNCED,LEAD_UNSUBSCRIBED"

Available events: EMAIL_OPENED, EMAIL_CLICKED, EMAIL_REPLIED, EMAIL_BOUNCED, LEAD_UNSUBSCRIBED, LEAD_CATEGORY_UPDATED, SEQUENCE_COMPLETED

clients (agency/white-label)

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | list | List all client sub-accounts | | save | Create or update a client | | list-api-keys | List client API keys | | create-api-key | Generate a new API key | | delete-api-key <id> | Delete an API key | | reset-api-key <id> | Regenerate an API key |

smartlead clients save \
  --name "Acme Corp" \
  --email "[email protected]" \
  --password "securepass123"

smartlead clients create-api-key --client-id 123 --key-name "Production"

Full Campaign Launch Workflow

# 1. Create campaign
CAMPAIGN=$(smartlead campaigns create --name "Q2 Outreach" | jq -r '.id')

# 2. Schedule
smartlead campaigns schedule $CAMPAIGN \
  --timezone "America/Chicago" \
  --days-of-week "[1,2,3,4,5]" \
  --start-hour "09:00" \
  --end-hour "17:00" \
  --max-leads-per-day 40 \
  --min-time-between-emails 15

# 3. Configure settings
smartlead campaigns update-settings $CAMPAIGN \
  --track-settings '["DONT_LINK_CLICK"]' \
  --unsubscribe-text "Unsubscribe"

# 4. Assign email account
smartlead email-accounts add-to-campaign \
  --campaign-id $CAMPAIGN --account-id 789

# 5. Save sequence
smartlead sequences save $CAMPAIGN --sequences '[
  {"seq_number":1,"seq_delay_details":{"delay_in_days":0},"variant_distribution_type":"MANUAL_EQUAL","variants":[{"subject":"{{first_name}}, quick thought on {{company_name}}","email_body":"<p>Hi {{first_name}},</p><p>Noticed {{company_name}} is...</p>","variant_label":"A"}]},
  {"seq_number":2,"seq_delay_details":{"delay_in_days":3},"variant_distribution_type":"MANUAL_EQUAL","variants":[{"subject":"Re: {{first_name}}, quick thought on {{company_name}}","email_body":"<p>Wanted to follow up...</p>","variant_label":"A"}]},
  {"seq_number":3,"seq_delay_details":{"delay_in_days":5},"variant_distribution_type":"MANUAL_EQUAL","variants":[{"subject":"Last touch","email_body":"<p>I'll leave you alone after this...</p>","variant_label":"A"}]}
]'

# 6. Import leads
smartlead leads add-to-campaign --campaign-id $CAMPAIGN \
  --lead-list '[{"email":"[email protected]","first_name":"Sarah","company_name":"Target Co"}]'

# 7. Launch
smartlead campaigns update-status $CAMPAIGN --status ACTIVE

# 8. Monitor
smartlead analytics campaign-stats --campaign-id $CAMPAIGN --pretty

API Reference

• Base URL: https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1
• Auth: ?api_key=<key> query param (auto-injected)
• Rate limit: 10 requests / 2 seconds (auto-retried with backoff)
• Full docs: api.smartlead.ai

License

MIT