Airtable MCP server for AI agents

The Airtable MCP server provides an AI-powered interface to your Airtable databases, allowing you to perform operations like querying data, managing tables, and setting up webhooks using natural language through Claude or other MCP clients.

Installation and Setup

Prerequisites

Node.js 14 or higher
An Airtable account with a Personal Access Token
Your Airtable Base ID

Step 1: Get Your Airtable Credentials

Create a Personal Access Token at Airtable Account with these scopes:
- data.records:read - Read records from tables
- data.records:write - Create, update, delete records
- schema.bases:read - View table schemas
- schema.bases:write - Create/modify tables and fields
- webhook:manage - (Optional) For webhook features
Find your Base ID in the URL of your Airtable base:
```
https://airtable.com/[BASE_ID]/...
```

Step 2: Install the MCP Server

For TypeScript Users (Recommended)

# Install with TypeScript support
npm install -g @rashidazarang/airtable-mcp

# For development with types
npm install --save-dev typescript @types/node

For JavaScript Users

npm install -g @rashidazarang/airtable-mcp

Step 3: Set Up Environment Variables

Create a .env file in your project directory:

AIRTABLE_TOKEN=your_personal_access_token_here
AIRTABLE_BASE_ID=your_base_id_here

Step 4: Configure Your MCP Client

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airtable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@rashidazarang/airtable-mcp",
        "--token",
        "YOUR_AIRTABLE_TOKEN",
        "--base",
        "YOUR_BASE_ID"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For a more secure setup using environment variables:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airtable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@rashidazarang/airtable-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "AIRTABLE_TOKEN": "YOUR_AIRTABLE_TOKEN",
        "AIRTABLE_BASE_ID": "YOUR_BASE_ID"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Restart Your MCP Client

After configuration, restart Claude Desktop to load the Airtable server.

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can interact with your Airtable data using natural language:

Basic Data Operations

You can ask Claude:

"Show me all records in the Projects table"
"Create a new task with priority 'High' and due date tomorrow"
"Update the status of task ID rec123 to 'Completed'"
"Delete all records where status is 'Archived'"
"What tables are in my base?"
"Search for records where Status equals 'Active'"

Schema Management

You can manage your database structure:

"List all my accessible Airtable bases"
"Show me the complete schema for this base"
"Describe the Projects table with all field details"
"Create a new table called 'Tasks' with Name, Priority, and Due Date fields"
"Add a Status field to the existing Projects table"

Batch Operations & Attachments

For more efficient operations:

"Create 5 new records at once in the Tasks table"
"Update multiple records with new status values"
"Delete these 3 records in one operation"
"Attach this image URL to the record's photo field"

Webhook Operations

For real-time integrations:

"Create a webhook for my table that notifies https://my-app.com/webhook"
"List all active webhooks in my base"
"Show me the recent webhook payloads"
"Delete webhook ach123xyz"

Advanced Features

AI Intelligence Suite

The server includes AI-powered capabilities:

Data analysis with statistical insights
Intelligent report generation
Business intelligence and pattern discovery
Workflow optimization suggestions
Smart database schema design
Data quality auditing
Predictive analytics and forecasting
Natural language querying

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Connection Refused" Error
- Ensure the MCP server is running
- Check that port 8010 is not blocked
- Restart your MCP client
"Invalid Token" Error
- Verify your Personal Access Token is correct
- Check that the token has the required scopes
- Ensure no extra spaces in your credentials
"Base Not Found" Error
- Confirm your Base ID is correct
- Check that your token has access to the base
Port Conflicts If port 8010 is in use:
```
lsof -ti:8010 | xargs kill -9
```

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "airtable-mcp" '{"command":"npx","args":["@smithery/cli","run","@rashidazarang/airtable-mcp","--token","YOUR_AIRTABLE_TOKEN","--base","YOUR_BASE_ID"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "airtable-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "@smithery/cli",
                "run",
                "@rashidazarang/airtable-mcp",
                "--token",
                "YOUR_AIRTABLE_TOKEN",
                "--base",
                "YOUR_BASE_ID"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "airtable-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "@smithery/cli",
                "run",
                "@rashidazarang/airtable-mcp",
                "--token",
                "YOUR_AIRTABLE_TOKEN",
                "--base",
                "YOUR_BASE_ID"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect