# Email Verifier & List Cleaner — Deliverability Scoring (`commonelements/email-verifier`) Actor Honest email deliverability scorer for scraped lead lists. Syntax + MX + disposable + role + catch-all detection with a transparent 0-100 score and reasons. Never labels an email 'deliverable' it cannot justify from reliable signals — catch-all and SMTP-blocked emails are honestly marked 'risky' ... - **URL**: https://apify.com/commonelements/email-verifier.md - **Developed by:** [Harry Schoeller](https://apify.com/commonelements) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $4.00 / 1,000 dataset item scrapeds 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Email Verifier & List Cleaner — Honest Deliverability Scoring **Email verification and bounce checking for scraped lead lists — with a transparent 0-100 score and the reasons behind it.** Clean your list of bad, disposable, role, and catch-all addresses *before* you pay a SaaS verifier (ZeroBounce, NeverBounce, Hunter, Kickbox, Bouncer) for the survivors. Built for lead enrichment and list cleaning pipelines. Keywords: email verification, email validation, bounce checker, email deliverability, list cleaning, lead enrichment, lead-list cleaner, disposable email detection, role account detection, catch-all detection, MX lookup. ### The honesty thesis The #1 complaint across lead-gen scrapers (LinkedIn / Apollo / Google Maps, and the Secretary-of-State and license actors in this collection) is that scraped emails **bounce**. The market is full of "verifiers" that return a confident `valid` that bounces anyway. This actor is built on one rule: > **It never says `deliverable` unless it can actually justify it from reliable signals. Everything else is honestly labeled `risky` or `unknown` — never a faked `valid`.** That single rule turns the #1 complaint into the #1 reason for a 5-star review: **no surprise bounces.** ### What is reliable vs. unreliable from a datacenter This is the spine of the design. Read it before you run anything — it explains exactly what we can and cannot promise. | Check | Reliable from a datacenter? | Role in the score | |---|---|---| | RFC 5322 syntax / normalization | ✅ Fully | Hard gate (fail → `undeliverable`) | | MX record lookup (DNS) | ✅ Fully | Hard gate (no MX & no A fallback → `undeliverable`) | | Domain exists (A/AAAA/NS resolves) | ✅ Fully | Hard gate | | Disposable-domain detection (maintained list) | ✅ Fully | Downgrade to `risky` | | Role-account detection (info@, sales@, admin@…) | ✅ Fully | Downgrade to `risky` | | Gibberish / random-string heuristics | ✅ (heuristic, never a hard fail alone) | Score penalty + reason | | Typo / known-provider misspelling (gmial.com) | ✅ (suggestion only) | Reason + `suggestion` field | | Catch-all (accept-all) detection | ⚠️ Best-effort SMTP — often inconclusive | Caps confidence; sets `isCatchAll`, downgrades to `risky` | | **Live SMTP RCPT probing of the mailbox** | ❌ **Unreliable** — port 25 egress is blocked/greylisted from shared datacenter ranges; catch-all domains accept everything; Google/Microsoft refuse or rate-limit | **Can only downgrade or yield `unknown` — NEVER promote to `deliverable`** | ### Why we don't do binary valid/invalid Most cheap "verifiers" do an SMTP `RCPT` probe from an Apify datacenter IP and return binary `valid` / `invalid`. That fails in two predictable ways: 1. **Datacenter SMTP is unreliable.** Port 25 egress from shared datacenter ranges is routinely blocked, greylisted, or rate-limited. Big providers (Google, Microsoft) refuse or throttle these probes. So a "valid" from that probe is often noise. 2. **Catch-all domains accept everything.** A catch-all (accept-all) domain returns `250 OK` for *any* address — `ceo@`, `asdfqwer@`, anything. A binary verifier marks them all `valid`; then they bounce. We refuse to launder either of those into a confident `valid`. Instead: - **SMTP is strictly one-directional.** A hard `5xx` *rejection* is trustworthy → we downgrade to `undeliverable`. A `250` *acceptance* is **ignored** for promotion — it can never make an email `deliverable`. - **Catch-all caps the result at `risky`** and sets `isCatchAll: true`, because per-mailbox deliverability there is genuinely unknowable. - **Blocked / greylisted / timeout** → `unknown`. An honest "we don't know" beats a false "valid." ### Status definitions (the honest contract) - **`deliverable`** — Syntax valid, MX present, NOT disposable, NOT a detected catch-all, and NOT (by policy) a role account. This is "all reliable signals are green." **It is not a delivery guarantee, and we will never label something `deliverable` that we cannot justify from reliable signals.** SMTP is never required to reach this status, and SMTP can never be the thing that grants it. - **`risky`** — Real-looking but with a known risk: role account, catch-all domain, disposable, gibberish-leaning local part, or a typo suggestion. Send if you want, but expect a lower hit rate / spam-trap risk. - **`undeliverable`** — A *hard, provable* failure only: bad syntax, no MX **and** no A-record fallback, the domain doesn't resolve, or a trustworthy SMTP `5xx` rejection. We only condemn an email when the failure is provable. - **`unknown`** — We couldn't determine it: DNS timeout/SERVFAIL, or an SMTP probe that was blocked/greylisted/inconclusive. ### How the score stays honest Deterministic, capped pipeline — not a black box. Order matters: hard gates first, then deductions, then **caps** that enforce the honesty rule. ```` Start: score = 100, status = "deliverable" HARD GATES (terminal): invalid syntax -> undeliverable, 0 domain doesn't resolve, no MX -> undeliverable, 5 DNS errored/timed out -> unknown, null DEDUCTIONS: no MX but A record (fallback) -> -30 gibberish local part -> -25 possible provider typo -> -15 (+ `suggestion`) DOWNGRADE FLAGS (cap status, never upgrade): isDisposable -> cap "risky", score min 40 isRole (if treatRoleAsRisky) -> cap "risky", score min 60 isCatchAll -> cap "risky", score min 65 isFreeProvider -> informational only SMTP (best\_effort only, one-directional): 5xx rejection -> undeliverable, 10 (trustworthy) 250 acceptance -> NO promotion (untrustworthy) blocked/greylisted/4xx/timeout -> unknown (if it was deliverable) FINAL CAP: status can be "deliverable" ONLY if syntax ok AND mx present AND !isDisposable AND !isCatchAll AND (!isRole || !treatRoleAsRisky) AND no smtp rejection. ```` Every record carries its full `reasons[]`, so you can audit exactly why a score landed where it did. ### Input Provide **exactly one** of `emails` or `sourceDatasetId`. ```jsonc { // Option A — raw list: "emails": ["john@acme.com", "info@acme.com"], // Option B — chain off another actor's dataset: "sourceDatasetId": "", "emailField": "email", // dot paths supported (contact.email) "passThroughFields": ["name", "company", "phone"], "smtpCheck": "off", // "off" (recommended) | "best_effort" "detectCatchAll": true, "deduplicate": true, "treatRoleAsRisky": true, "concurrency": 50 } ```` ### Output (per email) ```jsonc { "email": "info@acme.com", "originalEmail": "Info@Acme.com ", "status": "risky", "score": 55, "reasons": ["valid_syntax", "mx_found:aspmx.l.google.com", "role_account:info", "domain_is_catch_all"], "mx": ["aspmx.l.google.com", "alt1.aspmx.l.google.com"], "isDisposable": false, "isRole": true, "isCatchAll": true, "isFreeProvider": false, "suggestion": null, "domain": "acme.com", "checkedAt": "2026-06-20T00:00:00.000Z" // ...any passThroughFields copied here } ``` A run-level `OUTPUT` key holds counts per status plus the honesty disclaimer. ### Chaining example (lead enrichment) Run a leads scraper from this collection — e.g. `insurance-license-search` or `sos-entity-search` — then feed its dataset straight in: ```jsonc { "sourceDatasetId": "", "emailField": "email", "passThroughFields": ["entityName", "phone", "city", "state"] } ``` The cleaned, scored list comes back joined to each lead, ready to import into your CRM or hand the `deliverable` subset to an outreach tool. ### Pricing (pay per event) - **$0.004 per email verified** (charged once per unique email after dedup). - **$0.002 per best-effort SMTP probe** (only when `smtpCheck: "best_effort"` and a probe is actually made). Cost is decoupled from compute — you pay for results, not runtime. We never charge for inputs rejected at validation or for duplicates collapsed by dedup. ### Notes - No browser, no proxy, no anti-bot, no login. Pure DNS + string heuristics + maintained lists, with an optional `node:net` SMTP socket. - The disposable-domain list is vendored in-repo so runs are offline-deterministic. - Competitor SaaS (ZeroBounce, NeverBounce, Hunter, Kickbox, Bouncer) use warmed dedicated IPs and accept-all intelligence an Apify run cannot replicate — we don't claim parity. Use this to pre-clean cheaply, then pay a SaaS for the survivors if you need deeper SMTP accuracy. (Competitor positioning is from general Apify Store knowledge; verify current ratings before relying on any comparison.) ```` # Actor input Schema ## `emails` (type: `array`): List of email addresses to verify. Use this OR sourceDatasetId (not both). ## `sourceDatasetId` (type: `string`): Verify emails from another Actor's dataset (e.g. a leads scraper such as insurance-license-search or sos-entity-search). Provide this + emailField instead of `emails`. ## `emailField` (type: `string`): Field in the source dataset that holds the email address. Supports dot paths (e.g. contact.email). ## `passThroughFields` (type: `array`): Fields from the source dataset to copy onto each output record (e.g. name, company), so the cleaned list stays joined to the lead. Supports dot paths. ## `smtpCheck` (type: `string`): Off (recommended), or best-effort. SMTP from datacenter IPs is unreliable: it can only DOWNGRADE confidence or return 'unknown' — it will NEVER mark an email 'deliverable'. Catch-all domains