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Airtable

Create, read, update, and delete records in your Airtable bases.

Authentication

Supported Authentication Methods

Drop in currently supports:

  • Personal Access Token (recommended)

Airtable also offers OAuth 2.0 authentication, which is coming soon to Drop in.

Using Personal Access Token

To connect Airtable with Drop in, you'll need to create a personal access token:

  1. Open the Airtable developer hub and navigate to Personal access tokens under the "Developers" section
  2. Click Create token and give your token a descriptive name (e.g., "Drop in Integration")
  3. Click + Add a scope to select permissions. For basic operations, you'll need:
    • data.records:read - Read records from bases
    • data.records:write - Create and update records
    • schema.bases:read - Read base schema and structure
  4. Click + Add a base to select which bases this token can access. You can choose:
    • A single base
    • Multiple specific bases
    • All current and future bases in a workspace
  5. Click Create token
  6. Copy your token immediately (you won't be able to see it again)
  7. In Drop in, select Airtable when creating a drop and paste your personal access token

Important: Personal access tokens are more secure than legacy API keys because you can limit their scope and access. The token will only be able to perform actions that you're allowed to do in Airtable.

Resources:

Using OAuth

OAuth authentication allows Drop in to access your Airtable bases without storing your credentials.

To set up OAuth, you'll need to create an OAuth integration in your Airtable developer account. Visit the OAuth integration guide to learn more.

This option is coming soon to Drop in.

Providing Context

Many Airtable actions require identifiers like a base ID, table ID, or record ID so the AI knows which data to work with. You don't need to memorize these — the AI can look them up for you, or you can find them yourself.

How IDs Work in Airtable

Airtable uses a hierarchy: Bases contain Tables, and tables contain Records. Each level has its own ID:

  • Base ID — starts with app (e.g., appLkNDICXNqxSDhG). Found in the URL when you open a base in Airtable, or by asking the AI to list your bases.
  • Table ID — starts with tbl (e.g., tblS4rlEGSTXoMJmq). Found in the URL after the base ID, or by asking the AI to get the base schema.
  • Record ID — starts with rec (e.g., recA1B2C3D4E5F6G). Found by expanding a record row in Airtable, or by asking the AI to list records.

Letting the AI Find IDs for You

When you describe what you want in plain language (e.g., "add a row to my Tasks table"), the AI will automatically chain the right operations — listing your bases, reading the schema, and then performing the action. You only need to provide IDs yourself if you want to target a specific base or table directly.

Finding IDs from the Airtable URL

When you open a base in the browser, the URL contains both the base and table IDs:

airtable.com/appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/tblXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/...

You can copy these and mention them in your prompt if you prefer.

Available Actions

List Bases

List all Airtable bases available to your account.

Get Base Schema

Retrieve the tables, fields, and views for a specific base.

List Records

Retrieve records from an Airtable table. Supports filtering, pagination, and field selection.

Create Records

Create new records in a table. Supports batch creation of up to 10 records at once.

Update Record

Update a single existing record by its ID.

Update Records

Update multiple records in a single operation.

Get Record

Retrieve a single record by its ID.

Delete Record

Delete a single record from a table by its ID.

Common Issues

Insufficient Permissions

If operations fail with permission errors:

  • Verify your personal access token has the required scopes (data.records:read, data.records:write, and schema.bases:read)
  • Check that the token has access to the specific base you're trying to modify
  • Ensure your Airtable account has permission to perform the action in that base

Rate Limit Exceeded

Airtable enforces a rate limit of 5 requests per second per base. If you see rate limit errors:

  • Add delays between requests when performing bulk operations
  • Use batch operations (up to 10 records) instead of individual requests
  • Cache data when possible to reduce API calls

Invalid Field Names

If you receive field validation errors:

  • Field names in Airtable are case-sensitive
  • Ensure you're using the exact field name as it appears in your base
  • Check that the field type matches the data you're trying to insert

Need help? Contact support