MoltSets to Instantly: How to Send MoltSets Leads into Your Campaigns

To get leads from MoltSets to Instantly, build or enrich your list with the MoltSets CLI or Chrome extension, filter the rows by MoltSets' A to F risk grade, export a CSV, and upload it to an Instantly campaign. There is no native MoltSets to Instantly integration as of November 2026, and the same is true for Smartlead, PlusVibe and lemlist. The good news is that the CSV route takes a few minutes once you know which columns to keep.

Some tool links here are affiliate links (disclosure). Open MoltSets and Instantly in two tabs to follow along. If you are still deciding whether MoltSets fits your stack, start with our MoltSets review.

Nerdy Joe is a certified Apollo.io Managed Services Partner and a PlusVibe Certified Silver Partner. We are not partners of Instantly or Smartlead (affiliate links only), and we are a MoltSets affiliate. We did not run this workflow hands-on: it is our workflow built from MoltSets' CLI, extension and risk score docs plus Instantly's, Smartlead's and PlusVibe's help centers, all checked November 9, 2026 and listed in Sources.

The workflow at a glance

Best for: teams that already send from Instantly, Smartlead or PlusVibe and want cheap, graded emails without paying for a second all-in-one data tool. Not ideal for: reps who want a one-click "push to campaign" button. Tools with native sequencer integrations, such as Findymail, cover that case (see our Findymail to Instantly guide).

Before you start

MoltSets side (as of November 2026)

• Account. Sign up at MoltSets with no card. MoltSets' free tier gives about 1,000 lifetime lookups (MoltSets describes it both as 1,000 records and 1,000 API calls), which is enough to test this workflow.
• Caps. Paid plans are "unlimited data" bounded by rolling 5-hour and weekly windows. Solo ($27 per month) allows 5,000 enrichment records and 2,500 search records per week.
• Misses are free. MoltSets deducts records only when a contact comes back.
• Phones cost extra. Mobiles use separate phone tokens at $0.15 each, so leave phones out unless you need them for calls.

Instantly side

Instantly's CSV article says to check "whether you still have sufficient uploaded contact limit in your workspace" before you upload. Contacts that do not fit will not land. Our Instantly review explains the plan limits.

Sending accounts

Connect and warm your mailboxes before launch. Our guide to cold email infrastructure covers domains, mailboxes and warmup.

Step 1: Set up MoltSets and get an API key

MoltSets is API-first, with no dashboard for building lists. You sign up at app.moltsets.com, then create an API key under API keys in the app. Keys start with ms_.

For the CLI, you need Node.js 18 or later. MoltSets' CLI page shows two ways to run it:

npx moltsets --help
npm install -g moltsets

Then log in so the CLI saves your key:

moltsets login

MoltSets says the CLI reads --api-key first, then the MOLTSETS_API_KEY environment variable, then the saved key. MCP connector credentials do not work with the CLI, so use an API key here. Our how to use MoltSets guide covers keys and connectors in more detail.

Step 2: Build or enrich the list

Pick the route that matches what you already have.

Route A: Enrich a CSV with the CLI

This is the cleanest route for Instantly. MoltSets documents three runs.

1. Dry run. It counts rows and checks your rate-limit headroom without making paid calls.

moltsets enrich leads.csv --column linkedin --dry-run

2. Sample. Enrich 10 rows first and open the result.

moltsets enrich leads.csv --column linkedin --limit 10 --out sample.csv

3. Full run.

moltsets enrich leads.csv --column linkedin --out enriched.csv

MoltSets says the CLI works in batches of 100 and saves progress after each batch, so a rerun resumes where it stopped (--restart starts over). If you hit a Fair Use window, it waits for the reset, or stops if you pass --no-wait. On a 429 error it waits and retries up to four times.

The output keeps your original columns and adds "verified emails, risk scores and a status for each row," per MoltSets. The CLI page does not list the exact new column names, so open sample.csv and note the headers before you clean the full file.

You can choose the enrichment tool with --tool. The examples use linkedin_to_best_email, which returns the best work email or a personal one if no work email exists. For cold email to companies, check the email type in your sample and decide whether you want personal addresses in the campaign at all.

Route B: Search first, then enrich

MoltSets' CLI page says you can page through people and company search with --max or --all and write results to CSV with --out. The page does not print the exact search command names, so run moltsets --help to see them.

Search records have their own cap (2,500 per week on Solo) and the API returns at most 25 results per call. Use the free count_only option on search_linkedin_profile to check how big a search is before you spend records.

