Airtable

The Airtable connector lets you perform insert, delete, update, and read operations on Airtable data.

Supported versions

This connector supports Airtable API version v0.

Before you begin

Before using the Airtable connector, do the following tasks:

• In your Google Cloud project:
  • Ensure that network connectivity is set up. For information about network patterns, see Network connectivity.
  • Grant the roles/connectors.admin IAM role to the user configuring the connector.
  • Grant the following IAM roles to the service account that you want to use for the connector:
    • roles/secretmanager.viewer
    • roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor

    A service account is a special type of Google account intended to represent a non-human user that needs to authenticate and be authorized to access data in Google APIs. If you don't have a service account, you must create a service account. For more information, see Creating a service account.

  • Enable the following services:
    • secretmanager.googleapis.com (Secret Manager API)
    • connectors.googleapis.com (Connectors API)

    To understand how to enable services, see Enabling services.

  If these services or permissions have not been enabled for your project previously, you are prompted to enable them when configuring the connector.

• For information about how to create an Airtable workspace, see Getting started with Airtable. For information about Airtable API, see Airtable API Reference.

Configure the connector

Configuring the connector requires you to create a connection to your data source (backend system). A connection is specific to a data source. It means that if you have many data sources, you must create a separate connection for each data source. To create a connection, do the following steps:

1. In the Cloud console, go to the Integration Connectors > Connections page and then select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Go to the Connections page

2. Click + CREATE NEW to open the Create Connection page.
3. In the Location section, choose the location for the connection.
   1. Region: Select a location from the drop-down list.

      For the list of all the supported regions, see Locations.

   2. Click NEXT.
4. In the Connection Details section, complete the following:
   1. Connector: Select Airtable from the drop down list of available Connectors.
   2. Connector version: Select the Connector version from the drop down list of available versions.
   3. In the Connection Name field, enter a name for the Connection instance.

      Connection names must meet the following criteria:

      • Connection names can use letters, numbers, or hyphens.
      • Letters must be lower-case.
      • Connection names must begin with a letter and end with a letter or number.
      • Connection names cannot exceed 49 characters.
   4. Optionally, enter a Description for the connection instance.
   5. Optionally, enable Cloud logging, and then select a log level. By default, the log level is set to Error.
   6. Service Account: Select a service account that has the required roles.
   7. Base Id: ID of the Airtable base. If a Base ID is specified, only the associated metadata is retrieved. If the Airtable Metadata API is enabled, you needn't specify the Base ID.
   8. Base Name: The schema to use that corresponds to the Airtable base. Use this field only if the Airtable Metadata API is enabled.
   9. Display Object Ids: Select this option to replace schema, table, view and column names with their corresponding internal ID.
   10. Path Delimiter: Specify the character to use as the delimiter for building column names based on paths.
   11. User Defined Views: Specify the filepath of the JSON configuration file that contains your custom views.
   12. Value Delimiter: Specify the separator to use for values of an array as a single string.
   13. Optionally, click + ADD LABEL to add a label to the connection in the form of a key/value pair.
   14. Click NEXT.
   15. Optionally, configure the Connection node settings:
       • Minimum number of nodes: Enter the minimum number of connection nodes.
       • Maximum number of nodes: Enter the maximum number of connection nodes.

       A node is a unit (or replica) of a connection that processes transactions. More nodes are required to process more transactions for a connection and conversely, fewer nodes are required to process fewer transactions. To understand how the nodes affect your connector pricing, see Pricing for connection nodes. If you don't enter any values, by default the minimum nodes are set to 2 (for better availability) and the maximum nodes are set to 50.

   Note: You can customize the connection node values only if you are a Pay-as-you-go customer.
5. In the Authentication section, enter the authentication details.
   1. Select an Authentication type and enter the relevant details.

      The following authentication type is supported by the Airtable connection:

      • Personal Access Token

   To understand how to configure these authentication types, see Configure authentication.

   2. Click NEXT.
6. Review: Review your connection and authentication details.
7. Click Create.

Configure authentication

Enter the details based on the authentication you want to use.

• Personal Access Token: Secret manager secret containing the personal access token.
• Secret version: Secret version for the secret selected.

Connection configuration samples

This section lists the sample values for the various fields that you configure when creating the connection.

Personal Access Token connection type

Field name	Details
Location	europe-west1
Connector	Airtable
Connector version	1
Connection Name	airtable-connection-new
Enable Cloud Logging	Yes
Service Account	SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com
Base Id	appK32XeZXReEQzja
Base Name	Automobile Test Data
Path Delimiter	NA
User Defined Views	NA
Value Delimiter	NA
Minimum number of nodes	2
Maximum number of nodes	50
Personal Access Token	Yes
Personal Access Token	projects/617888XXXX/secrets/airtable-new-conn/versions/3
Secret version	3

System limitations

The Airtable connector can process a maximum of 3 transactions per second, per node, and throttles any transactions beyond this limit. By default, Integration Connectors allocates 2 nodes (for better availability) for a connection.

For information on the limits applicable to Integration Connectors, see Limits.

Note: The number of Integration Connectors nodes will autoscale dynamically based on your usage. However, if you want to reserve capacity for large volumes without waiting for autoscaling, you can adjust the minimum node value for a connection. More nodes are required to process more transactions for a connection. Conversely, fewer nodes are required if a connection processes fewer transactions. To configure the node values, do the following:

• If you are a pay-as-you-go customer, configure the minimum and maximum node value in the edit connection page.
• If you are a subscription based customer, contact support.

The maximum transactions that a node can handle depends on various factors. So, before adjusting the minimum nodes for better throughput, it is recommended you check if your backend systems are set up optimally to handle the required traffic.

Use the Airtable connection in an integration

After you create the connection, it becomes available in both Apigee Integration and Application Integration. You can use the connection in an integration through the Connectors task.

• To understand how to create and use the Connectors task in Apigee Integration, see Connectors task.
• To understand how to create and use the Connectors task in Application Integration, see Connectors task.

Entities, operations, and actions

All the Integration Connectors provide a layer of abstraction for the objects of the connected application. You can access an application's objects only through this abstraction. The abstraction is exposed to you as entities, operations, and actions.

Note: You can view the entities, operations, and actions of a connector in the Connectors task.

• Entity: An entity can be thought of as an object, or a collection of properties, in the connected application or service. The definition of an entity differs from a connector to a connector. For example, in a database connector, tables are the entities, in a file server connector, folders are the entities, and in a messaging system connector, queues are the entities.

  However, it is possible that a connector doesn't support or have any entities, in which case the Entities list will be empty.

• Operation: An operation is the activity that you can perform on an entity. You can perform any of the following operations on an entity:
  • List
  • Get
  • Create
  • Update
  • Delete

  Selecting an entity from the available list, generates a list of operations available for the entity. For a detailed description of the operations, see the Connectors task's entity operations. However, if a connector doesn't support any of the entity operations, such unsupported operations aren't listed in the Operations list.

• Action: An action is a first class function that is made available to the integration through the connector interface. An action lets you make changes to an entity or entities, and vary from connector to connector. Normally, an action will have some input parameters, and an output parameter. However, it is possible that a connector doesn't support any action, in which case the Actions list will be empty.

Note: All entities and actions will have a schema associated with them. For example, an action schema will have the parameter details such as; the parameter names, and its corresponding data type. The schema (metadata) for entities and actions is fetched by the connection at runtime from your backend. If there are any updates to the schema, such updates won't be automatically reflected in your existing connections; you must manually refresh the schema. To refresh the schema for a connection, open the Connection details page of the connection, and then click Refresh connection schema.

Entity operation examples

This section shows how to perform some of the entity operations in this connector.

Example - List operation for the Contact Data (Records) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select Contact Data from the Entity list.
3. Select the List operation, and then click Done.
4. Task Input section of the Connectors task, you can set the filterClause as per the customer requirement.

Always specify the filter clause value within the single quotes (').

You can perform list operation on the following entities as well:
Contacts Data.Main View, Contacts Data.Calendar, Contacts Data.Kanban, Contacts Data.Gallery, Contacts Data.List, and Contacts Data_Collaborators

Example - Get record for the Contact Data (Records) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select Contact Data from the Entity list.
3. Select the GET operation, and then click Done.
4. Set the entity ID to "recg7qjPRMa7DBwIb" which is the Key to be passed. To set the entity ID, in the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter "recg7qjPRMa7DBwIb" in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId as local variable.

   Here, Entity Id: "recg7qjPRMa7DBwIb" is the unique primary key value and it must be passed directly.

If the entity has a composite primary key, you can specify a filter clause.

You can perform the get operation on the following entities as well: Contacts Data.Main View, Contacts Data.Calendar, Contacts Data.Kanban, Contacts Data.Gallery, Contacts Data.List, and Contacts Data_Collaborators.

Example - Delete a record of the Contact Data (Records) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select Contact Data from the Entity list.
3. Select the Delete operation, and then click Done.
4. Set the entity ID to "recg7qjPRMa7DBwIb" which is the Key to be passed.To set the entity ID, in the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter "recg7qjPRMa7DBwIb" in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId as Local variable.

If the entity has a composite primary key, you can specify a filter clause.

Example - Create operation for the Contact Data (Records) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select Contact Data from the Entity list.
3. Select the Create operation, and then click Done.
4. In the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping task, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter a value similar to the following in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId/ConnectorInputPayload as Local variable.

