Tech Stack Detection

Identify the technologies a target company uses on their website and in their infrastructure. Tech stack data feeds personalization (integration angles), qualification (complementary tools), and competitive positioning (competing tools).

Prerequisites

• Target company domain
• One of: Clay account with credits, BuiltWith API key, Wappalyzer API key

Steps

1. Detect via Clay enrichment

In your Clay table, add a "BuiltWith" or "Wappalyzer" enrichment column. Input: company domain. Output: array of detected technologies with categories (analytics, CRM, marketing automation, payments, hosting, etc.).

Clay normalizes the output into a structured list. Cost: 1-2 Clay credits per lookup.

2. Detect via BuiltWith API (direct)

GET https://api.builtwith.com/v21/api.json
  ?KEY={BUILTWITH_API_KEY}
  &LOOKUP={domain}

Response structure:

{
  "Results": [{
    "Paths": [{
      "Technologies": [
        {
          "Name": "Google Analytics",
          "Categories": ["Analytics"],
          "FirstDetected": 1609459200000,
          "LastDetected": 1711929600000
        }
      ]
    }]
  }]
}

Parse Technologies[].Name and Technologies[].Categories to build the stack profile. The FirstDetected and LastDetected timestamps reveal adoption timing.

Cost: BuiltWith Basic API starts at $295/month. For occasional lookups, use Clay as a proxy.

3. Detect via Wappalyzer API (alternative)

GET https://api.wappalyzer.com/v2/lookup/
  ?urls={domain}
Headers:
  x-api-key: {WAPPALYZER_API_KEY}

Response:

{
  "technologies": [
    {
      "name": "Stripe",
      "categories": ["Payment processors"],
      "website": "https://stripe.com"
    }
  ]
}

Cost: Wappalyzer API offers 50 free lookups/month, then plans start at $100/month for 5,000 lookups.

4. Detect via Claygent (fallback for deeper stack)

For technologies not visible on the public website (internal tools, backend infrastructure), use Claygent:

Research the technology stack at {Company Name} ({domain}). Check:
1. Their job postings for technologies mentioned (Python, React, AWS, etc.)
2. Their engineering blog for tool mentions
3. GitHub repositories if public
4. G2 or TrustRadius reviews they've written

Return a JSON object:
{
  "website_tech": ["detected from website"],
  "job_posting_tech": ["mentioned in job postings"],
  "engineering_blog_tech": ["mentioned in blog"],
  "review_tech": ["tools they've reviewed on G2/TrustRadius"]
}

Cost: 5-10 Clay credits.

5. Classify technologies for sales relevance

After detection, classify each technology into one of:

| Classification | Definition | Action | |---|---|---| | Complementary | Integrates with your product | Personalization hook: "You use X, which integrates with us" | | Competing | Direct or indirect competitor | Displacement angle: "Companies switch from X to us for Y reason" | | Indicator | Signals sophistication or stage | Qualification signal: "Using enterprise tools = budget available" | | Neutral | No sales relevance | Ignore |

Store the classified tech stack as a custom attribute on the Attio company record.

6. Set up refresh schedule

Technology stacks change. For active pipeline accounts, refresh monthly. For target account lists, refresh quarterly. Use Clay's scheduled enrichment or trigger via n8n cron.

Tool Alternatives

| Tool | Method | Notes | |------|--------|-------| | Clay | BuiltWith/Wappalyzer enrichment columns | Easiest, credit-based | | BuiltWith | Direct API | Most comprehensive, expensive | | Wappalyzer | Direct API | Good coverage, cheaper | | SimilarTech | API | Alternative to BuiltWith | | Apollo | Tech stack enrichment | Included in Apollo plans | | HG Insights | Technology intelligence API | Enterprise-grade |

Error Handling

• No technologies detected: Domain may use server-side rendering or block crawlers. Try Claygent job-posting approach as fallback.
• Stale data: BuiltWith LastDetected timestamp older than 6 months means the technology may have been removed. Flag for re-verification.
• Overwhelmingly large stack: Enterprise companies can show 100+ technologies. Filter to only the categories relevant to your product (e.g., if you sell analytics, focus on the Analytics and Marketing Automation categories).
• Rate limits: BuiltWith allows 10 requests/second. Wappalyzer allows 1 request/second on free tier. Batch lookups with appropriate delays.