Once you have a CSV of profiles, run Route A on it to add emails.

Route C: The Chrome or Firefox extension

Open a LinkedIn profile, open the MoltSets side panel, choose a business email lookup and click Get. Save each contact to a list, then download the list as a CSV. MoltSets says CSV downloads and lists are free; only the lookups draw on your plan.

This route suits small, hand-picked lists. Our MoltSets Chrome extension guide covers lists, CSV downloads and what the extension can send.

Route D: An AI agent

If you use Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, you can connect MoltSets' remote MCP server and ask an agent to search, enrich and write a CSV. That is flexible, but check the file the agent produces as carefully as you would a CLI export. Set a clear limit on how many records the agent may use.

When your list is ready, sign in to your MoltSets account and run moltsets usage (free) to confirm how much of your weekly window is left.

Step 3: Filter by risk grade

Every email MoltSets returns carries an A to F risk score and a last-validated date. MoltSets drops addresses that fail validation before delivery, so what is left is graded for send safety.

MoltSets says a missing risk score should be treated as F. It also says the grade is about send safety, not identity: an A "doesn't confirm the address belongs to the person you searched."

For C grades, MoltSets suggests suppressing non-responders after 1 to 2 attempts. Putting catch-alls in their own campaign keeps any bounce spike away from your main sending accounts. Our MoltSets email validation guide explains the grades and the Microsoft change behind them.

Optional second check

Instantly's upload screen has a Verify Leads option that costs 0.25 credits per lead. MoltSets already grades each email, so we would only use it on C or F rows, or on a list that sat for weeks before upload. Our roundup of the best email verification tools covers dedicated verifiers.

Step 4: Clean the CSV for Instantly

Instantly's help center lists these CSV rules:

• The Email column is required, and headers must be in the first row.
• Column names must be unique, at most 20 characters, and should start with a capital letter.
• Save as UTF-8 (in Excel, "CSV UTF-8 (comma delimited)").
• No more than 50 variables per upload.
• Remove true/false values, extra empty columns and extra whitespace, and split merged rows.

In practice, that means:

• [ ] Delete D rows and set aside C and F rows into their own file
• [ ] Drop rows where status shows no email was found
• [ ] Remove duplicates by email
• [ ] Rename long MoltSets headers to short ones (for example Email, FirstName, Company, Title, Grade)
• [ ] Delete columns you will not use in the copy
• [ ] Save as CSV UTF-8

Keep the Grade column as a custom variable so you can filter by it later. The full MoltSets review explains how the grades are built.

Step 5: Import the CSV into Instantly

Per Instantly's "How to Import Leads via CSV" article:

1. Go to the Engage tab, open your campaign and go to the Leads section.
2. Select Upload CSV and choose your file.
3. Review the suggested mapping. Each column can map to Email, a predefined variable (such as First Name, Last Name, Company Name), a custom variable, or Do Not Import. "The Email column is mandatory and must be mapped correctly."
4. Leave Check for Duplicates Across All Campaigns/Lists checked (the default) unless you mean to re-contact leads.
5. Tick Verify Leads only if you want the 0.25 credits per lead second check.
6. Click Upload all.

Instantly says the upload finishes "within a few minutes" and the lead count updates within 5 minutes. You will see notices like "X missing or invalid email(s)" and "X email(s) already exist" if rows are skipped.

Then write the sequence, attach warmed accounts and launch with a modest daily limit.

The same workflow for Smartlead

Smartlead is not a MoltSets integration either, so use the same CSV. Try Smartlead if it is your sequencer. Per Smartlead's CSV mapping article:

1. Go to Engage, then Campaigns.
2. Select your campaign and click Edit.
3. In the Import Leads section, click Import CSV and choose your file.
4. Set the import options, then click Save. The options cover leads on the Global Block List, leads on the unsubscribe list, leads that bounced across the whole Smartlead user base, and leads already in another campaign.
5. Map the columns. Name, Email and Location map automatically; map Company, Job Title or the MoltSets grade to custom variables, and set unneeded columns to Ignore.

Smartlead allows up to 40 custom variables per lead and warns that "If a CSV row has a blank cell for a variable, that value will not populate in the email." Placeholders in your copy, such as {{first_name}}, must match the names you mapped.

