Apollo Core Workflow B: Email Sequences & Outreach

Overview

Build Apollo.io email sequencing and outreach automation via the REST API. Sequences in Apollo are called "emailer_campaigns" in the API. This covers listing, searching, adding contacts, tracking engagement, and managing sequence lifecycle. All endpoints require a master API key.

Prerequisites

• Completed apollo-core-workflow-a (lead search)
• Apollo account with Sequences feature enabled
• Connected email account in Apollo (Settings > Channels > Email)
• Master API key (not standard)

Instructions

Step 1: Search for Existing Sequences

// src/workflows/sequences.ts
import axios from 'axios';

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

export async function searchSequences(query?: string) {
  const { data } = await client.post('/emailer_campaigns/search', {
    q_name: query,       // optional name filter
    page: 1,
    per_page: 25,
  });

  return data.emailer_campaigns.map((seq: any) => ({
    id: seq.id,
    name: seq.name,
    active: seq.active,
    numSteps: seq.num_steps ?? seq.emailer_steps?.length ?? 0,
    stats: {
      totalContacts: seq.unique_scheduled ?? 0,
      delivered: seq.unique_delivered ?? 0,
      opened: seq.unique_opened ?? 0,
      replied: seq.unique_replied ?? 0,
      bounced: seq.unique_bounced ?? 0,
    },
    createdAt: seq.created_at,
  }));
}

Step 2: Get Email Accounts for Sending

Before adding contacts to a sequence, you need the email account ID that will send the messages.

export async function getEmailAccounts() {
  const { data } = await client.get('/email_accounts');

  return data.email_accounts.map((acct: any) => ({
    id: acct.id,
    email: acct.email,
    sendingEnabled: acct.active,
    provider: acct.type,  // "gmail", "outlook", "smtp"
    dailySendLimit: acct.daily_email_limit,
  }));
}

Step 3: Add Contacts to a Sequence

The add_contact_ids endpoint enrolls contacts into an existing sequence. You must specify which email account sends the messages.

export async function addContactsToSequence(
  sequenceId: string,
  contactIds: string[],
  emailAccountId: string,
) {
  const { data } = await client.post(
    `/emailer_campaigns/${sequenceId}/add_contact_ids`,
    {
      contact_ids: contactIds,
      emailer_campaign_id: sequenceId,
      send_email_from_email_account_id: emailAccountId,
      sequence_active_in_other_campaigns: false,  // skip if already in another sequence
    },
  );

  return {
    added: data.contacts?.length ?? 0,
    alreadyInCampaign: data.contacts_already_in_campaign ?? 0,
    errors: data.not_added_contact_ids ?? [],
  };
}

Step 4: Update Contact Status in a Sequence

// Mark contacts as finished or remove them from a sequence
export async function removeContactsFromSequence(
  sequenceId: string,
  contactIds: string[],
  action: 'finished' | 'removed' = 'finished',
) {
  const { data } = await client.post('/emailer_campaigns/remove_or_stop_contact_ids', {
    emailer_campaign_id: sequenceId,
    contact_ids: contactIds,
    // "finished" marks contact as completed; "removed" fully removes
  });

  return {
    updated: data.contacts?.length ?? 0,
  };
}

Step 5: Create and Manage Contacts for Sequences

Contacts must exist in your Apollo CRM before adding to sequences. Use the Contacts API to create them.

// Create a contact in your Apollo CRM
export async function createContact(params: {
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
  email: string;
  title?: string;
  organizationName?: string;
  websiteUrl?: string;
}) {
  const { data } = await client.post('/contacts', {
    first_name: params.firstName,
    last_name: params.lastName,
    email: params.email,
    title: params.title,
    organization_name: params.organizationName,
    website_url: params.websiteUrl,
  });

  return {
    id: data.contact.id,
    email: data.contact.email,
    name: `${data.contact.first_name} ${data.contact.last_name}`,
  };
}

// Search your CRM contacts (not the Apollo database)
export async function searchCrmContacts(query: string) {
  const { data } = await client.post('/contacts/search', {
    q_keywords: query,
    page: 1,
    per_page: 25,
  });

  return data.contacts.map((c: any) => ({
    id: c.id,
    name: c.name,
    email: c.email,
    title: c.title,
    company: c.organization_name,
  }));
}

Step 6: Full Outreach Pipeline

async function launchOutreach(
  sequenceId: string,
  leads: Array<{ firstName: string; lastName: string; email: string; title?: string; company?: string }>,
) {
  // 1. Get a sending email account
  const accounts = await getEmailAccounts();
  const sender = accounts.find((a: any) => a.sendingEnabled);
  if (!sender) throw new Error('No active email account found');

  // 2. Create contacts in Apollo CRM (or find existing)
  const contactIds: string[] = [];
  for (const lead of leads) {
    try {
      const contact = await createContact({
        firstName: lead.firstName,
        lastName: lead.lastName,
        email: lead.email,
        title: lead.title,
        organizationName: lead.company,
      });
      contactIds.push(contact.id);
    } catch (err: any) {
      // Contact may already exist — search for them
      const existing = await searchCrmContacts(lead.email);
      if (existing.length > 0) contactIds.push(existing[0].id);
    }
  }

  // 3. Add contacts to the sequence
  const result = await addContactsToSequence(sequenceId, contactIds, sender.id);
  console.log(`Added ${result.added} contacts, ${result.alreadyInCampaign} already enrolled`);

  return result;
}

Output

• Sequence search via POST /emailer_campaigns/search
• Email account listing via GET /email_accounts
• Contact enrollment via POST /emailer_campaigns/{id}/add_contact_ids
• Contact removal via POST /emailer_campaigns/remove_or_stop_contact_ids
• Contact creation via POST /contacts and search via POST /contacts/search
• Full outreach pipeline: create contacts, find sender, enroll in sequence

Examples

For a controlled campaign launch, select an existing approved sequence and a small, consented staging lead list. First query the sequence and active sender, then create or resolve each CRM contact without logging email addresses. Submit the contact IDs once, record only the added, already-enrolled, and rejected counts, and inspect the campaign in Apollo before enabling any send. If a contact is already active in another campaign, a sender is unavailable, or the API returns a partial result, stop that batch and resolve it manually instead of retrying enrollment blindly.

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
403 Forbidden	Standard API key used	Sequence endpoints require a master API key
No email accounts	Inbox not connected	Connect email at Settings > Channels > Email in Apollo UI
Contact already enrolled	Duplicate enrollment	Check contacts_already_in_campaign in response
Contact not found	ID does not exist in CRM	Create via POST /contacts first

Resources

• Search for Sequences
• Add Contacts to Sequence
• Update Contact Status
• Get Email Accounts
• Create a Contact
• Search for Contacts

Next Steps

Proceed to apollo-common-errors for error handling patterns.