Bulk Email Search Using Google Sheets and Icypeas API - n8n Workflow

Sales and Marketing Teams: Professionals needing to verify or find emails for large lists of prospects. Automation Enthusiasts: Users looking for advanced n8n templates that involve complex API authentication and signature generation using a custom n8n node.* Data Processors: Users who rely on Google Sheets as a primary source for contact data and need scalable processing solutions.

Manually processing large lists of names and companies to find verified email addresses is time-consuming. Furthermore, interacting with APIs that require complex cryptographic signing (like HMAC-SHA1) can be a barrier.

This robust n8n workflow template solves both problems. It provides a seamless connection between your Google Sheet data and the Icypeas bulk search API. The central component is a custom n8n node that handles all the necessary API key processing and signature generation, ensuring your requests are authenticated correctly without exposing sensitive data in plain sight. This specific n8n workflow simplifies bulk lead verification, making it an essential addition to your collection of automation tools.

This automation is initiated manually and follows a precise sequence to process your contact data and communicate with Icypeas:

1. Manual Start: The n8n trigger starts the execution of this n8n workflow when you click 'Execute Workflow' in the interface.


2. Data Extraction: The Google Sheets n8n node reads all designated rows from your specified sheet. Crucially, your sheet must contain columns titled lastname, firstname, and company.


3. Authentication Preparation (Code n8n node): The custom Code n8n node executes complex JavaScript. This code pulls the bulk contact data, calculates an HMAC-SHA1 signature using your Icypeas API Key and Secret, generates a timestamp, and structures all necessary authentication headers into the data payload. Note: For self-hosted instances, the crypto module must be enabled for this n8n node to function.


4. Bulk Search Submission: The HTTP Request n8n node uses the authenticated data and signature prepared in the previous step to make a POST request to the Icypeas /bulk-search endpoint. This submission initiates the bulk email search process on the Icypeas platform. The results are then delivered via email from Icypeas.

To deploy and use this powerful n8n workflow, follow these setup steps:

1. Import the n8n Workflow: Copy the provided JSON data and paste it into your n8n instance via the 'New' > 'Import from JSON' option.


2. Google Sheets Setup:

Once configured, execute the n8n trigger to run the n8n workflow.

This n8n workflow utilizes several key nodes for data handling and complex API interaction:

When clicking "Execute Workflow" (Manual Trigger n8n trigger):
Function: Serves as the starting point for manual execution of the n8n workflow.
Key Configuration: Standard manual run setup.

Reads lastname,firstname and company from your sheet (Google Sheets n8n node):
Function: Connects to Google Sheets to ingest bulk contact data, which forms the basis for the Icypeas search.
Key Configuration: Requires configured Document ID and Sheet Name. Reads columns based on the specified headers.

Authenticates to your Icypeas account (Code n8n node):
Function: This critical n8n node handles all preparatory logic. It extracts input data, defines API constants, implements the genSignature function (HMAC-SHA1), and structures the output JSON with the data payload, timestamp, key, and calculated signature.
Key Configuration: Hardcoded fields for APIKEY, APISECRET, and USER_ID must be updated by the user.

Run bulk search (email-search) (HTTP Request n8n node):
Function: Submits the compiled bulk search request to the Icypeas API endpoint.
Key Configuration: Uses a complex generic header credential type where the Authorization header value is dynamically set using an expression that combines the API key and the dynamically generated signature ({{ $json.api.key + ':' + $json.api.signature }}). Also sets the X-ROCK-TIMESTAMP header.