How to integrate Smartlead MCP with Claude Agent SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Smartlead to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Smartlead agent that can list your campaigns, create draft campaigns, check delivery tests, and review email accounts through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Smartlead account through Composio's Smartlead MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Smartlead is a sales engagement platform for cold email campaigns, leads, sending accounts, inbox activity, deliverability, prospecting, and sender provisioning. Use it to run outbound sales at scale while keeping campaign operations, replies, and sender health in one place.

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Smartlead to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Smartlead agent that can list your campaigns, create draft campaigns, check delivery tests, and review email accounts through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Smartlead account through Composio's Smartlead MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your Claude/Anthropic and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Smartlead
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Smartlead as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Smartlead operations

What is Claude Agent SDK?

The Claude Agent SDK is Anthropic's official framework for building AI agents powered by Claude. It provides a streamlined interface for creating agents with MCP tool support and conversation management.

Key features include:

  • Native MCP Support: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Permission Modes: Control tool execution permissions
  • Streaming Responses: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications
  • Context Manager: Clean async context management for sessions

What is the Smartlead MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Smartlead MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Smartlead account. It provides structured and secure access to your campaigns, leads, inbox replies, sending accounts, deliverability tests, and prospecting tools, so your agent can manage campaigns, review performance, monitor replies, find prospects, and assess sender resources on your behalf.

  • Campaign creation and management: Have your agent create draft campaigns, review existing campaigns and their settings, or delete campaigns you no longer need.
  • Lead and performance monitoring: Let the agent list campaign leads, review email engagement statistics, remove unwanted leads, and resume paused leads.
  • Inbox and direct email actions: Instruct your agent to review lead replies across campaigns or send a single email from a connected Smartlead sending account.
  • Deliverability and account checks: Direct your agent to inspect sending account health, review spam and inbox placement tests, and organize tests with delivery folders.
  • Prospecting and sender research: Have your agent search prospect contacts, explore industries and saved searches, check prospect usage, compare sender vendors, and find available or purchased domains.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Primary know-how of Claude Agents SDK
  • A Smartlead account
  • Some knowledge of Python
2

Getting API Keys for Claude/Anthropic and Composio

Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Go to the Anthropic Console and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install dependencies

npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the Claude Agents SDK.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core provides Composio integration for Anthropic
  • @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk is the core agent framework
  • dotenv/config loads environment variables
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY authenticates with Anthropic/Claude
5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

dotenv.config();
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including the Claude Agent SDK and Composio
  • The dotenv.config() function loads environment variables from your .env file
  • This setup prepares the foundation for connecting Claude with Smartlead functionality
6

Create a Composio instance and Tool Router session

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

  // Create Tool Router session for Smartlead
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['smartlead'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session?.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • The function checks for the required COMPOSIO_API_KEY environment variable
  • We're creating a Composio instance using our API key
  • The create method creates a Tool Router session for Smartlead
  • The returned url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use
7

Configure Claude Agent with MCP

const options: Options = {
  permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
  mcpServers: {
    composio: {
      type: 'http',
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
    }
  },
  systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Smartlead tools via Composio.',
  maxTurns: 10,
};
What's happening:
  • We're configuring the Claude Agent options with the MCP server URL
  • permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions' allows the agent to execute operations without asking for permission each time
  • The system prompt instructs the agent that it has access to Smartlead
  • maxTurns: 10 limits the conversation length to prevent excessive API usage
8

Create client and start chat loop

const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}
What's happening:
  • The readline interface is created to handle user input and output
  • The query function is used to send the user's input to the agent
  • The chat loop continues until the user types 'exit' or 'quit'
9

Run the application

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}
What's happening:
  • The chat function is the entry point for the application
  • The try-catch block is used to handle any errors that occur

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Smartlead and Claude Agent SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['smartlead']
  });
  const mcp_url = session?.mcp.url;

  const options: Options = {
    permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
    mcpServers: {
      composio: {
        type: 'http',
        url: mcp_url,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
      }
    },
    systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Smartlead tools via Composio.',
    maxTurns: 10,
  };

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Claude Agent SDK agent that can interact with Smartlead through Composio's Tool Router.

Key features:

  • Native MCP support through Claude's agent framework
  • Streaming responses for real-time interaction
  • Permission bypass for smooth automated workflows
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Smartlead action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Create Draft Campaign

Create a new campaign in DRAFTED status.

Create Smart Delivery Folder

Create an organizational folder for Smart Delivery tests.

Delete Campaign

Permanently delete a campaign and all associated sequences, mappings, and statistics.

Delete Smart Delivery Folder

Delete an empty Smart Delivery folder.

Get Campaign

Get configuration and performance summary for one Smartlead campaign by ID.

Get Campaigns

Get configuration and performance summaries for 1-20 Smartlead campaigns.

Get Smart Delivery Test

Get the documented configuration for one Smart Delivery spam test by ID.

Get Smart Prospect Usage

Get Smart Prospect lead-search metrics, fetch counts, daily limits, and available credit balance.

List Campaigns

List campaigns visible to the connected Smartlead account, optionally for one client.

List Smart Delivery Folders

List folders used to organize Smart Delivery tests.

List Smart Delivery Tests

List Smart Delivery spam and inbox-placement tests.

List Email Accounts

List connected sending accounts with health, warmup, usage, provider, and campaign filters.

List Inbox Replies

List lead replies across campaigns from Master Inbox using bounded filters and one page at a time.

List Smart Prospect Industries

List and search Smart Prospect industry filter values without searching contacts or consuming contact-fetch credits.

List Purchased Smart Senders Domains

List domains already purchased through Smart Senders.

List Saved Smart Prospect Searches

List saved Smart Prospect search definitions without executing them or consuming contact-search credits.

List Smart Senders Vendors

List Smart Senders marketplace vendors and current domain/mailbox pricing without placing an order.

Search Available Smart Senders Domains

Check Smart Senders marketplace domain availability for a vendor.

Search Smart Prospect Contacts (Consumes Credits)

Search one page of Smart Prospect contacts.

FRAMEWORKS

How to build Smartlead MCP Agent with another framework

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Hermes

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CLI

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LangChain

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Vercel AI SDK

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Mastra AI

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LlamaIndex

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CrewAI logo

CrewAI

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Smartlead MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Smartlead tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Smartlead and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Claude Agent SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Smartlead tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Smartlead scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Smartlead data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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