You collect an email in a DM. Now it needs to get to Kit, Flodesk, your CRM or a sheet. An API request does that the moment the contact answers, with no spreadsheet or Zap in the middle. You build the request once in Settings, then run it from anywhere you work.
In this guide
Where You Can Run a Request
Automations. Add a Run API Request step. Put it after Ask for Email and the email goes out the second they reply.
Saved responses. Add Run API request to a saved response's actions. It runs after the message sends, or on its own if the saved response is set to Actions only.
Follow-ups. Pick a saved response with a request in it when you schedule a follow-up. The request runs when the follow-up goes out.
One saved request works in all three, so you set up the connection to your tool once.
Create a Saved Request
Go to Settings → Integrations and click HTTP requests, then Add request.
Name it so your team knows what it does, like Add contact to Kit.
Destination. Pick the action your tool's API guide asks for (most "add a subscriber" calls are Create · POST) and paste the address.
Connection. Pick a saved connection, or click Add connection the first time. Name it after the tool, pick the sign-in method its API guide asks for (API token (Bearer), API key, Username and password, Custom token prefix, or Sign in with OAuth), paste the key, and add the tool's address under App addresses. The key is stored on our server and never shows up in an export or in the request history. Every request to that tool reuses the same connection.
Data to send. Add each field your tool needs, with variables for the contact's details (next section).
Click Save request.
Use the Contact's Details With Variables
A variable is a placeholder like {{ contact.email }}. When the request runs, Ellipsend swaps it for that contact's real email. That's how one saved request works for every contact.
You never have to type the curly braces yourself. There are two ways to add one:
Field by field. Click Add a field, type the field name your tool asks for (like
email_address), then click Insert in the value box and pick the detail.As JSON. If you clicked Edit as JSON, click inside the box where the value should go, then click Insert variable just above the box and pick the detail.
The ones you'll use most:
{{ contact.email }}is the email they gave you in the DM.{{ contact.first_name }}and{{ contact.full_name }}come from their Instagram or Facebook profile.{{ contact.phone }}is the phone number they gave you, if any.
The address box has its own Insert variable button too, for tools that want the email in the address (Mailchimp does).
Test It Before You Use It
Open the Testing tab. Under Sample data, type a first name and an email to test with. No real contact is touched. Click Preview filled-in values to see exactly what will be sent, then Send test request to send it to your tool for real. The response shows whether your tool accepted it.
Every run, test or real, lands in the Activity tab with where it came from (an automation, a saved response, a follow-up or a test) and what came back.
Add It to an Automation
In the automation builder, open the DM steps and click + Add Action. Under Connected Apps, pick Run API Request, then choose your saved request.
Put it right after Ask for Email. The steps after it wait until the request succeeds, so your freebie message only goes out once the contact is in your list. Give the result a name if a later request needs something your tool sent back.
Each saved request sends to one place. If different automations should land contacts in different lists, segments or tags, save one request per destination. Open the request, click More, then Duplicate request, rename the copy, change the ID, and pick the right one in each automation. The connection is shared, so you only enter your key once.
An automation keeps the version of the request you picked, so editing the request in Settings won't change a live automation by surprise. When you do want the change, open the step and click Use latest saved version.
You can also add it as a system action, which runs the moment the comment lands, before any DM. Only do that for details you already have, since the contact hasn't given you an email yet at that point.
Add It to a Saved Response
Open Settings → Inbox → Saved Responses and edit a response (or create one). Under After sending, click Add action and pick Run API request, then choose your saved request. Set the message type to Actions only (no message) if you want a one-click "send this contact to Kit" button with no message attached.
Common Email Platforms
Each of these has its own step-by-step guide with the exact address, sign-in and fields to use:
Using something else? Any tool with an API works the same way. Its API guide tells you the address, the sign-in method and the field names.