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

Installation

Step 1: Create an Airtable personal access token by clicking here. Details:

• Name: Anything you want e.g. 'Airtable MCP Server Token'.
• Scopes: schema.bases:read, data.records:read, and optionally schema.bases:write, data.records:write, data.recordComments:read, and data.recordComments:write.
• Access: The bases you want to access. If you're not sure, select 'Add all resources'.

Keep the token handy, you'll need it in the next step. It should look something like pat123.abc123 (but longer).

Step 2: Follow the instructions below for your preferred client:

• Claude Desktop
• Cursor
• Cline

Claude Desktop

(Recommended) Via the extensions browser

1. Open Claude Desktop and go to Settings → Extensions
2. Click 'Browse Extensions' and find 'Airtable MCP Server'
3. Click 'Install' and paste in your API key

(Advanced) Alternative: Via manual .mcpb installation

1. Find the latest mcpb build in the GitHub Actions history (the top one)
2. In the 'Artifacts' section, download the airtable-mcp-server-mcpb file
3. Rename the .zip file to .mcpb
4. Double-click the .mcpb file to open with Claude Desktop
5. Click "Install" and configure with your API key

(Advanced) Alternative: Via JSON configuration

1. Install Node.js
2. Open Claude Desktop and go to Settings → Developer
3. Click "Edit Config" to open your claude_desktop_config.json file
4. Add the following configuration to the "mcpServers" section, replacing pat123.abc123 with your API key:

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

5. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop

Cursor

(Recommended) Via one-click install

1. Click
2. Edit your mcp.json file to insert your API key

(Advanced) Alternative: Via JSON configuration

Create either a global (~/.cursor/mcp.json) or project-specific (.cursor/mcp.json) configuration file, replacing pat123.abc123 with your API key:

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

Cline

(Recommended) Via marketplace

1. Click the "MCP Servers" icon in the Cline extension
2. Search for "Airtable" and click "Install"
3. Follow the prompts to install the server

(Advanced) Alternative: Via JSON configuration

1. Click the "MCP Servers" icon in the Cline extension
2. Click on the "Installed" tab, then the "Configure MCP Servers" button at the bottom
3. Add the following configuration to the "mcpServers" section, replacing pat123.abc123 with your API key:

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

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

• create_comment

  • Creates a comment on a record
  • 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
    • text (string, required): The comment text
    • parentCommentId (string, optional): Parent comment ID for threaded replies
  • Returns the created comment with ID, author, creation time, and text

• list_comments

  • Lists comments on a record
  • 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
    • pageSize (number, optional): Number of comments to return (max 100, default 100)
    • offset (string, optional): Pagination offset for retrieving additional comments
  • Returns comments array with author, text, timestamps, reactions, and mentions
  • Comments are returned from newest to oldest

HTTP Transport

The server can also run in HTTP mode for use with remote MCP clients:

bashCopy code
MCP_TRANSPORT=http PORT=3000 npx airtable-mcp-server

This starts a stateless HTTP server at http://localhost:3000/mcp. Note: HTTP transport has no built-in authentication - only use behind a reverse proxy or in a secured environment.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcomed on GitHub! To get started:

1. Install Git and Node.js
2. Clone the repository
3. Install dependencies with npm install
4. Run npm run test to run tests
5. 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:

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