# Email Finder & Verifier (`aurenic/email-finder-scraper`) Actor

Find and verify business email addresses via pattern inference, MX lookup, and SMTP handshake. Detects disposable domains, role accounts, and free providers. No API key, no browser.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/aurenic/email-finder-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Aurenic](https://apify.com/aurenic) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.70 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Email Finder & Verifier

Find and verify business email addresses via pattern inference, MX lookup, and SMTP handshake. Detects disposable domains, role accounts, and free providers. No API key, no browser, no external service.

### What does Email Finder & Verifier do?

Three modes:

- **Find email for a person** — pass `{ firstName, lastName, domain }`, get verified candidate emails generated from 15+ common corporate patterns, each tested against the domain's MX server via a live SMTP handshake.
- **Verify email addresses** — pass a list of emails, get syntax validation, MX resolution, live SMTP verification, disposable-domain detection, role-account detection, and free-provider classification.
- **Generate candidate patterns for a domain** — inspect a domain's email infrastructure: MX hosts, disposable status, and the full set of pattern candidates with sample names.

Every check runs on open protocols: **DNS** for MX records, **SMTP** for live mailbox verification. No API keys, no third-party verification service, no browser.

### Output fields

#### Email verification

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| email | The address checked |
| valid | `true` only when the receiving MX server accepts the recipient |
| syntaxOk | RFC 5321 syntax check |
| domain | Domain part |
| mxHosts | MX hosts resolved for the domain |
| isDisposable | Temporary/disposable domain flag (list of 30+ providers) |
| isRoleAccount | `info@`, `sales@`, `support@`, etc. |
| isFreeProvider | Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Proton, iCloud, etc. |
| smtpVerdict | `valid` / `invalid` / `unknown` |
| smtpResponseCode | Raw SMTP response code |
| smtpResponse | Raw SMTP response string |
| error | Human-readable reason when not resolved |

#### Find mode

Adds `person: { firstName, lastName, domain }` and returns **only candidates that pass SMTP or return "unknown" with MX records** — invalid candidates are filtered out.

#### Patterns mode

One record per domain: MX hosts, disposable status, and the full candidate pattern list from sample first/last name.

### Who is it for?

- **Sales and SDR teams** enriching prospect lists with verified business emails
- **Recruiters** finding corporate emails for candidates and hiring managers
- **Growth and cold-outreach teams** replacing paid verification services with a self-hosted check
- **Data quality teams** cleaning CRM lists — invalid and disposable emails flagged before import
- **Researchers** mapping email infrastructure across companies and industries

### Pricing

**$1.50 per 1,000 results.** No subscription.

| Results | Cost |
|---|---|
| 100 | $0.15 |
| 1,000 | $1.50 |
| 10,000 | $15.00 |

### How to use it

1. Pick a **Mode**.
2. Fill in the mode's inputs: people, emails, or domains.
3. Set **SMTP MAIL FROM** (defaults to a safe placeholder).
4. Set **Max Concurrency** (default 5) — higher values risk tripping mail-server rate limits.
5. Click **Start**.

