Import leads

Add an individual lead

1. Open Add leads

   On the Leads page, click Add leads and keep the Individual lead tab selected.

2. Enter the contact

   Email is required. First name, last name, company, title, and list are optional. The list defaults to the list you are currently viewing.

3. Save

   Choose Save lead to finish or Save and add another to keep the modal open. InboxJoy warns you if the email already exists.

Open any lead to edit its name, company, or title. Email is the lead identity and cannot be changed.

Prepare your CSV

Your CSV can include these columns. Only email is required.

The optional fields supply the {{firstName}}, {{company}}, and {{title}} merge tags used in campaign drafts.

CSV uploads and pasted CSV content are limited to 6MB. Split larger lists into multiple files, or import them in batches over MCP.

Upload and preview the file

1. Open the Leads page

   Click Add leads, open Upload CSV, then upload a file or paste CSV content. A downloadable template is available in the modal.

2. Map columns and choose behavior

   InboxJoy detects common column names automatically. Confirm the email, first name, last name, company, title, and source mappings, then choose an import mode:

   • Add new leads: Create unknown email addresses and skip existing leads.
   • Update existing leads: Update mapped, nonempty fields and skip unknown email addresses.
   • Add and update: Create unknown leads and update existing matches.

   You can use the active list, choose another list, import without a list, or name a new list. A new list is created only when you confirm the import.

3. Review the preview

   Check create, update, unchanged, ready, duplicate, suppressed, invalid, and skipped counts. Updated rows show the fields that will change. Download the error CSV when you need to repair skipped rows.

4. Confirm the import

   InboxJoy rechecks contacts and suppressions when you confirm. Suppressed addresses are never imported, duplicate rows in the file are skipped, and contacts changed after preview are not overwritten. The completion screen reports the actual created, updated, unchanged, and skipped totals.

Add custom variables for personalization

Beyond the built-in merge tags, a sequence step can use any {{name}} token, such as {{icebreaker}} or {{recentPost}}. Names use letters, digits, and underscores and start with a letter. The names firstName, lastName, company, title, and email stay reserved for the built-in fields.

InboxJoy fills each token in this order:

1. The built-in field on the lead (blank when empty).
2. The value saved for that lead on the campaign.
3. The lead’s custom field with the same name.

Over MCP, each lead in inboxjoy_leads_import accepts customFields (saved on the lead for every campaign) and variables (saved for the campaign you name with campaignId or sequenceId). Send null for a key to delete it. Values are trimmed, line breaks become spaces, and each value holds up to 1,000 characters.

Import custom columns from a CSV

In the column mapping step, map any extra CSV column to a custom field and name it, for example an Ice breaker column mapped to icebreaker. Choose where the values go:

• One campaign: pick the campaign and the values are saved for that campaign only, so each campaign can carry its own line for the same lead.
• The lead: without a campaign, values are saved on the lead and every campaign can use them. A blank cell leaves the stored value as it was.

Custom columns apply to new leads and, when you choose Update existing leads or Add and update, to existing leads. Values are saved before leads join a list, so leads that were waiting for these values in a live campaign enroll as soon as the import completes, and emails queued but not yet sent pick up the new text. Names cannot reuse a built-in field such as firstName or company.

A campaign launches once every lead in its audience has a value for every custom variable its steps use. You can create the campaign, import leads, and write variables in any order before launch. After launch, leads added to the campaign’s lists enroll automatically as soon as their values are complete. Use inboxjoy_campaigns_setLeadVariables to add or update values later.

Manage leads in bulk

Select multiple leads on the Leads page, then choose an action:

• Enroll: Add the selected leads to a campaign.
• Suppress: Add the selected leads’ emails to the do-not-contact list.
• Delete: Remove the selected leads. Leads with campaign history are kept instead of deleted, so enrollment records stay intact.

Use the search box to find leads by name, email, or company. Use the status filters to narrow the list.

Import leads with an AI agent

Connect an AI agent through MCP, then ask it to import leads directly. The MCP import tool accepts up to 1,000 leads per call and can add them straight to a named list, together with custom fields and personalized campaign variables. See Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor.