--- name: apollo-cost-tuning description: 'Optimize Apollo.io costs and credit usage. Use when managing Apollo credits, reducing API costs, or optimizing subscription usage. Trigger with phrases like "apollo cost", "apollo credits", "apollo billing", "reduce apollo costs", "apollo usage". ' allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash(gh:*), Bash(curl:*) version: 1.13.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore tags: - saas - apollo - api - cost-optimization compatibility: Designed for Claude Code --- # Apollo Cost Tuning ## Overview Optimize Apollo.io API costs through credit-aware enrichment. Key cost model: **search is free, enrichment costs credits.** Apollo charges per unique contact/company lookup. Credits do not roll over. Strategies: deduplicate before enriching, score leads before spending credits, and track daily budget. ## Prerequisites - Valid Apollo API key - Node.js 18+ ## Instructions ### Step 1: Understand Apollo's Credit Model ``` Action | Credits | Notes ----------------------------+---------+----------------------------------- People Search | 0 | /mixed_people/api_search (free!) Organization Search | 0 | /mixed_companies/search (free!) People Enrichment (single) | 1 | /people/match People Enrichment (bulk) | 1/match | /people/bulk_match (up to 10/call) Organization Enrichment | 1 | /organizations/enrich Reveal Personal Email | +1 | reveal_personal_emails param Reveal Phone Number | +1 | reveal_phone_number param ``` Plans (approximate): - **Free**: 50 credits/month - **Basic**: 1,200 credits/month (~$0.04/credit) - **Professional**: 6,000 credits/month - **Organization**: 12,000+ credits/month ### Step 2: Track Credit Usage ```typescript // src/cost/credit-tracker.ts class CreditTracker { private daily: Map = new Map(); private readonly budget: number; constructor(dailyBudget: number = 200) { this.budget = dailyBudget; } record(count: number = 1) { const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]; this.daily.set(today, (this.daily.get(today) ?? 0) + count); } todayUsage(): number { const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]; return this.daily.get(today) ?? 0; } isOverBudget(): boolean { return this.todayUsage() >= this.budget; } report(): string { const used = this.todayUsage(); return `${used}/${this.budget} credits (${Math.round((used / this.budget) * 100)}%)`; } } export const creditTracker = new CreditTracker( parseInt(process.env.APOLLO_DAILY_CREDIT_BUDGET ?? '200', 10), ); ``` ### Step 3: Deduplicate Before Enriching ```typescript // src/cost/dedup.ts import { LRUCache } from 'lru-cache'; // Track enriched contacts to avoid paying twice const enrichedCache = new LRUCache({ max: 50_000, ttl: 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, // 30 days }); export function enrichmentKey(params: { email?: string; linkedin_url?: string; first_name?: string; last_name?: string; organization_domain?: string }): string { // Prefer email as unique key, fall back to LinkedIn, then name+domain return params.email ?? params.linkedin_url ?? `${params.first_name}:${params.last_name}:${params.organization_domain}`; } export function isAlreadyEnriched(key: string): boolean { return enrichedCache.has(key); } export function markEnriched(key: string) { enrichedCache.set(key, true); } ``` ### Step 4: Score Leads Before Enriching Only spend credits on leads worth contacting. ```typescript // src/cost/lead-scorer.ts interface LeadSignals { seniority?: string; title?: string; companyEmployees?: number; hasEmail: boolean; hasPhone: boolean; hasLinkedIn: boolean; } export function shouldEnrich(signals: LeadSignals, threshold: number = 40): boolean { let score = 0; // Seniority — only enrich decision-makers const topSeniority = ['c_suite', 'vp', 'founder', 'owner']; if (topSeniority.includes(signals.seniority ?? '')) score += 40; else if (signals.seniority === 'director') score += 30; else if (signals.seniority === 'manager') score += 15; else score += 5; // Company size — mid-market is highest value if (signals.companyEmployees && signals.companyEmployees >= 50 && signals.companyEmployees <= 1000) score += 25; else if (signals.companyEmployees && signals.companyEmployees > 1000) score += 15; // Missing data — worth enriching if we need the contact info if (!signals.hasEmail) score += 20; if (!signals.hasPhone) score += 10; return score >= threshold; } ``` ### Step 5: Budget-Aware API Client ```typescript // src/cost/budget-client.ts import axios from 'axios'; import { creditTracker } from './credit-tracker'; import { isAlreadyEnriched, markEnriched, enrichmentKey } from './dedup'; const client = axios.create({ baseURL: 'https://api.apollo.io/api/v1', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'x-api-key': process.env.APOLLO_API_KEY! }, }); // Credit-consuming endpoints const CREDIT_ENDPOINTS = ['/people/match', '/people/bulk_match', '/organizations/enrich']; // Block requests when over budget client.interceptors.request.use((config) => { const isCreditEndpoint = CREDIT_ENDPOINTS.some((ep) => config.url?.includes(ep)); if (isCreditEndpoint && creditTracker.isOverBudget()) { throw new Error(`Daily credit budget exceeded (${creditTracker.report()})`); } return config; }); // Track credit usage on success client.interceptors.response.use((response) => { const isCreditEndpoint = CREDIT_ENDPOINTS.some((ep) => response.config.url?.includes(ep)); if (isCreditEndpoint) { // Bulk match: count matches, not calls const matchCount = response.data?.matches?.length ?? 1; creditTracker.record(matchCount); // Mark as enriched for dedup const email = response.data?.person?.email; if (email) markEnriched(email); } return response; }); export { client as budgetClient }; ``` ### Step 6: Cost-Optimized Pipeline ```typescript import { budgetClient } from './cost/budget-client'; import { shouldEnrich } from './cost/lead-scorer'; import { isAlreadyEnriched, enrichmentKey } from './cost/dedup'; import { creditTracker } from './cost/credit-tracker'; async function enrichHighValueLeads(people: any[]) { let enriched = 0, skipped = 0, deduped = 0; const toEnrich: any[] = []; for (const person of people) { const key = enrichmentKey({ email: person.email, linkedin_url: person.linkedin_url, first_name: person.first_name, last_name: person.last_name }); if (isAlreadyEnriched(key)) { deduped++; continue; } if (!shouldEnrich({ seniority: person.seniority, hasEmail: !!person.email, hasPhone: false, hasLinkedIn: !!person.linkedin_url })) { skipped++; continue; } toEnrich.push(person); } // Bulk enrich in batches of 10 for (let i = 0; i < toEnrich.length; i += 10) { const batch = toEnrich.slice(i, i + 10); await budgetClient.post('/people/bulk_match', { details: batch.map((p: any) => ({ first_name: p.first_name, last_name: p.last_name, organization_domain: p.organization?.primary_domain, })), }); enriched += batch.length; } console.log(`Enriched: ${enriched}, Skipped (low-value): ${skipped}, Deduped: ${deduped}`); console.log(`Credits: ${creditTracker.report()}`); } ``` ## Output - Credit model reference table (free vs paid operations) - `CreditTracker` with daily budget enforcement - LRU deduplication preventing double-enrichment charges - Lead scoring to enrich only high-value contacts - Budget-aware client blocking requests at daily limit - Cost-optimized pipeline combining all strategies ## Examples For a weekly prospecting batch, search first without enrichment, score the results, and prepare only the eligible records for enrichment. Start with a small batch of ten, record the before-and-after credit count, and persist the deduplication key only after Apollo confirms a result. When the daily ceiling is reached, leave the remaining candidate IDs queued for the next budget window; do not increase the environment budget during the run or retry unknown results in a way that can consume the same credit twice. ## Error Handling | Issue | Resolution | |-------|------------| | Budget exceeded | Increase `APOLLO_DAILY_CREDIT_BUDGET` or wait until tomorrow | | High dedup misses | Extend LRU TTL, verify key generation logic | | Enriching low-value leads | Lower the `shouldEnrich` threshold | | Month-end credit crunch | Spread enrichment evenly with daily budgets | ## Resources - [Apollo API Pricing](https://docs.apollo.io/docs/api-pricing) - [Apollo Plans](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) - [View API Usage Stats](https://docs.apollo.io/reference/view-api-usage-stats) ## Next Steps Proceed to `apollo-reference-architecture` for architecture patterns. --- Source attribution: jeremylongshore Original project: https://github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/blob/ab85a061f7bcc039dac13ee193de7a4cd4388571/plugins/saas-packs/apollo-pack/skills/apollo-cost-tuning/SKILL.md License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2025 Jeremy Longshore Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Mega AI Hub resource metadata Creator / publisher: jeremylongshore Original project: https://github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/blob/ab85a061f7bcc039dac13ee193de7a4cd4388571/plugins/saas-packs/apollo-pack/skills/apollo-cost-tuning/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Marketing, Sales Roles: Account Executive, Business Development, Growth Marketer, Marketing Analyst, Sales Development Rep (SDR) Specialties: API, Backend, Design, Frontend, Mobile Tools: Apollo Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 6953521b0c1fe9015bafa5c4ceb90e9cd29bd7b31e771a4cd85899745d946f62