### Output example

```json
{
  "recordType": "email-candidate",
  "email": "tim.cook@apple.com",
  "valid": false,
  "syntaxOk": true,
  "domain": "apple.com",
  "mxHosts": ["mail-in.apple.com"],
  "isDisposable": false,
  "isRoleAccount": false,
  "isFreeProvider": false,
  "smtpVerdict": "unknown",
  "smtpResponseCode": 550,
  "smtpResponse": "550 5.1.1 recipient rejected",
  "person": { "firstName": "Tim", "lastName": "Cook", "domain": "apple.com" },
  "error": "",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-21T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Technical details

- **No API key, no external verification service.** All checks run on open protocols.
- **DNS** via Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) and Google (8.8.8.8) public resolvers.
- **SMTP handshake:** connect to the highest-priority MX, `HELO`, `MAIL FROM:<synthetic>`, `RCPT TO:<target>`, read the server's response. A `250` or `251` is a valid mailbox; a `5xx` is invalid; anything else is treated as unknown.
- **15+ pattern templates** per person: `first.last`, `firstlast`, `flast`, `first.l`, `first_last`, `last.first`, and more.
- **Disposable-domain detection** against a built-in list of 30+ providers (mailinator, guerrillamail, 10minutemail, yopmail, etc.).
- **Role-account detection** against a list of 40+ prefixes (info, sales, support, admin, hr, billing, etc.).
- **Free-provider classification** for Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Proton, iCloud, Fastmail, Zoho, and others.
- **No proxy required.** DNS and SMTP work from datacenter IPs.

### Known limits

- **Many mail servers do not answer SMTP probes reliably.** Gmail, Outlook, and most large providers return catch-all or "unknown" responses to any probe. The actor flags these as `smtpVerdict: "unknown"` rather than forcing a verdict. Treat `valid: false` with `smtpVerdict: "unknown"` as "cannot determine" — not "definitely invalid."
- **Catch-all domains accept every address.** The actor does not currently detect catch-all status (this would require probing two random addresses, doubling the run cost). A `valid` verdict on a catch-all domain does not guarantee the address reaches a specific person.
- **SMTP probes can be rate-limited.** Most mail servers block after a few connections from the same IP. Keep `maxConcurrency` low (5 is safe) and avoid running huge batches against a single domain.
- **Syntax check is regex-based**, not a full RFC 5321 parser. It accepts 99.9% of real-world addresses but may reject exotic edge cases.
- **No SMTP probe is 100% reliable.** Even a `250` response from the server can be misleading if the server accepts then bounces.

### FAQ

**Do I need an API key?** No. All checks run on open DNS and SMTP protocols.

**Do I need a proxy?** No. Datacenter IPs work.

**Why do Gmail addresses come back as "unknown"?** Gmail does not answer SMTP probe requests. This is normal — treat "unknown" as "likely valid but unconfirmed."

**Can you detect catch-all domains?** Not in this version. Catch-all detection requires probing two random addresses per domain and would double the run cost.

**Is this legal?** Email verification via SMTP handshake is a standard technique used by every commercial email-verification service. The actor does not send actual email — it only opens the RCPT TO dialogue and reads the server's response, then disconnects.

**How do I export data?** After a run, go to Storage → Export as JSON, CSV, Excel.

### Support

Open an issue on the Actor's page for bugs or feature requests.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to do.

## `people` (type: `array`):

People to find emails for. Format: \[{ firstName, lastName, domain }]. Used in find mode.

## `emails` (type: `array`):

Email addresses to verify. Used in verify mode.

## `commonDomains` (type: `array`):

Domains to inspect for common email patterns. Used in patterns mode.

## `smtpFrom` (type: `string`):

Synthetic sender used during the SMTP handshake. Must be a real-looking address (cannot be your own email — some servers reject self-referential MAIL FROM).

## `smtpTimeoutMs` (type: `integer`):

Timeout per SMTP handshake. Lower = faster but may miss slow servers.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel SMTP handshakes. Keep low (5) to avoid triggering rate limits on mail servers.

## `includeRoleAccounts` (type: `boolean`):

Include role-based addresses (info@, sales@, support@) in find mode.

## `includeDisposable` (type: `boolean`):

Include disposable/temporary email domains in verify results. Usually left off.

## `generatePatterns` (type: `boolean`):

Generate up to 15 pattern candidates per person. Disable for a single best-guess candidate only.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "find",
  "people": [
    {
      "firstName": "Tim",
      "lastName": "Cook",
      "domain": "apple.com"
    }
  ],
  "emails": [
    "support@apple.com",
    "tim.cook@apple.com"
  ],
  "commonDomains": [
    "stripe.com"
  ],
  "smtpFrom": "verify@example.com",
  "smtpTimeoutMs": 10000,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "includeRoleAccounts": true,
  "includeDisposable": false,
  "generatePatterns": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "people": [
        {
            "firstName": "Tim",
            "lastName": "Cook",
            "domain": "apple.com"
        }
    ],
    "emails": [
        "support@apple.com",
        "tim.cook@apple.com"
    ],
    "commonDomains": [
        "stripe.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("aurenic/email-finder-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "people": [{
            "firstName": "Tim",
            "lastName": "Cook",
            "domain": "apple.com",
        }],
    "emails": [
        "support@apple.com",
        "tim.cook@apple.com",
    ],
    "commonDomains": ["stripe.com"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("aurenic/email-finder-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "people": [
    {
      "firstName": "Tim",
      "lastName": "Cook",
      "domain": "apple.com"
    }
  ],
  "emails": [
    "support@apple.com",
    "tim.cook@apple.com"
  ],
  "commonDomains": [
    "stripe.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call aurenic/email-finder-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,aurenic/email-finder-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/ZnSUIixknnyCm38PS/builds/rKO5fghJTPBlMoeOl/openapi.json