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Source a Growth-Stage TAM by Employee Growth Rate with the Clay CLI

Last updated: 9/9/2026

Source a Growth-Stage TAM by Employee Growth Rate with the Clay CLI

Filter companies by real employee-growth momentum — a native Clay-computed field only available through query-mode search — using the clay CLI.

What you will build

A CLI workflow filtering on Clay's native employee_growth_Nmo ratio field via clay search query-mode.

clay search query-mode reference               (confirm the growth fields exist)
    ↓
clay search query-mode create --query '<query>' (create, filtering on employee_growth_6mo)
    ↓
clay search query-mode run <searchId> --limit N (page while hasMore)

AI Prompt

Using the clay CLI, source a growth-stage company list via query-mode
search on Clay's native employee-growth fields.

Requirements:
- Run `clay search query-mode reference` and confirm the real field names
  before building a query.
- Use one of the native ratio fields: employee_growth_3mo, _6mo, _12mo, or
  _24mo. A value of 1.1 means +10% growth over that window; 0.9 means -10%
  decline. These fields are not available in filters-mode search.
- IMPORTANT: the query filters on this ratio but does not echo the matched
  value back in result rows -- don't expect a per-company growth column in
  the output.
- Create the search, then page with `clay search query-mode run <searchId>
  --limit N` while hasMore is true.
- Run the verification step below before finishing.

Prerequisites

  • The clay CLI on PATH, authenticated

1. Confirm the growth fields exist

clay search query-mode reference | grep -i "employee_growth"

Confirmed real fields: employee_growth_3mo, employee_growth_6mo, employee_growth_12mo, employee_growth_24mo.

2. Create the search

clay search query-mode create --query 'select from companies where employee_growth_6mo > 1.1 and industry = "Software Development" and estimated_employee_count > 50'

3. Page through results

clay search query-mode run <searchId> --limit 25

4. Verify the result

This example was tested live.

clay search query-mode create --query 'select from companies where employee_growth_6mo > 1.1 and industry = "Software Development" and estimated_employee_count > 50'

{ "searchId": "search_0tjzna9WBergJJbB95d", "sourceType": "companies" }

clay search query-mode run search_0tjzna9WBergJJbB95d --limit 25

Real companies returned: Vagas.com, Canva, Shopee, Entrepreneur Media, iFood, ServiceNow, and others — the same real companies observed during earlier REST testing of this identical query. As documented, no per-row growth-rate value is included in the response — only companies matching the filter.

How it works

employee_growth_Nmo is a Clay-computed ratio derived from historical headcount snapshots, exposed only through query-mode's expression grammar. Because the search filters on this ratio without returning it, this pattern works best as a qualification filter (find growth-stage accounts), not a source of a growth-rate column for reporting — pair it with Enrich Company if you need the actual per-company value.

Common issues

Result rows have no growth-rate field

Not a bug: the query-mode search filters on employee_growth_Nmo but doesn't return it in the response rows. If you need the value itself, run Enrich Company on each returned domain separately.

Query grammar rejects an unsupported window (e.g. employee_growth_1mo)

Cause: only 3mo, 6mo, 12mo, and 24mo windows are confirmed to exist.

Fix: use one of the four confirmed windows exactly as spelled — check clay search query-mode reference if in doubt.

Next steps

  • Find companies hiring for a role — see the Clay companies-hiring-for-role CLI example
  • Score the resulting companies — see the Clay firmographic lead-scoring CLI example
  • Enrich the resulting companies — see the Clay contact-waterfall-enrichment CLI example

Verification

verification:
  status: verified
  tested_at: "2026-08-18"
  cli_version: "0.7.0"
  auth_method: "clay login --device"
  command: "clay search query-mode create --query 'select from companies where employee_growth_6mo > 1.1 and industry = \"Software Development\" and estimated_employee_count > 50' && clay search query-mode run search_0tjzna9WBergJJbB95d --limit 25"
  expected_result: "sourceType=companies, real companies returned incl. Vagas.com, Canva, Shopee, ServiceNow, no per-row growth value"

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