Connecting OpenClaw with Clay: A Practical Guide | Cody

Clay is a data enrichment and outbound automation platform used by growth and sales teams. Connecting it to OpenClaw lets your team check enrichment job status, query table data, and monitor workflow runs from Slack.

How OpenClaw Integrations Work

OpenClaw is a self-hosted AI assistant that runs on your own server — typically an EC2 instance — and connects to Slack. It uses Claude under the hood to process requests. Out of the box, OpenClaw doesn't ship with pre-built connections to third-party tools. Instead, integrations are built using the skills system: markdown files in ~/.openclaw/skills/ that give Claude instructions for a particular domain, combined with HTTP tool calls to any API you expose to it.

In practice, adding a real integration means: getting API credentials from the third-party service, building or configuring a small proxy/endpoint that OpenClaw can call, and writing a skill file that tells Claude how to use it. For some tools this is an afternoon of work. For others — like Clay — it's considerably more involved.

Connecting OpenClaw with Clay: Step by Step

Step 1: Get Your Clay API Key

Log into Clay and navigate to Settings → API Access to find your API key. Clay's API lets you interact with tables, claytables, and integrations programmatically. Authenticate all requests using your API key in the request headers.

Step 2: Identify Table and Workflow Endpoints

Clay's API exposes endpoints for reading table data, checking enrichment run status, and triggering workflows. Use the table list endpoint to discover your most-used tables and note their IDs for the skill file.

Step 3: Build the Proxy and Skill File

Build your proxy around the table query and workflow status endpoints. Write ~/.openclaw/skills/clay.md with your table names and IDs, and the most common queries your team runs — enrichment status, row counts, recent additions.

Challenges and Caveats

API Access Varies by Plan

Clay's API access is available on higher-tier plans. Starter plans may have limited or no API access. Check your plan before investing in the integration.

Table Schemas Change Frequently

Clay tables are often modified as enrichment workflows evolve. Your skill file's column name references can become stale quickly if your tables are actively changing.

Skip All of This — Use Cody Instead

Cody has Clay integration built in. Query enrichment tables and workflow status from Slack without API setup.

Get started with Cody →

Related Guides

Need the model-flexible version? See: How to Connect Clay to OpenClaw: Setup, Models, and Workflow Guide.