Who this is for: self-serve plans (Free, Starter, Pro, Enterprise). If you bought a Cleanlist AppSumo lifetime deal, your features, limits, and pricing are different. See the AppSumo documentation instead. Support agent: confirm whether the user is self-serve or AppSumo before giving plan-specific advice.
TL;DR: Agents → New agent → describe the job → answer Clu → Review on canvas → Accept → set Limits → Run a test (free) → Test on 5 records (paid) → Turn on. Needs Pro or Enterprise to turn on; the Pro trial can build. Reference: Agents.
Build your first agent
This guide walks through one agent from an empty page to its first live run. The example is the Weekly ICP leads starter: every Monday, find new people who match your ICP, get their verified work emails, and send the list to Slack.
Looking for the Research, Qualification or Custom skills on a lead list? See Skills.
Before you start
Plan. Pro or Enterprise to turn agents on. On the Pro trial you can do every step below except the tests and Turn on. See Agents: who can use Agents.
Connections. Connect the apps your agent will use from Integrations: HubSpot or Salesforce for CRM work, Slack (Clu by Cleanlist AI) for Slack messages, Google Sheets for sheet exports. You can also connect later; Clu tells you what is missing.
Credits. Live runs and Test on 5 records spend credits. Check your balance on Settings → Plans & billing.
Open Agents and set up your profile
Click Agents in the sidebar (or press G then A). If nobody in your workspace has done it yet, you'll see a one-time setup: enter your Company website and, optionally, your Company LinkedIn, and click Build my profile. It takes a few minutes and you can keep working. Review the draft under Looks right? and click Looks good, save my profile. This is free and only needs doing once per workspace.
Click New agent
On the Agents tab, click New agent. Cleanlist creates a draft agent and opens it on the guided screen, "What should this agent take care of?"
Describe the job
Type the job in Describe the job, or pick a starter. For this example, pick Weekly ICP leads under Prospecting, which sends Clu: "Every Monday, find new people who match my ICP, get their verified work emails, and send me the list in Slack."
Be specific about the three things Clu needs: when (every Monday, when a deal stalls, when a form is submitted), who (titles, industries, company size, locations, or a CRM list), and where results go (a Slack channel, your CRM, a sequence, a Google Sheet).
Answer Clu's questions
Clu asks what it still needs in one card of up to four questions, for example which Slack channel, how many people a week, and a credit limit. It sizes the audience for free so you can see how many people match before anything runs.
Review and accept the play
Clu's proposal appears in the chat as Play change for review. Click Review on canvas to see the trigger and every step on the Play tab, each with its cost per record. Then:
Click Accept to save it, or Discard to throw it away.
Or tell Clu what to change ("only VPs and directors", "post to #sales-leads instead") and review the new proposal.
Clu never changes a play without your Accept. While Clu is filling in the panel, the panel is read-only.
Check the agent's settings
Open the Agent tab and check:
Instructions: what the agent is for. With Clu keeps these updated on, Clu maintains them as you chat.
Connections and Delivery: where results go (Slack channel, Direct message me, Email, Results list, Sync to CRM).
Limits: the credit limit for each period (for example Credits per week) and Records per run. These cap what the agent can spend, even if a search matches more people than expected.
Run a free test
From the header menu, choose Run a test. It's a dry run: you see which records would enter and what each step would do, with no CRM writes, no messages and no list changes. It costs nothing.
Test on 5 real records
From the header menu, choose Test on 5 records. The dialog shows the Credit ceiling and your balance; confirm to get real results (real emails found, real skill output) on up to 5 records. CRM changes and messages are only previewed ("Would create", "Would update", "Would send"). You can run this up to 10 times per play per day.
Turn the agent on
Click Turn on in the header. The agent's status changes to Active and its trigger starts runs on schedule. For the weekly example, the first run starts within 30 minutes of the time you set on Monday. Need results now? Click Run now on the Play tab for an immediate live run.
Watch the first runs
Open the Runs tab to see each run's status, records and credits. Click a run for Record results, and open a step to see its records with links into your CRM. If your play has an Approve step, pending records appear on the Approvals tab and in the Approvals inbox on the Agents tab.
If something goes wrong
What you see | What it means | What to do |
Turn on disabled: "Add a play first" | The agent has no play | Ask Clu to build one, or Add a play on the Play tab |
Turn on disabled: "Finish the play first" | A step or the trigger still needs settings | Open the Play tab and fix the flagged step, or ask Clu what is missing |
Start Pro to launch | You're on the Pro trial | Start a Pro plan from View plans; your draft stays saved |
"Your plan allows 5 active agents. Pause one to activate another." | Pro's active-agent limit | Pause another agent, or move to Enterprise |
"Not enough credits for this test." | Your balance is below the test's ceiling | Add credits on Settings → Plans & billing |
"This play reached its daily test limit." | 10 tests on 5 records today | Try again tomorrow (UTC), or use the free Run a test |
"This test exceeds the agent's credit limit." | The test would pass the agent's limit | Raise the limit in Limits, or test fewer records |
The play shows Paused: with a reason | Three failed checks in a row, for example a disconnected CRM | Fix the cause, then turn the play or agent back on. See Trigger health and auto-pause |
The Runs tab shows Credit limit reached | The agent used its credits for the period | Wait for the next period or raise the limit |
Next steps
Change it later: ask Clu in the agent's chat, or edit the play and click Save. Turning the agent on or off and paid tests always need your confirmation.
Add a second play: on the Play tab, Add a play (up to 10 per agent). Plays of one agent can pass records to each other with Hand off.
Put a person in the loop: ask Clu to add an Approve step before records reach your CRM or a sequence. See Approvals.
Try more jobs: Agent recipes has sentences to give Clu for common agents.
Related
Agents: the full reference
Plays and triggers: every trigger, schedules and the Runs tab
Play steps reference: every step and its price
Skills: Research, Qualification, Custom and Employment check on lead lists
Full documentation: docs.cleanlist.ai/guides/using-agents