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Agent skill

Clay Cost Tuning

by jeremylongshore in jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace

Optimize Clay credit spending with provider key management, waterfall tuning, and budget controls.

MITAuto-check passedSecurity

Install Clay Cost Tuning

skills CLI
$ npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill clay-cost-tuning -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace clay-cost-tuning --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.curated/clay-cost-tuning .claude/skills/clay-cost-tuning && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
clay-cost-tuning
GitHub stars
2.8k
Token cost
~2.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
439 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
3,342
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Optimize Clay credit spending with provider key management, waterfall tuning, and budget controls.

  • Works in 6 steps: Connect Your Own Provider API Keys… → Optimize Waterfall Enrichment Depth → Pre-Filter Input Data → …
  • Analyzing Clay costs
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, Prerequisites, Instructions and Error Handling, plus 4 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Clay Cost Tuning is an agent skill from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace. Optimize Clay credit spending with provider key management, waterfall tuning, and budget controls. Use when analyzing Clay costs, reducing credit consumption, or implementing spending alerts and caps. Trigger with phrases like "clay cost", "clay billing", "reduce clay costs", "clay pricing", "clay expensive", "clay budget", "clay credits".

Its SKILL.md is about 2.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts. Compatibility notes: Designed for Claude Code

It sits in Security, covering Cryptography. The repository describes itself as: Model-agnostic agent-skills platform with a harness-free canonical layer, verified adapters, and the ccpi package manager. Explore at tonsofskills.com. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Analyzing Clay costs
  • Reducing credit consumption
  • Implementing spending alerts and caps
  • With phrases like clay cost

Example prompts

  • “clay cost”
  • “clay billing”
  • “reduce clay costs”
  • “/clay-cost-tuning”

Requirements

  • Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Claude Code
  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Edit, Grep

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Connect Your Own Provider API Keys (Biggest Savings)
  2. Optimize Waterfall Enrichment Depth
  3. Pre-Filter Input Data
  4. Use Sampling Before Full Runs
  5. Implement Credit Budget Alerts
  6. Credit-Per-Lead Cost Calculator

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit cfae287. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read
    • Write
    • Edit
    • Grep

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are typescript and yaml).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • university.clay.com
    • clay.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

  • Compatibility

    Designed for Claude Code

    From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Clay Cost Tuning loads about 2.2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 90 tokens; SKILL.md has 439 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~90
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace at commit cfae287, republished under its MIT licence (© jeremylongshore). 439 words, ~2,190 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/clay-cost-tuning/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
clay-cost-tuning
description
Optimize Clay credit spending with provider key management, waterfall tuning, and budget controls. Use when analyzing Clay costs, reducing credit consumption, or implementing spending alerts and caps. Trigger with phrases like "clay cost", "clay billing", "reduce clay costs", "clay pricing", "clay expensive", "clay budget", "clay credits".
allowed-tools
Read, Write, Edit, Grep
compatibility
Designed for Claude Code
version
1.14.0
license
MIT
author
Jeremy Longshore <jeremy@intentsolutions.io>
tags
saas, clay, api, monitoring, cost-optimization

Clay Cost Tuning

Overview

Reduce Clay data enrichment spending by connecting your own API keys (70-80% savings), optimizing waterfall depth, improving input data quality, and implementing budget controls. Clay's March 2026 pricing split credits into Data Credits and Actions, changing the optimization calculus.

Prerequisites

  • Clay account with visibility into credit consumption
  • Understanding of which enrichment columns are in your tables
  • Access to Clay Settings > Plans & Billing

Instructions

Step 1: Connect Your Own Provider API Keys (Biggest Savings)

This is the single most impactful cost reduction. Clay charges 0 Data Credits when you use your own API keys:

ProviderClay-Managed CostOwn Key CostAnnual Savings (10K rows/mo)
Apollo2 credits/lookup0 credits~240K credits/year
Clearbit2-5 credits0 credits~360K credits/year
Hunter.io2 credits0 credits~240K credits/year
Prospeo2 credits0 credits~240K credits/year
People Data Labs3 credits0 credits~360K credits/year
ZoomInfo5-13 credits0 credits~1M+ credits/year

Setup: Go to Settings > Connections in Clay, click Add Connection, and paste your provider API key. All enrichments using that provider will consume 0 Clay credits (1 Action is still consumed per enrichment).