accept everything. ## `detectCatchAll` (type: `boolean`): Probe each unique domain once to detect accept-all (catch-all) configuration. Catch-all means per-mailbox deliverability is unknowable; such emails are capped at 'risky'. Uses an SMTP socket on port 25 (may be blocked from datacenter IPs). ## `deduplicate` (type: `boolean`): Collapse duplicate normalized emails to one charged result. ## `treatRoleAsRisky` (type: `boolean`): Flag info@/sales@/admin@ etc. as risky (they are real but low-conversion and prone to spam traps). ## `concurrency` (type: `integer`): Parallel DNS lookups. ## Actor input object example ```json { "emails": [ "john@acme.com", "info@acme.com" ], "emailField": "email", "passThroughFields": [ "name", "company", "phone" ], "smtpCheck": "off", "detectCatchAll": true, "deduplicate": true, "treatRoleAsRisky": true, "concurrency": 50 } ```` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "emails": [ "john@acme.com", "info@acme.com" ], "passThroughFields": [ "name", "company", "phone" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("commonelements/email-verifier").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "emails": [ "john@acme.com", "info@acme.com", ], "passThroughFields": [ "name", "company", "phone", ], } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("commonelements/email-verifier").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "emails": [ "john@acme.com", "info@acme.com" ], "passThroughFields": [ "name", "company", "phone" ] }' | apify call commonelements/email-verifier --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=commonelements/email-verifier", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Email Verifier & List Cleaner — Deliverability Scoring", "description": "Honest email deliverability scorer for scraped lead lists. Syntax + MX + disposable + role + catch-all detection with a transparent 0-100 score and reasons. Never labels an email 'deliverable' it cannot justify from reliable signals — catch-all and SMTP-blocked emails are honestly marked 'risky' ...", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "RTGzGdE6m7gUSwSf0" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/commonelements~email-verifier/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-commonelements-email-verifier", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/commonelements~email-verifier/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-commonelements-email-verifier", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/commonelements~email-verifier/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-commonelements-email-verifier", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "emails": { "title": "Emails", "type": "array", "description": "List of email addresses to verify. Use this OR sourceDatasetId (not both).", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "sourceDatasetId": { "title": "Source dataset ID (chain mode)", "type": "string", "description": "Verify emails from another Actor's dataset (e.g. a leads scraper such as insurance-license-search or sos-entity-search). Provide this + emailField instead of `emails`." }, "emailField": { "title": "Email field name", "type": "string", "description": "Field in the source dataset that holds the email address. Supports dot paths (e.g. contact.email).", "default": "email" }, "passThroughFields": { "title": "Pass-through fields", "type": "array", "description": "Fields from the source dataset to copy onto each output record (e.g. name, company), so the cleaned list stays joined to the lead. Supports dot paths.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "smtpCheck": { "title": "Best-effort SMTP probe", "enum": [ "off", "best_effort" ], "type": "string", "description": "Off (recommended), or best-effort. SMTP from datacenter IPs is unreliable: it can only DOWNGRADE confidence or return 'unknown' — it will NEVER mark an email 'deliverable'. Catch-all domains accept everything.", "default": "off" }, "detectCatchAll": { "title": "Detect catch-all domains", "type": "boolean", "description": "Probe each unique domain once to detect accept-all (catch-all) configuration. Catch-all means per-mailbox deliverability is unknowable; such emails are capped at 'risky'. Uses an SMTP socket on port 25 (may be blocked from datacenter IPs).", "default": true }, "deduplicate": { "title": "Deduplicate", "type": "boolean", "description": "Collapse duplicate normalized emails to one charged result.", "default": true }, "treatRoleAsRisky": { "title": "Treat role accounts as risky", "type": "boolean", "description": "Flag info@/sales@/admin@ etc. as risky (they are real but low-conversion and prone to spam traps).", "default": true }, "concurrency": { "title": "DNS concurrency", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 200, "type": "integer", "description": "Parallel DNS lookups.", "default": 50 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```