The same workflow for PlusVibe

PlusVibe is not listed by MoltSets either. Try PlusVibe if you want to compare it with Instantly and Smartlead. Per PlusVibe's "Adding leads to a campaign" article:

1. Click Campaign in the left menu.
2. Find your campaign, click the pencil icon or the three-dot menu, and select Edit.
3. Open the Leads tab and click Import Leads.
4. Choose CSV Upload, find your file and click Open.
5. On the CSV Mapping form, check each row under Select Type. Matching names map automatically; you can remap a column, pick Do Not Import, or create a Custom Variable.
6. Tick Do not import unselected columns if you want to skip everything unmapped.
7. Set your Import Settings and click Upload.

A success message appears and the leads show in the Leads tab. Our PlusVibe review covers the sending side.

lemlist

lemlist is also absent from MoltSets' integrations page. If it is your sequencer, the same filtered CSV applies; follow lemlist's own import steps.

Can you automate MoltSets to Instantly?

Partly. MoltSets documents no webhooks for API results and no confirmed native Zapier, Make or n8n app. MoltSets' API page says you can call its API from workflows in n8n, Make and Zapier, and Instantly and PlusVibe both publish APIs for adding leads.

So a custom pipeline looks like this: your automation calls a MoltSets enrichment tool, checks status for "ok" and the risk score, then calls the sequencer's add-lead endpoint. We have not built this pipeline, so test it on a small campaign first.

For most teams, a weekly CSV run is easier to audit.

Which route should you use?

Troubleshooting checklist

• [ ] CLI says no key: run moltsets login, or pass --api-key (MCP credentials will not work)
• [ ] CLI stops mid-run: you hit a Fair Use window; rerun later to resume, or check moltsets usage
• [ ] Rows marked dropped: you ran out of tokens during the run
• [ ] Instantly rejects columns: shorten headers to 20 characters, start with a capital letter, save as UTF-8
• [ ] Rows skipped on upload: missing emails, duplicates, or leads already in another campaign
• [ ] Variables blank in emails: map the column to a custom variable and fill blank cells
• [ ] Bounces higher than expected: pause, move C and F rows to their own campaign, and review the source list

Final take

MoltSets to Instantly is a CSV workflow: enrich with the CLI or extension, drop D grades, separate C and F, clean the headers, and upload. Smartlead and PlusVibe take the same file. You trade a native push button for MoltSets' low flat price and per-email risk grades.

For pricing, coverage claims and weaknesses, see our MoltSets review. To test this workflow, open a free MoltSets account, enrich 10 rows with --limit 10, and push them into a test campaign before you commit to a paid MoltSets plan.

Rather not build the list yourself?

Nerdy Joe is owned by Agency Growth Partners (AGP). AGP builds verified lead lists and runs outbound for agencies, from finding and checking contacts to sequencing them in Instantly, Smartlead or PlusVibe. If you would rather hand it off, book a call with David.

Disclosure: My relationship with Instantly is that of an independent party. I do not hold any position, nor do I have the power to form binding agreements or act on behalf of Instantly. My earnings are derived from referral compensations provided by Instantly. The views I share are solely mine and should not be seen as official statements, promises, or representations of Instantly, or any related entities or personnel.

Sources

• MoltSets how it works: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/
• MoltSets CLI: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/cli/
• MoltSets API: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/api/
• MoltSets MCP server: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/mcp-server/
• MoltSets integrations: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/integrations/
• MoltSets LinkedIn Chrome extension: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/linkedin-chrome-extension/
• MoltSets email risk scores: https://developer.moltsets.com/moltsets-data/email-risk-scores
• MoltSets rate limits docs: https://developer.moltsets.com/getting-started/rate-limits
• MoltSets API reference: https://developer.moltsets.com/api-reference/
• MoltSets pricing: https://moltsets.com/pricing/
• MoltSets FAQ: https://moltsets.com/faq/
• MoltSets Fair Use Policy: https://moltsets.com/fair-use-policy-enrichment/
• Instantly help center, How to Import Leads via CSV: https://help.instantly.ai/en/articles/6254215-how-to-import-leads-via-csv
• Instantly API docs: https://developer.instantly.ai/
• Smartlead, How to Map CSV Columns in Smartlead Campaigns: https://helpcenter.smartlead.ai/en/articles/409-how-to-map-csv-columns-in-smartlead-campaigns
• PlusVibe, Adding leads to a campaign: https://help.plusvibe.ai/en/articles/8624790-adding-leads-to-a-campaign
• PlusVibe API, Add leads to a campaign: https://developer.plusvibe.ai/add-leads-to-a-campaign-17238007e0