Airtable MCP Server

About

The Airtable MCP Server connects your AI assistant directly to Airtable bases, letting you read records, create entries, update fields, and query structured data using natural language — no manual spreadsheet navigation required. The leading community implementation is domdomegg/airtable-mcp-server, which exposes the full Airtable REST API as MCP tools: list all bases and tables in your workspace, fetch records from any view with optional filter formulas, create or update individual records with typed field values, and delete records by ID. Authentication uses an Airtable personal access token passed as AIRTABLE_API_KEY, scoped to whichever bases you grant access; the token needs at least the schema.bases:read and data.records:read scopes, plus the write scopes if you want the assistant to create or update anything. Airtable itself now also runs an official hosted MCP server at https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp, which uses OAuth instead of a token. Once connected, ask Claude to "show me all leads added this week in my CRM base" or "create a new product entry in my inventory table" and the server handles the API calls. Common use cases include AI-assisted CRM workflows (pull contact records, log meeting notes back into Airtable), inventory management, content calendars, and project tracking where Airtable acts as a lightweight database. Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code (Copilot Chat), Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible client. Install via: `npx -y airtable-mcp-server` with `AIRTABLE_API_KEY=pat...` set in your environment.

Installation

npx -y airtable-mcp-server

Setting up Airtable MCP

1. 1.Create a personal access token with the narrowest scopes

   Go to airtable.com/create/tokens/new. The README asks for schema.bases:read and data.records:read; add schema.bases:write, data.records:write, data.recordComments:read and data.recordComments:write only if you want the assistant to change things. Grant the token access to specific bases, not the whole workspace — the token is what an LLM will be holding, and record deletion is one of the exposed tools. It looks like pat123.abc123, only longer.

2. 2.Run the community server over stdio

   The env var is AIRTABLE_API_KEY. This is worth stating plainly because AIRTABLE_TOKEN is a common and silent mistake — it is the variable the official CLI uses, not this server, and the server simply starts with no credentials. The repo also publishes an install-mcp link that generates the right config for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline and VS Code.

   claude_desktop_config.json

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

3. 3.Or connect the official hosted server

   No install and no token file: point a Streamable-HTTP client at https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp and complete the OAuth flow. The endpoint returns a 401 with a www-authenticate bearer challenge and an oauth-protected-resource pointer until you do, which is the expected response and not a misconfiguration.

   shell

   claude mcp add --transport http airtable https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp

4. 4.Drive the official server from a terminal or a script

   Airtable ships a CLI over the same hosted server. It discovers commands from the server at runtime rather than shipping a fixed list, so airtable-mcp tools reflects whatever exists right now. AIRTABLE_TOKEN skips the interactive configure step, which is what you want in CI, and AIRTABLE_MCP_ENDPOINT overrides the endpoint (restricted to HTTPS on *.airtable.com).

   shell

   npm install -g @airtable/mcp-cli
   airtable-mcp configure
   airtable-mcp tools
   airtable-mcp list-records --baseId appXXX --tableIdOrName Tasks

The 16 tools on the community server

Everything is addressed by baseId and tableId, so a first-run conversation almost always begins with list_bases and list_tables. The schema tools are the half most catalogue listings omit, and they are why this server can be used to build a base rather than only to read one.

What people use it for

Which one should you use?

Categories

Works With

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides