List Building
Build company lists using Extruct, guided by a decision tree. Reads from the company context file for ICP and seed companies.
Extruct API Operations
This skill delegates all Extruct API calls to the
skill.
For all Extruct API operations, read and follow the instructions in
skills/extruct-api/SKILL.md
.
All company search, lookalike search, deep search, table creation, row uploads, and enrichment runs are handled by the extruct-api skill. This skill focuses on what to search for and why — the extruct-api skill handles the how.
Decision Tree
Before running any queries, determine the right approach:
Have a seed company from win cases or context file?
YES → Lookalike Search (pass seed domain)
NO ↓
New vertical, need broad exploration?
YES → Semantic Search (3-5 queries from different angles)
NO ↓
Need qualification against specific criteria?
YES → Deep Search (criteria-scored async research)
NO ↓
Need maximum coverage?
YES → Combine Search + Deep Search (~15% overlap expected)
Before You Start
Read the company context file if it exists:
claude-code-gtm/context/{company}_context.md
Extract:
- ICP profiles — for query design and filters
- Win cases — for seed companies in lookalike mode
- DNC list — domains to exclude from results. If no DNC list exists in the context file, ask the user: (1) run an Extruct search for competitors to auto-populate, (2) accept a CSV of existing customers/partners, or (3) skip for now
Also check for a hypothesis set at
claude-code-gtm/context/{vertical-slug}/hypothesis_set.md
. If it exists, use the
Search angle field from each hypothesis to design search queries — these are pre-defined query suggestions tailored to each pain point.
Method 1: Lookalike Search
Use when you have a seed company (from win cases, existing customers, or user input). Delegate to the extruct-api skill to run a lookalike search with the seed domain.
When to use:
- You have a happy customer and want more like them
- Context file has win cases with domains
- User says "find companies similar to X"
Tips:
- Run multiple lookalike searches with different seed companies for broader coverage
- Combine with filters to constrain geography or size
- Deduplicate across runs by domain
Method 2: Semantic Search — Fast, Broad
Delegate to the extruct-api skill to run semantic company search queries.
Query strategy:
- Write 3-5 queries per campaign, each from a different angle on the same ICP
- Describe the product/use case, not the company type
- Deduplicate across queries by domain — overlap is expected
- Target 200-800 companies total across all queries
Method 3: Deep Search — Deep, Qualified
Delegate to the extruct-api skill to create and run deep search tasks.
Query strategy:
- Write queries like a job description — 2-3 sentences describing the ideal company
- Use criteria to auto-qualify — each company gets graded 1-5 per criterion
- Default 50 results for first pass; expand after quality review
- Use up to 5 criteria per task; keep criteria focused and non-overlapping
- Run separate tasks for different ICP segments
Upload to Table
After collecting results, delegate to the extruct-api skill to create a company table and upload domains. Extruct auto-enriches each domain with a Company Profile.
Re-run After Enrichment
After the
skill adds data points to this list, consider re-running list building using enrichment insights as Deep Search criteria. For example:
- If enrichment reveals that "companies using legacy ERP" are the best fit, create a Deep Search task with that as a criterion
- If enrichment shows a geographic cluster, run a Search with tighter geo filters
- This creates a feedback loop: list → enrich → learn → refine list
Result Size Guidance
| Campaign stage | Target list size | Method |
|---|
| Exploration | 50-100 | Search (2-3 queries) |
| First campaign | 200-500 | Search (5 queries) + Deep Search |
| Scaling | 500-2000 | Deep Search (high result count) + multiple Search |
Workflow
- Read context file for ICP, seed companies, and DNC list
- Follow the decision tree to pick the right method
- Draft queries (3-5 for Search, 1-2 for Deep Search)
- Delegate to the extruct-api skill to run queries and collect results
- Deduplicate across all results by domain
- Remove DNC domains
- Delegate to the extruct-api skill to upload to a company table
- Add agent columns if user needs custom research
- Ask user for preferred output: Extruct table link, local CSV, or both