# SmartLead setup for PopMCP

You paste one SmartLead API key into PopMCP. An admin key reaches the whole account and every client sub-account; a client key reaches only the client it is assigned to.

- Auth: API credentials
- Setup time: 3 min
- API base URL: https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1
- Credentials screen: https://app.smartlead.ai/app/settings/profile
- Provider docs: https://api.smartlead.ai/authentication

## Before you begin

- A SmartLead account at app.smartlead.ai. SmartLead's pricing table lists API & Webhooks as a per-plan feature, so if you cannot create a key, check that your plan includes it.
- Access to Settings from your profile menu, where API Key Management lives
- A decision on reach: the admin key covers every client, a client key covers one client. A PopMCP workspace holds one SmartLead connection.
- Smart Delivery, Smart Prospect or Smart Senders enabled on your SmartLead account if you want those tools. The same key reaches them.

## Get your credentials

### 1. Open API Key Management

Sign in at app.smartlead.ai, open your profile menu and choose Settings, then API Key Management. The Admin API Keys section lists the keys that reach the whole account.

Screen: https://app.smartlead.ai/app/settings/profile

### 2. Create a key for PopMCP

In Admin API Keys, click + Create API Key, enter a descriptive name such as `PopMCP` and click Create. To limit PopMCP to one client instead, create a client key and assign it to that client.

Screen: https://app.smartlead.ai/app/settings/profile

### 3. Copy the key before you leave the page

Click the copy icon next to the new key right away. SmartLead hides the full value once you leave the page, so a lost key has to be reset or replaced.

Screen: https://app.smartlead.ai/app/settings/profile

### 4. Paste the key into PopMCP

In PopMCP, paste the key into API key and click Connect SmartLead. PopMCP checks it by listing one sending account, so no campaign or lead is touched.

## Fields PopMCP asks for

- API key (apiKey) [required]: In SmartLead (app.smartlead.ai) open Settings → API Keys, then copy your key (or generate one). Stored encrypted and used server-side only. A client sub-account key also works and limits the MCP to that client.

## Verify

PopMCP shows SmartLead as Verified, labelled `SmartLead (user <id>)` once the account has at least one sending mailbox (or just `SmartLead` on an empty account). Asking the AI to list your campaigns returns your real campaign names and statuses.

## Troubleshooting

### SmartLead rejected this API key

Cause: SmartLead answered 401 `Invalid API Key`: the key was copied incompletely, or it was reset or revoked after you copied it.

Fix: Copy the key again from Settings, API Key Management, or create a new one, and reconnect. PopMCP also accepts a pasted request URL containing api_key= and extracts the key.

### The connection stopped working right after someone reset a key

Cause: Reset Key generates a new value and invalidates the old one immediately, including the copy stored in PopMCP.

Fix: Reconnect SmartLead in PopMCP with the new value. Give PopMCP its own named key so other teams' resets do not break it.

### Only one client's campaigns and mailboxes appear

Cause: You pasted a client key, which is limited to the client it is assigned to.

Fix: Reconnect with an admin key from the Admin API Keys section if the connection should reach every client.

### Smart Delivery, Smart Prospect or Smart Senders tools return 401 or 403

Cause: The add-on is not enabled on your SmartLead account. The key itself is fine.

Fix: Enable the add-on in SmartLead, or ask the AI to stick to the core campaign, lead and inbox tools.

### A tool fails even though SmartLead answered HTTP 200

Cause: Some SmartLead endpoints, Smart Prospect especially, report failure as HTTP 200 with success: false. PopMCP turns that into an error carrying SmartLead's message.

Fix: Read the message in the error, for example missing credits or an invalid filter, fix the cause and retry.

### 429 or `You have exceeded the 10 requests in 60 sec limit for this endpoint!`

Cause: The key hit its per-minute limit, which every admin key shares, or one of the endpoints capped at 10 requests per 60 seconds (lead statistics, all-leads activities, domain-wise health).

Fix: Wait 60 seconds and retry with fewer calls. For analytics, ask for one date range instead of many small ones.

### There is no API Key Management page, only an API section

Cause: SmartLead has renamed this area over time: older docs say Settings, API Keys or Settings, API.

Fix: Open your profile menu, choose Settings and look for the API key area under whichever name your account shows. If none exists, check that your plan includes API & Webhooks.

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Source: https://www.docs.popmcp.com/docs/integrations/smartlead/