Step 2: Optimize Waterfall Enrichment Depth

Each waterfall step costs credits (if using Clay-managed keys) and time:

yaml
# Expensive waterfall (5 providers, 10-15 credits/row):
expensive:
  - apollo:      2 credits
  - hunter:      2 credits
  - prospeo:     2 credits
  - dropcontact: 3 credits
  - findymail:   3 credits
  total_max: 12 credits/row
  coverage: ~92%

# Optimized waterfall (2 providers, 4 credits/row):
optimized:
  - apollo:      2 credits  # Highest coverage provider first
  - hunter:      2 credits  # Strong backup
  total_max: 4 credits/row
  coverage: ~83%
  savings: "67% credit reduction, ~9% coverage loss"

March 2026 change: Failed lookups no longer cost Data Credits. This makes wider waterfalls less expensive than before, since you only pay when data is actually found.

Step 3: Pre-Filter Input Data

Credits wasted on unenrichable rows are the most common cost leak:

typescript
// src/clay/cost-filter.ts
function estimateCreditCost(rows: any[], creditsPerRow: number): {
  filteredRows: any[];
  estimatedCredits: number;
  savings: number;
} {
  const personalDomains = new Set([
    'gmail.com', 'yahoo.com', 'hotmail.com', 'outlook.com', 'icloud.com',
  ]);

  const filtered = rows.filter(row => {
    if (!row.domain?.includes('.')) return false;
    if (personalDomains.has(row.domain)) return false;
    if (!row.first_name || !row.last_name) return false;
    return true;
  });

  // Deduplicate
  const seen = new Set<string>();
  const deduped = filtered.filter(row => {
    const key = `${row.domain}:${row.first_name}:${row.last_name}`.toLowerCase();
    if (seen.has(key)) return false;
    seen.add(key);
    return true;
  });

  return {
    filteredRows: deduped,
    estimatedCredits: deduped.length * creditsPerRow,
    savings: (rows.length - deduped.length) * creditsPerRow,
  };
}

// Usage
const { filteredRows, estimatedCredits, savings } = estimateCreditCost(rawLeads, 6);
console.log(`Will process ${filteredRows.length} rows (${estimatedCredits} credits)`);
console.log(`Saved ${savings} credits by pre-filtering`);
Step 4: Use Sampling Before Full Runs

Test enrichment quality on a small sample before committing credits to the full list:

typescript
// src/clay/sampler.ts
function sampleForTest(rows: any[], sampleSize = 100): {
  sample: any[];
  remaining: any[];
  estimatedTotalCredits: number;
} {
  // Random sample for representative results
  const shuffled = [...rows].sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);
  const sample = shuffled.slice(0, sampleSize);
  const remaining = shuffled.slice(sampleSize);

  return {
    sample,
    remaining,
    estimatedTotalCredits: rows.length * 6, // Estimate 6 credits/row average
  };
}

// Workflow:
// 1. Send sample (100 rows) to Clay test table
// 2. Check hit rate after enrichment completes
// 3. If hit rate > 60%, proceed with full list
// 4. If hit rate < 40%, clean input data first
Show full SKILL.md (174 more words)Show less
Step 5: Implement Credit Budget Alerts
typescript
// src/clay/budget-monitor.ts
interface CreditBudget {
  monthlyLimit: number;      // From your plan
  dailyThreshold: number;    // Alert if exceeded
  perTableMax: number;       // Cap per table
}

const PLAN_BUDGETS: Record<string, CreditBudget> = {
  launch:     { monthlyLimit: 2_500, dailyThreshold: 125, perTableMax: 500 },
  growth:     { monthlyLimit: 6_000, dailyThreshold: 300, perTableMax: 1_500 },
  enterprise: { monthlyLimit: 50_000, dailyThreshold: 2_500, perTableMax: 10_000 },
};

class BudgetMonitor {
  private dailyUsage = 0;
  private monthlyUsage = 0;
  private tableUsage = new Map<string, number>();

  constructor(private budget: CreditBudget) {}

  recordUsage(tableId: string, credits: number) {
    this.dailyUsage += credits;
    this.monthlyUsage += credits;
    this.tableUsage.set(tableId, (this.tableUsage.get(tableId) || 0) + credits);

