Sourcing
Your agent can find creators for a campaign and add them to a shortlist.
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A sourcing run is a background job that searches TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for creators who match your request, reads each promising creator's recent posts, and saves the ones that fit to a shortlist, with a reason for each. You start runs by asking your agent, in Roar or over MCP. There's no separate sourcing page.
Starting a run#
Describe who you're looking for. For example:
- "Find 20 skincare creators on TikTok with 10K to 100K followers who talk about sensitive skin."
- "Source creators for Glow Co.'s spring launch and save them to a new shortlist called Spring picks."
- "Who's already posting about products like ours? Add the best ones to my Q4 shortlist."
Your brand description from Settings → AI Agent is included in every run, so you don't need to repeat what you sell. Details about the audience, content style, and deal-breakers improve the results. Creators you already have on a shortlist or track aren't suggested again.
To find more creators like ones you already like, name them: "Find more creators like @handle and @handle."
Run progress#
A card in the conversation shows the run's current step:
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| Planning | Working out who buys from you and which creators they watch |
| Discovering | Searching for creators across platforms |
| Narrowing | Picking the most promising ones to look at closely |
| Enriching | Reading each one's profile and recent posts |
| Checking fit | Judging each creator against your brand and request |
| Finding more | Looking for creators like the best ones, when too few fit |
| Ranking | Ordering the results |
| Adding to shortlist | Saving the results |
The card's status is Waiting to start, Running, Complete, Failed, or Canceled. Runs continue if you leave the conversation or close the tab, and most finish in about five minutes. When a run finishes, the card lists the creators it added, each with a line on why they fit, and links to the shortlist.
Creators that clearly fit are added as they are. Close calls are added with a Needs review tag, so you can decide.
To stop a run, choose Cancel on its card. A waiting run stops immediately; a running one stops at its next checkpoint.
Cost and limits#
| Individual | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| AI credits per run | 25 | 25 |
| Runs per day | 10 | 25 |
| Active runs at once | 2 | 2 |
- Credits are charged when the run starts. They're refunded if the run fails or finds fewer than 5 creators who fit.
- Runs started in Roar and over MCP count toward the same daily limit, which resets each day.
- A workspace can have at most two runs waiting or running, and they're processed one at a time.
Errors#
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| Daily sourcing run limit reached. | Wait until tomorrow, or upgrade to Pro. |
| Not enough credits | The message shows how many credits the run needs. Buy more in Settings → Usage & Billing, or wait for the daily reset. |
| Workspace already has 2 active … run(s). | Cancel a run from its card, or wait for one to finish. |
Sourcing for programs#
For a program, Shortlist's team does the sourcing. Their lists are linked to the program, and its Creators section shows everyone being cast and where each one stands, from Sourced and Reached out to Joined.
Reviewing results#
Open the shortlist to review the creators the run found. From there you can add notes and rates, send offers, or start tracking the accounts you want.
Questions or corrections? Email hello@shlist.com.