What are Smart Columns in Cleanlist?

Smart Columns are per-row operations that run across an entire lead list in the background. There are 15 Basic types (Starter+) covering data cleaning, enrichment, and validation, plus 3 AI types (Pro+) for custom AI, classification, and CRM lookup, plus 3 agent columns (Pro+) for deep research and qualification.

How many Smart Column types are there?

18 plus 3 agent columns. Fifteen Basic types (Starter+): clean_first_name, format_phone, email_validation, phone_validation, enrich_company, linkedin_research, find_competitors, find_similar_companies, website_analysis, icp_fit_analysis, cold_intro_email, data_quality_name_check, data_quality_domain_check, contact_timezone, and duplicate_detection. Three AI types (Pro+): custom_ai, custom_classification, and crm_contact_lookup. Three agent columns (Pro+): Research, Qualification, and Custom.

What does icp_fit_analysis require?

You must have a saved ICP profile. The column scores each row against it. Without a saved ICP the column cannot run.

What does cold_intro_email require?

You must have a saved email template. The column uses it to generate a personalised intro email for each lead.

What does crm_contact_lookup require?

You must have a connected CRM (HubSpot or Salesforce). The column checks whether each lead already exists in your CRM.

How much do Smart Columns cost?

Costs vary by type. Low-cost: clean_first_name and format_phone are 0.1 credits each. email_validation is 0.5. Most enrichment types (enrich_company, linkedin_research, icp_fit_analysis, etc.) are 0.5. phone_validation is 0.5. cold_intro_email is 3.0. custom_classification is 1.0. custom_ai is 3 credits (prompt ≤500 tokens) or 5 credits (>500 tokens). Research is 3 (company or contact) / 5 (both). Qualification is 5. Failed rows cost 0 credits.

Is enrich_company a Smart Column or a separate bulk action?

It is a Smart Column (Basic, Starter+). It runs company firmographic enrichment row by row at 0.5 credits per row.

Can I run a Smart Column on just some rows?

Yes. You can run on the entire list, on filtered rows, or on a manual selection, and re-run only failed rows without re-running successful ones.

What status can each row show while a Smart Column runs?

Each row moves through one of five statuses: Pending, Processing, Completed, Partial, or Failed. Partial means some fields were filled and some failed for that row. Failed rows cost 0 credits.

What plan do I need for Smart Columns?

Basic Smart Columns (15 types) require Starter or above. AI Smart Columns (custom_ai, custom_classification, crm_contact_lookup) and agent columns (Research, Qualification, Custom) require Pro or above.

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Who this is for: self-serve plans (Free, Starter, Pro, Scale). 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: Smart Columns run row-by-row operations across a whole lead list — cleaning, enriching, validating, and analyzing each row in the background. 15 Basic types are available on Starter+; 3 AI types and the 3 agent columns (Research, Qualification, Custom) require Pro+. Failed rows cost 0 credits.

Smart Columns

Smart Columns turn your lead list into a processing pipeline. Add a column, choose the type, and Cleanlist queues a background workflow that runs against every (or every selected) row — writing results back as new fields as each row completes.

Tier gating

Tier	Available column types
Free	None
Starter+	All 15 Basic types
Pro+	All Basic types + 3 AI types + 3 agent columns

Basic Smart Columns (Starter+)

These 15 types cover data cleaning, validation, enrichment, and analysis. All costs are per row and charged only on success (failed rows = 0 credits).

Column type	Credits / row	What it does
`clean_first_name`	0.1	Strips suffixes, titles, and formatting noise from first-name fields
`format_phone`	0.1	Normalizes phone numbers to E.164 format
`email_validation`	0.5	Validates email deliverability via Emailable; returns `deliverable`, `undeliverable`, `risky`, or `unknown`
`phone_validation`	0.5	Validates phone via ClearoutPhone; returns status, line type (mobile/landline/VoIP), and carrier
`enrich_company`	0.5	Reshapes company firmographics (industry, headcount, revenue, and more) from the linked company-catalog record
`linkedin_research`	0.5	Pulls LinkedIn profile signals for the contact
`find_competitors`	0.5	Identifies direct competitors of the lead's company
`find_similar_companies`	0.5	Finds companies similar to the lead's company
`website_analysis`	0.5	Analyzes the company's website for positioning, tech stack signals, and other insights
`icp_fit_analysis`	0.5	Scores each lead against your saved ICP — requires a saved ICP profile
`cold_intro_email`	3.0	Generates a personalized cold intro email — requires a saved email template
`data_quality_name_check`	0.5	Flags data-quality issues with name fields (e.g., placeholder values, encoding problems)
`data_quality_domain_check`	0.5	Flags data-quality issues with domain fields (e.g., free email domains, invalid formats)
`contact_timezone`	0.5	Infers the contact's timezone from location signals
`duplicate_detection`	0.5	Flags leads that match your existing customers (requires an active-customers list), by domain + fuzzy company-name match

enrich_company is a Smart Column — it runs row by row at 0.5 credits per row via the Smart Column path. (The public API has a separate company enrichment endpoint at a different cost; that is only relevant to API users.)

AI Smart Columns (Pro+)

Three additional types that require Pro or above.

Column type	Credits / row	What it does	Dependency
`custom_ai`	3 (prompt ≤500 tokens) · 5 (>500 tokens)	Runs your own freeform prompt against each row. Reference other columns with `/FieldName` syntax. Returns markdown output.	Saved prompt
`custom_classification`	1.0	Classifies each row into one of your defined categories using AI	Defined categories
`crm_contact_lookup`	0.5	Checks whether each lead already exists in your connected CRM	Connected CRM (HubSpot or Salesforce)

Writing `custom_ai` prompts

Reference other row fields using /FieldName syntax — for example:

Identify which CRM /company_name (/company_domain) appears to use.
Reply with exactly one of: hubspot, salesforce, pipedrive, zoho, other, unknown.
Output only the value, no explanation.

Do not use {{ }} or other template delimiters — the correct syntax is a leading / before the field name.

Agent Columns (Pro+)

Agent columns run Cleanlist's full AI Agents row by row across the list, grounded in your Organization Profile.

Column type	Credits / row	What it does
Research (`research`)	3 (company or contact) · 5 (both)	Deep-researches a lead's company, contact, or both. Returns structured fields plus a readable markdown summary.
Qualification (`qualification`)	5	Scores each lead against your saved ICP and checks CRM presence. Returns a fit score, fit level (perfect / good / fair / poor), and reasons.
Custom (`custom`)	3 (≤500 prompt tokens) · 5 (>500)	Runs your own saved prompt against every row. Same engine as `custom_ai`; prompt uses `/FieldName` references.

Qualification requires a saved ICP profile. icp_fit_analysis (the Basic type above) also requires one — they score against the same profile but icp_fit_analysis is lighter-weight and cheaper; Qualification includes a CRM presence check and deeper reasoning.

How execution works

Smart Columns run asynchronously:

Create the column and configure it (type, any required dependency, scope for agent columns)
Cleanlist queues a background workflow
Each row is processed — rows that already have a value can be skipped to save credits
The portal updates live as rows complete (no refresh needed)
Re-run only failed rows from the column header menu

Each row shows one of five statuses as it moves through the workflow: Pending → Processing → Completed / Partial / Failed. A Partial result means some fields were filled and some failed for that row.

Tips for keeping costs predictable

Filter first. Apply a list filter, then run the column on the filtered selection.
Re-run only failed rows. The column header menu has a Run failed only option.
Test on a small sample. Run on 5–10 rows before scaling.
Scope Research deliberately. Company-only or contact-only = 3 credits; both = 5.
Watch custom_ai prompt length. Prompts over 500 tokens cost 5 credits instead of 3.

AI Agents — the Research, Qualification, and Custom engines, and Cleanlist Copilot
ICP Profiles — what icp_fit_analysis and Qualification score against
Credit Pricing — full credit cost reference
Action Columns — trigger CRM pushes and sequencer actions from a list
Smart Columns recipes — common configurations

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