Airtable

What is airtable-mcp-server?

airtable-mcp-server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI systems, specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), to interact with Airtable databases. It provides read and write access to Airtable bases, allowing LLMs to inspect database schemas, and then read and write records programmatically.

How to use airtable-mcp-server?

To use airtable-mcp-server, you need to configure it within an application that supports the Model Context Protocol, such as the Claude Desktop app. You would add a configuration similar to the following in your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airtable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "airtable-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AIRTABLE_API_KEY": "pat123.abc123"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace pat123.abc123 with your Airtable personal access token, ensuring it has the necessary schema.bases:read and data.records:read permissions, and optionally write permissions.

For development and contribution, you can clone the repository, install dependencies with npm install, run tests with npm run test, and build the project with npm run build.

Key Features of airtable-mcp-server

airtable-mcp-server offers a comprehensive set of tools for interacting with Airtable:

Tools for Data Manipulation:

list_records: Lists records from a specified Airtable table with optional filtering and record limits.
search_records: Searches for records containing specific text within a table, with the option to specify fields to search.
get_record: Retrieves a specific record by its ID.
create_record: Creates a new record in a table with provided field values.
update_records: Updates one or more existing records in a table.
delete_records: Deletes one or more records from a table.

Tools for Schema Interaction:

list_bases: Lists all accessible Airtable bases, returning their ID, name, and permission level.
list_tables: Lists all tables within a specific base, with varying levels of detail.
describe_table: Provides detailed information about a single table, including its fields and views.
create_table: Creates a new table in a base with specified name, description, and field definitions.
update_table: Updates a table's name or description.
create_field: Creates a new field within a table with specified name, type, and options.
update_field: Updates a field's name or description.

Resources:

Table Schemas: Provides JSON schema information for each table, including base and table IDs, names, descriptions, primary field ID, field definitions, and view definitions. These are automatically discovered from Airtable's metadata API.

Use Cases of airtable-mcp-server

AI-powered Data Management: Allows LLMs to directly read, write, and manage data within Airtable bases, enabling intelligent automation and data-driven applications.
Automated Reporting: LLMs can extract specific data from Airtable for generating reports or summaries.
Dynamic Content Generation: AI systems can populate Airtable bases with new content based on various inputs.
Intelligent Data Validation: LLMs can be used to validate or clean data within Airtable by programmatically accessing and modifying records.
Building AI Agents: Developers can leverage this server to build AI agents that can interact with Airtable as a backend for storing and retrieving information.

FAQ about airtable-mcp-server

Q: What is the Model Context Protocol (MCP)? A: The Model Context Protocol is a standard that allows AI systems to interact with external services and data sources, providing them with context and enabling them to perform actions.

Q: What permissions are required for the Airtable API key? A: Your Airtable personal access token should have at least schema.bases:read and data.records:read permissions. For write operations, you will need the corresponding write permissions.

Q: Can I contribute to airtable-mcp-server? A: Yes, pull requests are welcomed on GitHub. The project follows semantic versioning for releases.

airtable-mcp-server

A Model Context Protocol server that provides read and write access to Airtable databases. This server enables LLMs to inspect database schemas, then read and write records.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c8285e76-d0ed-4018-94c7-20535db6c944

Usage

To use this server with the Claude Desktop app, add the following configuration to the "mcpServers" section of your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airtable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "airtable-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AIRTABLE_API_KEY": "pat123.abc123"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace pat123.abc123 with your Airtable personal access token. Your token should have at least schema.bases:read and data.records:read, and optionally the corresponding write permissions.

Components

Tools

list_records
- Lists records from a specified Airtable table
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table to query
  - maxRecords (number, optional): Maximum number of records to return. Defaults to 100.
  - filterByFormula (string, optional): Airtable formula to filter records
search_records
- Search for records containing specific text
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table to query
  - searchTerm (string, required): Text to search for in records
  - fieldIds (array, optional): Specific field IDs to search in. If not provided, searches all text-based fields.
  - maxRecords (number, optional): Maximum number of records to return. Defaults to 100.
list_bases
- Lists all accessible Airtable bases
- No input parameters required
- Returns base ID, name, and permission level
list_tables
- Lists all tables in a specific base
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - detailLevel (string, optional): The amount of detail to get about the tables (tableIdentifiersOnly, identifiersOnly, or full)
- Returns table ID, name, description, fields, and views (to the given detailLevel)
describe_table
- Gets detailed information about a specific table
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table to describe
  - detailLevel (string, optional): The amount of detail to get about the table (tableIdentifiersOnly, identifiersOnly, or full)
- Returns the same format as list_tables but for a single table
- Useful for getting details about a specific table without fetching information about all tables in the base
get_record
- Gets a specific record by ID
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table
  - recordId (string, required): The ID of the record to retrieve
create_record
- Creates a new record in a table
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table
  - fields (object, required): The fields and values for the new record
update_records
- Updates one or more records in a table
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table
  - records (array, required): Array of objects containing record ID and fields to update
delete_records
- Deletes one or more records from a table
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table
  - recordIds (array, required): Array of record IDs to delete
create_table
- Creates a new table in a base
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - name (string, required): Name of the new table
  - description (string, optional): Description of the table
  - fields (array, required): Array of field definitions (name, type, description, options)
update_table
- Updates a table's name or description
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table
  - name (string, optional): New name for the table
  - description (string, optional): New description for the table
create_field
- Creates a new field in a table
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table
  - name (string, required): Name of the new field
  - type (string, required): Type of the field
  - description (string, optional): Description of the field
  - options (object, optional): Field-specific options
update_field
- Updates a field's name or description
- Input parameters:
  - baseId (string, required): The ID of the Airtable base
  - tableId (string, required): The ID of the table
  - fieldId (string, required): The ID of the field
  - name (string, optional): New name for the field
  - description (string, optional): New description for the field

Resources

The server provides schema information for Airtable bases and tables:

Table Schemas (airtable://<baseId>/<tableId>/schema)
- JSON schema information for each table
- Includes:
  - Base id and table id
  - Table name and description
  - Primary field ID
  - Field definitions (ID, name, type, description, options)
  - View definitions (ID, name, type)
- Automatically discovered from Airtable's metadata API

Contributing

Pull requests are welcomed on GitHub! To get started:

Install Git and Node.js
Clone the repository
Install dependencies with npm install
Run npm run test to run tests
Build with npm run build

You can use npm run build:watch to automatically build after editing src/index.ts. This means you can hit save, reload Claude Desktop (with Ctrl/Cmd+R), and the changes apply.

Releases

Versions follow the semantic versioning spec.

To release:

Use npm version <major | minor | patch> to bump the version
Run git push --follow-tags to push with tags
Wait for GitHub Actions to publish to the NPM registry.

Airtable Overview