Connect Apollo to Claude Code via MCP
Apollo's MCP server gives Claude Code direct access to 275M+ contacts and 73M+ companies. Find leads, enrich contacts, and trigger outbound sequences — all with natural language.
What is Apollo?
Apollo.io is an all-in-one sales intelligence platform. It combines a massive B2B contact database with engagement tools — sequences, email, dialer, and CRM integrations — in a single platform. Sales teams use it to find ideal customers, verify contact information, and automate outreach at scale.
With the Apollo MCP server, Claude Code can query that database, enrich contacts, and trigger workflows directly from your terminal — no browser tab switching required.
How to Connect Apollo to Claude Code
Install the Apollo MCP Server
Apollo provides an official hosted MCP server. Add it to Claude Code with a single command from your terminal:
Apollo's MCP server is hosted — there is nothing to install locally. The command registers the server endpoint in your Claude Code configuration.
Authorize with OAuth
Apollo uses OAuth — no API key to copy and paste. After running the install command, Claude Code will open a browser window to the Apollo authorization page.
- A browser tab opens to app.apollo.io — log in if prompted.
- Apollo shows the permissions Claude Code is requesting (read contacts, write sequences, etc.).
- Click Authorize. The tab closes and Claude Code confirms the connection.
- Your credentials are stored securely in Claude Code's credential store — not in any config file.
Activate in a Conversation
Once connected, Apollo tools are available automatically in every Claude Code session. You can verify the connection is active by asking Claude to list available MCP tools:
# - apollo_search_contacts
# - apollo_enrich_contact
# - apollo_create_contact
# - apollo_add_to_sequence
# - apollo_search_accounts
5 Key Prompts
Prompt format inspired by Zack Deris's Apollo Prompt Library. Adapted for Claude Code MCP.
Find ICP Leads by Title, Industry & Location
Search Apollo for people with the title "Head of Revenue Operations" or "RevOps Manager" at B2B SaaS companies with 50–500 employees in the United States. Return up to 25 results with name, title, company, and LinkedIn URL.
Refine with seniority levels (director, VP, C-suite) or add funding stage filters like "raised Series A in the last 12 months".
Enrich a Contact — Unlock Email & Phone
Enrich the contact profile for Sarah Chen, VP of Marketing at Acme Corp (acmecorp.com). Return her work email, mobile number if available, LinkedIn URL, and company HQ location.
Enrichment costs Apollo credits. Always run a search first to confirm the person exists before enriching.
Full Outbound Loop — Find, Enrich, Create & Sequence
Run a full outbound workflow: 1. Search Apollo for "Director of Partnerships" at fintech companies with 100–1,000 employees in New York or London. 2. Enrich the top 10 results to get verified emails. 3. Create them as contacts in Apollo if they don't already exist. 4. Add them to the sequence named "Partnerships Outreach Q2".
Chain all four steps in a single conversation. Claude will call multiple Apollo MCP tools in sequence and report back at each stage.
Account Research Brief Before a Call
Pull an account brief for Notion (notion.so) before my call today: - Company size, industry, HQ, and funding stage - Key decision-makers in Product and Engineering (VP+) - Recent news or signals from Apollo's data - Any existing contacts or activity in our Apollo account Format as a concise one-page brief I can skim in 2 minutes.
Run this 15 minutes before a call to walk in fully prepared. Pair with a web search MCP for recent press coverage.
Re-engagement — Find Cold Contacts to Revive
In our Apollo account, find contacts who: - Were last contacted more than 90 days ago - Never replied to any sequence - Have the title "CTO" or "VP Engineering" - Are at companies with 200+ employees Return up to 20 results sorted by company size descending. I want to build a re-engagement campaign.
Combine with an enrichment step to verify their contact details are still current before reaching back out.
Pro Tips
Chain prompts in one conversation
Apollo MCP retains context within a session. Start with a search, then say "now enrich the top 5" — Claude already knows which contacts you mean.
Search is free, enrichment costs credits
Apollo charges credits for email and phone unlocks, not for search. Always search first, review the list, then selectively enrich only the contacts you plan to contact.
Always search before enriching
Enriching a contact who is already in your CRM wastes credits. Ask Claude to check your existing contacts before enriching any new records.
Use filters to stay ICP-focused
Apollo's search supports 65+ filters. Be specific — industry, headcount range, funding stage, technologies used, job change signals. Tighter filters mean higher reply rates.
Prompt format inspired by Zack Deris's Apollo Prompt Library. Zack has published an extensive collection of Apollo prompts for sales teams — these five have been adapted and extended for use with Claude Code's MCP integration.
More MCP Prompt Templates
Browse the full library of MCP prompt templates for Apollo, SerpAPI, Apify, and 10+ other integrations — ready to drop into Claude Code.