# Verify emails for ActiveCampaign with Spaw

Verify new ActiveCampaign contacts through Zapier or Make, tag them by verdict so automations can react, and clean an existing list with a bulk run.

Updated: 2026-09-03

ActiveCampaign automations start from tags and custom fields, so a verification step only has to put the verdict on the contact and the rest is ordinary automation work. Spaw does not offer an ActiveCampaign app; the flow uses ActiveCampaign's new-contact trigger in Zapier or Make, a verification step, and an update that adds a tag and fills a field.

## Verify new contacts

1. Create a secret API key on the API keys page of your Spaw dashboard.
2. In ActiveCampaign, add a custom text field for the verdict reason and a number field for the risk score. Tags carry the verdict itself.
3. In Zapier or Make, start with the ActiveCampaign trigger for a new contact, or for a contact added to a specific list if you only want to verify subscribers.
4. Add the verification step: a Webhooks by Zapier POST or a Make HTTP request to `https://spaw.co/api/v1/email` with the header `Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…` and this body, mapping the contact's email:

```json
{
  "email": "mia@acme.com"
}
```

The [Zapier page](/integrations/zapier) and the [Make page](/integrations/make) describe the step field by field. Once the Spaw apps for those platforms are listed, it becomes a Verify Email action with a saved connection.

5. Add the ActiveCampaign action that creates or updates a contact, match on the email, add a tag built from `data.deliverable` (for example `spaw-deliverable`, `spaw-risky`, `spaw-undeliverable`), and map `data.reason` and `data.risk_score` into the custom fields.
6. In ActiveCampaign, build an automation that starts when the `spaw-undeliverable` tag is added and unsubscribes the contact from marketing lists, and another that gates your welcome series on the `spaw-deliverable` tag.
7. Test by creating a contact with `deliverable@spaw.test`, a free test address that answers a fixed result and never appears in your history.

If a welcome automation starts on list subscription, add a wait step of a few minutes before the first send so the tag has time to arrive.

## Clean an existing list

Export the list to CSV, run the email column through a bulk verification on the Spaw dashboard or with the [bulk endpoint](/docs/api/create-bulk-job), and import the result CSV back with the verdict column mapped to tags on import and the reason and score mapped to the custom fields. The result keeps your original columns. Undeliverable rows also join your Spaw suppression list, so later runs answer them for free. The [list cleaning checklist](/guides/email-list-cleaning-checklist) explains what to do with each group.

## What to do with the verdict

Let the tags drive the automations. `spaw-deliverable` contacts get the full program. `spaw-risky` contacts need the reason field: [`role`](/docs/reasons/role) inboxes such as info@ rarely engage with marketing mail, `catch_all` domains are unconfirmed but often real, and `disposable` domains are gone before the second email. `spaw-undeliverable` contacts should be unsubscribed rather than deleted; when the response's `data.did_you_mean` is filled, a task for a teammate with the suggested address recovers the record. The risk score field gives a single threshold for teams that prefer one number.

## Cost

Each new contact that answers deliverable or risky spends 1 credit; undeliverable answers and repeats within seven days are free. Zapier and Make bill their own tasks. Bulk runs bill per processed row and verify duplicates once.

Reference: https://spaw.co/integrations/activecampaign