What is Clay Lookup Rows?
Clay Lookup Rows retrieves matching information from another table in the same workspace. It can find one row or multiple rows using chosen comparison criteria. The lookup reads the source table; it does not update that source table or send records into it.
By LeadHaste Editorial · AI-assisted editorial review ·
When a lookup is useful
A contact table might need company information already collected in an account table. Another table may hold exclusions that must be checked before enrichment. Lookup Rows connects the current row to those existing records. Clay documents matching on a shared value and choosing a comparison operator. The quality of that shared key matters more than whether the two tables happen to use similar column names.
Choose the match carefully
A company domain or a stable internal identifier can be more dependable than a display name. Our recommendation is to normalize the intended comparison field and inspect the result before relying on it. A contains comparison can be useful for exploration but can also match more than the intended record. If a single-row lookup returns a result, confirm that it is the correct company or person rather than assuming any match is sufficient.
Handle more than one result
Multiple matches are evidence to interpret. They may represent duplicate records, several contacts at one company or a key that is too broad. Decide whether the next step should aggregate those rows, choose an approved record or stop for review. An exclusion check also needs a policy for missing and ambiguous results. Otherwise, a technical lookup failure can silently become an incorrect permission decision.
Lookup versus Send Table Data
Lookup Rows pulls existing information into the current table. Send Table Data pushes information to a destination table and can create or update rows there. Use the read operation when you need reference data or an existence check. Use the transfer operation when you deliberately want another table to receive records. Test the direction with one known example and preserve the matching key so another operator can reconstruct why the connection was made.
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