    // Check thresholds
    if (this.dailyUsage > this.budget.dailyThreshold) {
      console.warn(`ALERT: Daily credit usage (${this.dailyUsage}) exceeds threshold (${this.budget.dailyThreshold})`);
    }
    if (this.monthlyUsage > this.budget.monthlyLimit * 0.8) {
      console.warn(`ALERT: Monthly credits at ${((this.monthlyUsage / this.budget.monthlyLimit) * 100).toFixed(0)}%`);
    }
    if ((this.tableUsage.get(tableId) || 0) > this.budget.perTableMax) {
      console.error(`STOP: Table ${tableId} exceeded per-table cap (${this.budget.perTableMax} credits)`);
    }
  }
}
Step 6: Credit-Per-Lead Cost Calculator
typescript
function calculateCostPerLead(
  totalCredits: number,
  totalRows: number,
  rowsWithEmail: number,
  rowsPushedToCRM: number,
): void {
  console.log('=== Clay Cost Analysis ===');
  console.log(`Credits used: ${totalCredits}`);
  console.log(`Cost per row processed: ${(totalCredits / totalRows).toFixed(1)} credits`);
  console.log(`Cost per email found: ${(totalCredits / Math.max(rowsWithEmail, 1)).toFixed(1)} credits`);
  console.log(`Cost per CRM lead: ${(totalCredits / Math.max(rowsPushedToCRM, 1)).toFixed(1)} credits`);
  console.log(`Email find rate: ${((rowsWithEmail / totalRows) * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
  console.log(`Qualification rate: ${((rowsPushedToCRM / totalRows) * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
}

Error Handling

IssueCauseSolution
Credits burning fastWaterfall enriching all providersEnable "stop on first result", reduce depth
Low hit rate (<30%)Bad input dataFilter personal domains, validate before import
Unexpected chargesNew column added with auto-runReview all auto-run columns monthly
Credit rollover cappedBalance exceeds 2x monthlyUse credits before they cap out

Output

Publish a credit-control decision with table scope, budget, actual usage, cost-per-qualified-result, quality baseline, owner, alert threshold, and rollback/stop condition. Treat pricing and calculator results as estimates; validate current plan behavior in the authorized workspace before expanding automated enrichments.

Examples

Set a staging table’s per-run and monthly credit caps, run a qualified sample, and compare cost-per-lead with the prior baseline. If spend rises while hit rate falls, trip the stop condition, disable the expensive auto-run column, and review input quality and provider order before resuming.

Resources

Next Steps

For reference architecture patterns, see clay-reference-architecture.

© jeremylongshore, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/.curated/clay-cost-tuning of jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit cfae287

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Categories

Questions about Clay Cost Tuning

What does Clay Cost Tuning do?

Optimize Clay credit spending with provider key management, waterfall tuning, and budget controls. Clay Cost Tuning is an agent skill from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace. Optimize Clay credit spending with provider key management, waterfall tuning, and budget controls.

When should I use Clay Cost Tuning?

Clay Cost Tuning fits situations like: analyzing Clay costs; reducing credit consumption; implementing spending alerts and caps; with phrases like clay cost.

How do I install Clay Cost Tuning in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill clay-cost-tuning -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/.curated/clay-cost-tuning in jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace) into .claude/skills/clay-cost-tuning in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Clay Cost Tuning in Codex?

Run `npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill clay-cost-tuning -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/.curated/clay-cost-tuning in jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace) into .agents/skills/clay-cost-tuning in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Clay Cost Tuning in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill clay-cost-tuning -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/clay-cost-tuning, .gemini/skills/clay-cost-tuning, .github/skills/clay-cost-tuning and .opencode/skills/clay-cost-tuning in your project.

What does Clay Cost Tuning need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Clay Cost Tuning is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Write, Edit, Grep. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Claude Code.

Does Clay Cost Tuning access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. As links in the text: university.clay.com and clay.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Clay Cost Tuning safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Clay Cost Tuning use?

Clay Cost Tuning is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Clay Cost Tuning use?

About 2.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 8.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Clay Cost Tuning?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Clay Cost Tuning: Bom Explore (cdxgen/cdxgen, 1.1k stars), Crypto Analysis (hypnguyen1209/offensive-claude, 388 stars), Security Review (valory-xyz/open-autonomy, 129 stars) and Hashcat Password Recovery Workflow (AgentSecOps/SecOpsAgentKit, 220 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Clay Cost Tuning?

jeremylongshore (a GitHub user) maintains it in jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace, which has 2,827 GitHub stars. The repository holds 3,342 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 10, 2026.

Source: jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.