   {
   "First Name": "Demo4",
   "Last Name": "Alex",
   "Email": "[e-mail]",
   "DOB": "2000-04-14",
   "Office": "Denver",
   "Phone Number": "1-175-432-1437",
   "Current Brand": "Mercedes"
   }
   

   If the integration is successful, your connector task's connectorOutputPayload response parameter will have a value similar to the following:

   {
   "Internal_Id": "recg7qjPRMa7DBwIb"
   }
     
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     <h3>Example title</h3>
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Example - Update operation for the Contact Data (Records) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select ContactData from the Entity list.
3. Select the Update operation, and then click Done.
4. In the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping task, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter a value similar to the following in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId/ConnectorInputPayload/FilterClause as Local variable.

   {
   "Phone Number": "1-175-432-4312",
   "Current Brand": "Honda"
   }
   

   Instead of specifying the entityId, you can also set the filterClause to Internal_Id='reckqGnFusjDlnmvs'.

If the integration is successful, your connector task's connectorOutputPayload output variable:

{
"Internal_Id": "reckqGnFusjDlnmvs"
}

Example - Update operation for the Contact Data (Attachment) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select Contact Data from the Entity list.
3. Select the Update operation, and then click Done.
4. In the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping task, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter a value similar to the following in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId/ConnectorInputPayload/FilterClause as Local variable.

   {
   "Attachment": "[{\"url\":\"https://media.istockphoto.com/id/2086323995/photo/global-communication-east-asia.jpg?s=2048x2048&w=is&k=20&c=Z50lesspQQzxWug0m11QrPZMOUzMeTufgnLHh_3COy4=\",\"filename\":\"BMW\"}]"
   }
   

   Instead of specifying the entityId, you can also set the filterClause to Internal_Id='reckqGnFusjDlnmvs'.

   If the integration is successful, your connector task's connectorOutputPayload output variable:

   {
   "Internal_Id": "recoGHHp8y11aSx0E"
   }
   

Example - Update operation for the Contact Data (Checkbox) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select Contact Data from the Entity list.
3. Select the Update operation, and then click Done.
4. In the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping task, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter a value similar to the following in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId/ConnectorInputPayload/FilterClause as Local variable.

   {
   "Checkbox": true
   }
   

   Instead of specifying the entityId, you can also set the filterClause to Internal_Id='reckqGnFusjDlnmvs'.

   If the integration is successful, your connector task's connectorOutputPayload output variable:

   {
   "Internal_Id": "recoGHHp8y11aSx0E"
   }
   

Example - Update operation for the Contact Data (Number) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select ContactData from the Entity list.
3. Select the Update operation, and then click Done.
4. In the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping task, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter a value similar to the following in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId/ConnectorInputPayload/FilterClause as Local variable.

   {
   "Number": 1001.0
   } 
   

   Instead of specifying the entityId, you can also set the filterClause to Internal_Id='reckqGnFusjDlnmvs'.

   If the integration is successful, your connector task's connectorOutputPayload output variable:

   {
   "Internal_Id": "recoGHHp8y11aSx0E"
   } 
   

Example - Update operation for the Contact Data (DateField) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select ContactData from the Entity list.
3. Select the Update operation, and then click Done.
4. In the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping task, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter a value similar to the following in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId/ConnectorInputPayload/FilterClause as Local variable.

   {
   "DOB": "2000-04-14"
   } 
   

   Instead of specifying the entityId, you can also set the filterClause to Internal_Id='reckqGnFusjDlnmvs'.

   If the integration is successful, your connector task's connectorOutputPayload output variable:

   {
   "Internal_Id": "recoGHHp8y11aSx0E"
   }
   

Example - Update operation for the Contact Data (Text) entity

1. In the Configure connector task dialog, click Entities.
2. Select ContactData from the Entity list.
3. Select the Update operation, and then click Done.
4. In the Data Mapper section of the Data Mapping task, click Open Data Mapping Editor and then enter a value similar to the following in the Input Value field and choose the EntityId/ConnectorInputPayload/FilterClause as Local variable.

   {
   "Singlelinetext": "Airtable Application",
   "Long text": "Airtable is a cloud-based collaboration platform that combines the features of a spreadsheet with the capabilities of a database. "
   }
   

   Instead of specifying the entityId, you can also set the filterClause to Internal_Id='reckqGnFusjDlnmvs'.

   If the integration is successful, your connector task's connectorOutputPayload output variable:

   {
   "Internal_Id": "recoGHHp8y11aSx0E"
   }
   

Get help from the Google Cloud community

You can post your questions and discuss this connector in the Google Cloud community at Cloud Forums.

What's next

• Understand how to suspend and resume a connection.
• Understand how to monitor connector usage.
• Understand how to view connector logs.