Build a LinkedIn outreach agent with human approval

A LinkedIn outreach agent needs a way to find the right people, prepare a useful message, act from the right account, and check what happened. FirstTouch exposes those building blocks through MCP and an HTTP API. Start with one workflow and configure its approval controls before you give the agent permission to send.

You can build around your own database or system of record. HubSpot is an optional native integration, with its own sync requirements. This guide covers the shared setup first.

Choose the right approval control

“Ask me before sending” is a useful instruction to an assistant. Your implementation also needs to configure the relevant product control and restrict who can invoke a send or complete an approval task.

Use the tested MCP setup walkthrough to check your caller, team, and sender. Load the current get_guide topic and API contract before constructing requests.

1. Connect and check access before touching a prospect

For an assistant, follow the MCP connection guide and connect to https://mcp.firsttouch.ai. For server code, use the HTTP quickstart. HTTP operations are POST requests to https://gateway.firsttouch.ai/api/public/tools/<tool_name>, authenticated with X-API-Key.

Run get_current_user, get_auth_scopes, and list_team_members. Confirm the team, caller permissions, intended sender, and connected account readiness. Public API keys belong to their creator and are fixed to the team selected at creation. Keep credentials in secure configuration.

Do not silently substitute another rep when the selected sender is unavailable. Check the exact action's permissions and eligibility. Reusable flow creation and publication require an admin or team owner; publishing requires a paid Team plan.

2. Make a small, deliberate target list

For multiple prospects, create or select an Audience and use a reusable Flow Plan. For one named contact, follow the Dynamic Actions guide: resolve known contact data, inspect existing enrollments, and obtain an explicit choice before continuing an existing sequence or starting another.

Qualification belongs before outreach. Check job relevance, company fit, exclusions, existing relationships, and the sender's connection to the person. Keep unknown headcount unknown. A company with fewer than 50 employees may still be a good fit; use your actual criteria.

Discovery and enrichment can consume FirstTouch credits. The documented discovery preview uses one row and is charged when a profile is returned. Set a budget before expanding a search, and use its returned continuation token instead of repeating the first page.

If you start from social engagement, monitor supported LinkedIn person profiles or company pages. Individual post URLs are not monitoring targets. Engagement is pulled daily, and new likes or comments can take 24+ hours to appear. See Social Engagement for plan and setup requirements.

3. Prepare the message and its review path

Dynamic Actions accept final content supplied by your application or assistant; that operation does not generate the message for you. Resolve the sender's exact ID, verify the contact identity, and check whether the selected sender is already connected before choosing a connection request or direct message.

A direct LinkedIn message normally requires a saved first-degree connection for that sender. When they are not connected, the documented options include a connection request with a follow-up on the accepted branch, or InMail when the sender is eligible.

When the workflow requires review, configure it explicitly. After creating the action, inspect the returned approval and task state. Use list_user_tasks and preview_task to show the exact content. If the content changes, preview it again. Completing a section-approval task approves and runs its actions, so call complete_task only after authorization.

4. Keep evidence of the action, then verify execution

A successful API response is not proof of a sent message. For a Dynamic Action, retain enrollmentId and nodeId together as the write receipt. If the action was appended but its task is still being created, inspect the existing enrollment or tasks instead of adding the action again.

Use the LinkedIn outreach queue to inspect requirements, scheduling gates, and execution status. Working hours, account readiness, limits, and pending approval can affect progress. Treat estimated execution times as estimates.

After an ambiguous write failure, reconcile the existing state before considering a retry. Never automatically retry a Unibox reply: re-fetch the conversation and obtain the user's retry decision. Your application should retain its own request history and prevent duplicate workers; that does not establish server-side exactly-once delivery. See Execution and Recovery.

5. Record the outcome in your system of record

Keep the source contact, selected sender, review decision, action receipt, and observed outcome together. If you maintain your own database or CRM adapter, implement and verify that mapping in your application. Do not count a queued action as a reply, meeting, or opportunity.

With native HubSpot integration, connection alone does not log every event. Supported activity needs the relevant Engagement Tracking settings and a matched contact. Task sync also depends on the flow setting, HubSpot company context, and owner mapping. Verify the matching CRM record separately using the HubSpot sync guide.

Run a pilot before expanding the workflow

For an illustrative 80-person company with eight sellers, start by reviewing ten synthetic cases: a suitable prospect, an existing customer, an existing enrollment, a disconnected sender, and missing identity data among them. Check which cases advance, wait for review, or stop. This is a planning exercise, not a reported customer result.

Then use an explicitly authorized internal contact for a controlled pilot. Record the draft, review, execution evidence, and any expected CRM update. Only broaden the audience once your team can explain each transition.

Approval and pacing are operational controls, not guarantees against LinkedIn account restrictions. Review FirstTouch's Safety Checklist and Trust and Safety Policies. For software sold to other companies or client deployments, confirm tenant boundaries, account ownership, and commercial permissions before rollout.

Common implementation questions

Do I need HubSpot?

No. Start with the API or MCP connection, team access, and the supported workflow. HubSpot is a native integration option. Other systems of record may require an adapter your team builds and verifies.

Are approvals always enabled?

No. Check the selected product surface. Dynamic send actions default to no human approval unless configured otherwise; reusable flow actions and Unibox replies have their own controls.

What should I budget for?

Check current plans and pricing, sender seats, action eligibility, discovery and enrichment credits, and your AI provider's costs. Confirm costs for the actual workflow before running a batch.