# Email Finder: Name + Domain → Verified Address (`toolmill/email-finder`) Actor

Pattern-only finders give you an address for everyone, and many of them bounce. We try the common patterns and ask the company's mail server which one exists. Confirmed addresses come back as "found"; catch-all domains are labelled a guess, with the reason. No LinkedIn, no scraping.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/toolmill/email-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [toolmill](https://apify.com/toolmill) (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

from $20.00 / 1,000 confirmed addresses

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

![Toolmill Email Finder](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ToolMill/brand/main/email-finder-banner.png)

## Email Finder with Proof: Name + Domain → Server-Confirmed Address

Give it a person's name and their company's domain. It generates the common address patterns, asks the company's mail server which one exists, and returns the confirmed address with the pattern and a confidence score. No LinkedIn, no scraping, no guessing dressed up as data.

### Three promises

1. **"found" means the mail server confirmed the mailbox.** Not "the pattern looked plausible".
2. **Catch-all domains are called out, not faked.** When a company accepts every address, we return the most likely pattern as a *guess* with a low confidence, and say why.
3. **It learns.** Once a pattern is confirmed at a company, the next person at the same company is checked against that pattern first. Lists with several people per company finish faster and come back with more "found" rows. What's remembered is one fact per domain, such as "first.last", for 90 days. Never a name or an address.

### Use cases

- **Fill the email column on a prospect list.** Names and companies from a conference, a database export or a hiring-signals run; addresses out.
- **Reach a specific person.** One name, one domain, one confirmed address, with every attempt shown.
- **Enrich a CRM on a schedule.** Run weekly on new contacts; the learned pattern per company keeps it cheap.
- **Agents.** Give an agent a person and a company; read back `email`, `status` and `confidence`. Pairs with the [Email Verifier](https://apify.com/toolmill/email-verifier) and the Hiring Signals Actor for finding hiring managers.

### Statuses

| Status | Meaning | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 **found** | Mail server confirmed this exact mailbox | 95 |
| 🟡 **guess** | Catch-all domain, or verification off. Best pattern returned. | 25–60 |
| 🔴 **not_found** | No mail server, or every pattern was rejected | 0 |
| ⚪ **unknown** | The server would not answer (greylisting, policy block) | 20 |

### Input

```json
{
  "people": [
    { "fullName": "Jan Curn", "domain": "apify.com" },
    { "firstName": "Patrick", "lastName": "Collison", "domain": "https://stripe.com" }
  ],
  "verify": true,
  "maxAttempts": 4
}
```

Names can include titles and accents (`Dr. Jan Čurn` works). Domains can be bare, a website URL, or an email address at the company.

### Output (one item per person)

```json
{
  "fullName": "Jan Curn",
  "domain": "apify.com",
  "email": "jan.curn@apify.com",
  "status": "found",
  "pattern": "first.last",
  "confidence": 95,
  "reason": "mailbox_confirmed",
  "attempts": 1,
  "candidates": [{ "pattern": "first.last", "email": "jan.curn@apify.com", "result": "accepted", "catchAll": false }]
}
```

`candidates` lists every address tried and what the server said, so you can see the work.

### Patterns tried, in order

`first.last`, `first`, `flast`, `firstlast`, `first_last`, `last`, `f.last`, `firstl`, `last.first`, `lastfirst`, `first-last`, `lastf`. A pattern already confirmed for the domain always goes first.

### How this compares

| | Pattern-only finders | LinkedIn-based finders | Toolmill Email Finder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Returns an address for almost anyone | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Confirms it with the mail server | ❌ | sometimes | ✅ |
| Honest about catch-all domains | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Needs cookies, accounts or scraping | no | yes | no |
| Shows every candidate tried | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |

### Pairs with

- [Email Verifier](https://apify.com/toolmill/email-verifier) re-checks a list you already have.
- [Hiring Signals](https://apify.com/toolmill/hiring-signals) finds the companies that just opened roles; feed their domains here with the hiring manager's name.
- [Toolmill Briefs](https://toolmill.github.io/briefs/): what each company is building, read from its hiring. Free.

### Use it from an AI agent

Works as a tool through the [Apify MCP integration](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp). Pass people, get structured results with `status`, `confidence` and `reason` designed to be consumed by code.

### Pricing

Pay per result. A confirmed address costs more than a lookup that ends in a guess or nothing, so you pay mostly for what you can use. See the Pricing tab for the exact numbers.

### Notes

- Verification uses a mailbox-check provider; no email is ever sent to anyone.
- Stops spending after the first catch-all signal or the first "won't answer" reply on a domain.
- Nothing is stored beyond the run's dataset, except one fact per domain: which pattern was confirmed. No names or addresses are kept.

***

<p align="center">
  <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ToolMill/brand/main/toolmill-mark.png" width="48" alt="Toolmill"><br>
  <b>Toolmill</b> · small, reliable tools for agents and developers.<br>
  Every result with a reason. Checked by automated runs every day.<br>
  <a href="https://apify.com/toolmill">More Toolmill tools</a> · Found a problem? Use the Issues tab, every report gets a reply.
</p>

# Actor input Schema

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

One object per person: { "fullName": "Jane Doe", "domain": "example.com" }. You may give firstName and lastName instead of fullName, and a company website URL instead of a bare domain.

## `verify` (type: `boolean`):

Ask the mail server which pattern exists. Off = return the most common pattern as a guess without checking (fast, free, low confidence).

## `maxAttempts` (type: `integer`):

Stops after this many verified attempts. Catch-all domains stop after the first.

## `timeoutMs` (type: `integer`):

Timeout for each DNS or provider step.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many people to look up in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "people": [
    {
      "fullName": "Jan Curn",
      "domain": "apify.com"
    },
    {
      "firstName": "Patrick",
      "lastName": "Collison",
      "domain": "https://stripe.com"
    }
  ],
  "verify": true,
  "maxAttempts": 4,
  "timeoutMs": 8000,
  "concurrency": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One item per person with the best address, pattern, confidence and every candidate tried.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Counts by status, provider calls, cache hits.

# 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": [
        {
            "fullName": "Jan Curn",
            "domain": "apify.com"
        },
        {
            "firstName": "Patrick",
            "lastName": "Collison",
            "domain": "https://stripe.com"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("toolmill/email-finder").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": [
        {
            "fullName": "Jan Curn",
            "domain": "apify.com",
        },
        {
            "firstName": "Patrick",
            "lastName": "Collison",
            "domain": "https://stripe.com",
        },
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("toolmill/email-finder").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": [
    {
      "fullName": "Jan Curn",
      "domain": "apify.com"
    },
    {
      "firstName": "Patrick",
      "lastName": "Collison",
      "domain": "https://stripe.com"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call toolmill/email-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/kqjWXDHJ98wh6NQ9a/builds/cVXfSatXjGIt5Q8LO/openapi.json