airtable-mcp

Self-discovery

Tools are fetched from the MCP server at runtime, so the CLI never has a hardcoded command list. Discover what's available:

airtable-mcp tools            # human-readable list
airtable-mcp tools --json     # machine-parseable list
airtable-mcp <tool> --help    # show flags and descriptions for a tool

Run airtable-mcp tools before assuming a tool exists. Tool names, arguments, and output shapes can change between server releases without a CLI update.

Install

npm install -g @airtable/mcp-cli

Auth

The CLI needs an Airtable personal access token (PAT). Two paths:

Environment variable (preferred for scripts/agents):

export AIRTABLE_TOKEN=pat_xxx

Interactive configure (stores token in ~/.airtable/cli.json with 0600 permissions):

airtable-mcp configure

Create tokens at https://airtable.com/create/tokens. Ensure the token has the scopes required by the tools being called.

AIRTABLE_TOKEN takes precedence over saved profiles when no --profile flag is set. Never log or echo tokens.

Quick reference

Task	Command
Set up credentials	airtable-mcp configure
Add a named profile	airtable-mcp configure --profile work
Check auth status	airtable-mcp whoami
Remove credentials	airtable-mcp logout
Remove all profiles	airtable-mcp logout --all
List available tools	airtable-mcp tools
Run a tool	airtable-mcp <tool> --flagName value
Get tool help	airtable-mcp <tool> --help
Pass args via stdin	echo '{"key":"val"}' \| airtable-mcp <tool> --input -
Bypass tool cache	airtable-mcp <tool> --refresh
Suppress status msgs	airtable-mcp <tool> -q
Raw text output	airtable-mcp <tool> --output raw
Use a specific profile	airtable-mcp <tool> --profile work

Tool names use hyphens on the CLI (list-records) but underscores in MCP (list_records). The CLI translates automatically.

Workflow

1. Auth — set AIRTABLE_TOKEN or run airtable-mcp configure
2. Discover — run airtable-mcp tools to see available tools
3. Inspect — run airtable-mcp <tool> --help for flags and descriptions
4. Check access — in tools --json output, check the access field: read-only, write, or destructive. Confirm with the user before running destructive tools.
5. Execute — run airtable-mcp <tool> --flagName value

Output & automation

• Default output is formatted JSON to stdout. Status messages go to stderr.
• --json on tools gives a JSON array of {name, title, access}.
• -q / --quiet suppresses stderr status messages (cache warnings, etc).
• --output raw returns the raw server response text instead of parsed JSON.
• --input - reads tool arguments as a JSON object from stdin, bypassing flag parsing.
• Exit codes: 0 success, 1 error (auth, tool failure, not found), 2 usage error (bad flags, bad input).

Common tasks

Find a base and list its tables:

airtable-mcp search-bases --searchQuery "Project Tracker" -q
airtable-mcp list-tables-for-base --baseId appK9MtBqFw3o5jGN -q

List records with specific fields:

airtable-mcp list-records-for-table \
  --baseId appK9MtBqFw3o5jGN --tableId tblL4GpTfEz8byRsW \
  --fieldIds '["Name","Status"]' --pageSize 10 -q

Filter records — filters use structured JSON, not formula strings. Wrap conditions in an operands array; the top-level operator defaults to and if omitted:

airtable-mcp list-records-for-table \
  --baseId appK9MtBqFw3o5jGN --tableId tblL4GpTfEz8byRsW \
  --filters '{"operator":"and","operands":[{"operator":"=","operands":["Status","Done"]}]}' -q

For select fields, filter by choice ID (from get-table-schema), not the display name. The airtable-filters skill covers compound filters, date filters, and operator-by-field-type details.

Search records — use search-records for free-text/fuzzy queries on large tables. Use list-records-for-table with --filters when filtering by exact field values:

airtable-mcp search-records \
  --baseId appK9MtBqFw3o5jGN --table tblL4GpTfEz8byRsW \
  --query "acme" --fields '["Name","Notes"]' -q

Pass --fields ALL_SEARCHABLE_FIELDS to search across every indexed field. Date, rating, checkbox, and button fields are not searchable.

Update records — complex args are easier via --input -:

echo '{"baseId":"appK9MtBqFw3o5jGN","tableId":"tblL4GpTfEz8byRsW","records":[{"id":"recVnR3xPq8sD2yLk","fields":{"fld8WsrpLHHevsnW8":"Done"}}]}' \
  | airtable-mcp update-records-for-table --input - -q

Select field values are returned as objects ({"id":"sel...","name":"Done"}) but must be written as plain strings ("Done"). Record field keys in create/update currently require field IDs (fldXXX) — use get-table-schema to resolve names to IDs before writing. Note that fieldIds, sort, and filters accept both names and IDs.

Gotchas

Problem	Cause	Fix
Unknown tool: X	Tool name doesn't exist on the server or cache is stale	Run airtable-mcp tools --refresh to refresh, then retry
Authentication failed	Token expired, revoked, or wrong	Run airtable-mcp configure or check AIRTABLE_TOKEN
Access denied	Token missing required scopes	Add scopes at https://airtable.com/create/tokens
Connection timed out	Server unreachable (10s timeout)	Check network; CLI falls back to stale cache if available
Boolean flags take no value	--dryRun true passes "true" as next arg	Use --dryRun alone (booleans are presence-based)
Array/object args fail	Value isn't valid JSON	Pass as JSON string: --fieldMappings '{"a":"b"}'
Filter rejected at top level	Single condition passed without operands wrapper	Wrap in {"operands":[...]} (operator defaults to and)
Sort key is fieldId not field	--sort '[{"field":"Name"}]' silently ignored	Use {"fieldId":"Name","direction":"asc"} — accepts field IDs or names
Select filter returns no matches	Filtering by display name instead of choice ID	Run get-table-schema first to get sel... choice IDs
INVALID_RECORDS on batch write	Batch limit is 10 records per request (default; varies by account)	Split into chunks of ≤10 and check <tool> --help for the current limit
Permission error on list-records-for-table	User has interface-only access to the base	Use list-records-for-page / get-record-for-page instead
Endpoints restricted	CLI only allows HTTPS on *.airtable.com	Cannot point at arbitrary servers (security constraint)