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Airtable Integration for Nodus

1. Introduction to the Airtable Integration​

What Is This Integration?​

The Airtable integration connects your Airtable workspace with Nodus, allowing you to extract, analyze, and transform data from Airtable bases and tables. This integration functions as a source connector, bringing your Airtable data into the Nodus ecosystem for advanced analytics and business intelligence.

Prerequisites:​

  • An active Airtable account
  • Airtable Personal Access Token with appropriate permissions
  • Access to the bases and tables you want to extract data from

Connection Overview:​

The integration uses Airtable's API to extract data from bases and tables. Authentication is handled through a Personal Access Token, and data is extracted based on user-defined configurations that specify which bases and tables to retrieve.

2. Platform Setup Documentation (Setup Form for Airtable)​

Purpose & Scope​

This section covers how to set up the initial connection between Nodus and Airtable by providing the necessary authentication credentials.

Field-by-Field Breakdown:​

Integration Name​

  • Field Name & Label: Integration Name
  • Description & Purpose: A descriptive name to identify this Airtable integration within your Nodus account.
  • Validation Rules & Format: Text string, required field.
  • Examples: "Marketing Airtable", "Project Management Data"
  • Troubleshooting Tips: Use a descriptive name that clearly identifies the specific Airtable workspace or purpose.

Airtable API Key​

  • Field Name & Label: Airtable API Key
  • Description & Purpose: The Personal Access Token used to authenticate with Airtable's API.
  • Validation Rules & Format: Text string, required field.
  • Examples: "patxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
  • Troubleshooting Tips: Ensure you're using a Personal Access Token (PAT) that starts with "pat", not the legacy API key. The token needs appropriate read permissions for the bases you want to access.
  • Link Label: "Airtable Documentation"
  • URL: https://airtable.com/developers
  • Purpose: Provides access to official Airtable API documentation for additional help.

Step-by-Step Guide:​

  1. Generate a Personal Access Token in Airtable:
    • Go to https://airtable.com/create/tokens
    • Click "Create new token"
    • Give your token a name (e.g., "Nodus Integration")
    • Add the following scopes:
      • data.records:read
      • data.recordComments:read
      • schema.bases:read
    • Select the bases you want to allow access to
    • Click "Create token"
    • Copy the generated token (it starts with "pat")
  2. Enter your integration details in the Nodus setup form:
    • Provide a meaningful Integration Name
    • Paste your Airtable Personal Access Token in the API Key field
  3. Save the configuration and test the connection

3. Extraction/Query Configuration (Extraction Form for Airtable)​

Purpose & Overview​

This section explains how to configure data extraction from Airtable. The form allows you to select specific bases and tables for extraction.

Template & Field Documentation:​

Base and Table Selection​

  • Field Name & Label: Available Bases / Available Tables
  • Description & Purpose: Defines which Airtable base and table to extract data from
  • Validation Rules & Format: Cascading dropdown selection, required field
  • Troubleshooting Tips: The base list is populated with all accessible bases for your API token, and the table list is populated based on the selected base.

Destination Configuration​

  • Field Name & Label: Destination Base / Destination Table
  • Description & Purpose: Defines where extracted data will be stored in Nodus
  • Validation Rules & Format: Cascading dropdown selection, required field
  • Troubleshooting Tips: Select the destination base and table where you want the extracted data to be loaded.

Write Strategy​

  • Field Name & Label: Write Strategy
  • Description & Purpose: Defines how data should be written to the destination
  • Validation Rules & Format: Radio button selection, required field
  • Available Options:
    • Upsert - Update existing records and insert new ones
    • Append - Add new records to the existing table
    • Replace - Drop and recreate the table with new data
  • Troubleshooting Tips: Choose the appropriate strategy based on your use case. Upsert requires a primary key.

Workflow & Examples:​

  1. Select the source base and table from the cascading dropdowns
  2. Select a destination base and table
  3. Choose a write strategy
  4. Preview the configuration
  5. Execute extraction

Example Use Cases:​

Marketing Campaign Analysis:

  • Source Base: Marketing
  • Source Table: Campaigns
  • Destination Base: Analytics
  • Destination Table: Campaign_Metrics
  • Write Strategy: Append

Project Management Dashboard:

  • Source Base: Projects
  • Source Table: Tasks
  • Destination Base: Reporting
  • Destination Table: Project_Status
  • Write Strategy: Upsert (based on task ID)

4. Troubleshooting & FAQs for Airtable​

Common Issues & Error Messages​

Authentication Failures​

  • Error: "Authentication failed" or "Invalid API key"
  • Solution: Verify your Personal Access Token. Ensure it hasn't expired and has the required scopes (data.records:read, data.recordComments:read, schema.bases:read).

Permission Issues​

  • Error: "Insufficient permissions" or "Access denied to base"
  • Solution: Check that your Personal Access Token has been granted access to the specific base you're trying to extract from. You may need to modify your token permissions in the Airtable account settings.

Rate Limit Exceeded​

  • Error: "Rate limit exceeded" or "Too many requests"
  • Solution: Airtable has API rate limits (typically 5 requests per second). Try reducing the frequency of extractions or implementing a backoff strategy.

Base or Table Not Found​

  • Error: "Base not found" or "Table not found"
  • Solution: Verify that the base and table exist and that your token has access to them. Note that Airtable refers to tables as "tables" in the UI but as "tables" in the API.

Logging & Diagnostic Tools​

  • Enable verbose logging in Nodus to capture API request/response details
  • Check the Airtable API usage dashboard for rate limit information and request history

Contact & Support Information​

Best Practices for Airtable Connections​

  • Create a dedicated Personal Access Token specifically for Nodus integration
  • Grant the token access only to the bases it needs to read from
  • Be mindful of Airtable's rate limits when scheduling frequent extractions
  • For large tables, consider breaking up extractions into smaller batches
  • Monitor API usage to avoid hitting rate limits