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Connect Instantly

Add the Instantly connection to the correct workspace, configure its webhook, and test a synthetic event before using production leads.

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Written by Ümit Baltacı

Connect Instantly.ai to a Lead Hero workspace so that positive replies arrive as leads.

Who can do this: owners and managers. Everyone else sees the Integrations page in read-only form with the message "Only owners and managers can manage integration settings."

Before you begin

You need two things:

  • An Instantly API key. Create it in Instantly, not in Lead Hero. Your Instantly plan has to include API access.

  • The workspace that should receive the leads. Each workspace holds its own Instantly connection, its own key, and its own webhook. Nothing is shared between them.

Treat the API key the way you would treat a password. Do not paste it into chat, email, or a screenshot.

Connect the integration

  1. Open Integrations.

  2. Pick the workspace at the top of the page. Do this first. Everything below is saved against whichever workspace is selected.

Each workspace keeps its own connection. Organization (Default) is the default workspace, and choosing it configures the organization rather than a named workspace.

  1. On the Cold Email Sequencers tab, select Instantly.ai to expand it.

  2. Paste your key into Instantly.ai API Key.

  3. Select Save.

A connection that has no key yet. The key field masks whatever you paste. Auto-enrich incoming leads is greyed out at this stage and unlocks later.

Saving only stores the key. It does not connect anything yet.

  1. Once the key is saved, an Enable Instantly.ai checkbox appears above the form. Tick it.

After saving, the key is replaced by API key configured and the enable checkbox appears. The checkbox does not exist until a key is stored.

Ticking the box is the step that does the work. Lead Hero calls Instantly, registers the webhooks it needs, and points them back at Lead Hero. You never create a webhook in Instantly yourself.

If the key is wrong or your plan does not expose webhooks, registration fails, the checkbox comes back off, and the reason appears in red underneath the form. That message is the useful diagnostic, so read it before trying again.

  1. Check that the row badge reads Active.

Active on the provider row means all three conditions hold: a key is stored, the integration is enabled, and the webhook is registered in Instantly.

  1. Send one positive reply from a test campaign and confirm the lead appears in the workspace you selected.

What Active does and does not prove

Active means Lead Hero successfully registered a webhook in Instantly. It does not mean any event has arrived yet. Only step 8 tells you that.

Lead Hero re-checks a healthy webhook at most once every 15 minutes. A connection that is not Active is re-checked every time the page loads. So if you have just fixed something in Instantly, a stale Active can lag reality by up to a quarter of an hour, while a broken one updates straight away.

Which events Lead Hero subscribes to

Event

Why it is registered

lead_interested

The positive reply itself. This is the one that creates the lead.

lead_status_changed

Keeps the lead's status in step when it moves in Instantly.

lead_opportunity_update

Tracks opportunity changes on an existing lead.

You do not add these by hand. Lead Hero registers all three when you enable the integration.

Auto-enrich incoming leads

Auto-enrich incoming leads is on by default, but it stays greyed out until the integration is enabled, so you can only change it after the connection works.

When it is on, leads arriving from Instantly can trigger LinkedIn and phone enrichment. That consumes enrichment credits. Nothing on this page shows what enrichment costs, so check Billing before you leave it on for a high-volume campaign.

Like the key, this setting belongs to the selected workspace.

Change or remove the key

Once a key is saved it is never shown again. Two buttons replace it:

Button

What happens

Change API key

Opens the field so you can paste a new key. Saving re-runs webhook registration against the new credentials.

Delete API key

Asks "Delete the API key? This will disable the integration." Confirming removes the key and switches the integration off. Leads stop arriving.

The webhook URL is a credential

The webhook Lead Hero registers carries a secret in its query string. Anyone who has that full URL can post events into your workspace. Treat it like the API key: keep it out of screenshots, tickets, and shared documents.

This is also why you should never copy a key or a webhook URL from one workspace into another. Each workspace has its own secret, and reusing one sends leads to the wrong place.

Limitations

  • Instantly can change its own menus and event names without notice. If a step here does not match what you see, follow Instantly's interface and tell us.

  • Connections are per workspace. There is no way to configure one and copy it across.

When to contact support

Get in touch if:

  • The form shows an error you cannot resolve.

  • The badge stays Inactive after you have saved a key and ticked enable.

  • A test reply never arrives, or arrives in the wrong workspace.

Include the organization, the workspace, roughly when you sent the test reply, and the error message from the form word for word. Never include the API key or the webhook URL.

Next steps

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