Verify emails in HubSpot with Spaw

HubSpot workflows can call an external URL and use the answer in later actions, which is all a verification step needs. The webhook action is part of Data Hub Professional and Enterprise; on other tiers, the same result comes from a Zap or a Make scenario that triggers on a new contact. No HubSpot app is required in either case, and Spaw does not ask for access to your portal.

Verify new contacts with a workflow webhook

1. Create a secret API key on the API keys page of your Spaw dashboard.
2. Create three contact properties to hold the answer: a single-line text property for the verdict, one for the reason, and a number property for the risk score. Internal names such as spaw_verdict, spaw_reason and spaw_risk_score keep them easy to find.
3. Create a contact-based workflow whose enrollment trigger is a contact whose email is known, re-enrolling when the email changes.
4. Add the webhook action. Set the method to POST and the URL to https://spaw.co/api/v1/email.
5. Choose API-key authentication for the request. The header name is Authorization and the value is Bearer sk_live_…; HubSpot stores the value as a secret so it never appears in the workflow itself.
6. Customize the request body so it contains only the contact's email under the key email:

{
  "email": "[email protected]"
}

7. Turn on the option that includes the response as data. After the action runs once in a test, the response fields become available to later actions under data, for example data.deliverable, data.reason, data.risk_score and data.did_you_mean.
8. Add a property-setting action that copies data.deliverable into your verdict property, and two more for the reason and the score.
9. Add a branch on the verdict property. Test the workflow by enrolling a contact whose email is [email protected]; it answers a canonical result, costs nothing and never appears in your Spaw history.

The full list of fields the webhook receives is on the single-address endpoint page. Everything in it can be written to a property the same way.

Other tiers: Zapier or Make

Without the webhook action, use a new-contact trigger from HubSpot in Zapier or Make, a Spaw verification step (Webhooks by Zapier or Make's HTTP module today, the Spaw apps once they are listed), and an update-contact action that writes the three properties. The Zapier page has the exact request. The workflow branches described below then run on the properties as usual.

Existing contacts

For the contacts already in the portal, export the emails, run them through a bulk verification on the Spaw dashboard or the API, and import the result CSV back into HubSpot with the verdict column mapped to the property. The list cleaning checklist covers what to do with each verdict on an old list.

What to do with the verdict

Branch the workflow on the verdict property. deliverable contacts go on to marketing emails and sequences. For risky contacts, look at the reason: catch_all means the domain accepts everything and the mailbox is unconfirmed, role means a shared inbox such as info@; both are usually worth keeping out of cold sequences but fine for transactional mail. undeliverable contacts should be set to not marketing-eligible or handed to a review list, and when data.did_you_mean is filled, an internal notification with the suggested address is the fastest way to recover the lead.

Cost

Each enrollment that answers deliverable or risky spends 1 credit; undeliverable answers and repeats of the same address within seven days are free. A re-enrollment after an email edit is a new address and bills normally. Keys may make 5 requests per second; HubSpot spreads workflow actions out enough that this rarely matters, but a bulk enrollment of thousands of contacts should be done through a bulk run instead.