airtable-automation - Agent Skills

Airtable Automation via Rube MCP

Automate Airtable operations through Composio's Airtable toolkit via Rube MCP.

Prerequisites

Rube MCP must be connected (RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS available)

Active Airtable connection via RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS with toolkit airtable

Always call RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS first to get current tool schemas

Setup

Get Rube MCP: Add https://rube.app/mcp as an MCP server in your client configuration. No API keys needed — just add the endpoint and it works.

Verify Rube MCP is available by confirming RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS responds

Call RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS with toolkit airtable

If connection is not ACTIVE, follow the returned auth link to complete Airtable auth

Confirm connection status shows ACTIVE before running any workflows

Core Workflows

1. Create and Manage Records

When to use: User wants to create, read, update, or delete records

Tool sequence:

AIRTABLE_LIST_BASES - Discover available bases [Prerequisite]

AIRTABLE_GET_BASE_SCHEMA - Inspect table structure [Prerequisite]

AIRTABLE_LIST_RECORDS - List/filter records [Optional]

AIRTABLE_CREATE_RECORD / AIRTABLE_CREATE_RECORDS - Create records [Optional]

AIRTABLE_UPDATE_RECORD / AIRTABLE_UPDATE_MULTIPLE_RECORDS - Update records [Optional]

AIRTABLE_DELETE_RECORD / AIRTABLE_DELETE_MULTIPLE_RECORDS - Delete records [Optional]

Key parameters:

baseId: Base ID (starts with 'app', e.g., 'appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX')

tableIdOrName: Table ID (starts with 'tbl') or table name

fields: Object mapping field names to values

recordId: Record ID (starts with 'rec') for updates/deletes

filterByFormula: Airtable formula for filtering

typecast: Set true for automatic type conversion

Pitfalls:

pageSize capped at 100; uses offset pagination; changing filters between pages can skip/duplicate rows

CREATE_RECORDS hard limit of 10 records per request; chunk larger imports

Field names are CASE-SENSITIVE and must match schema exactly

422 UNKNOWN_FIELD_NAME when field names are wrong; 403 for permission issues

INVALID_MULTIPLE_CHOICE_OPTIONS may require typecast=true

2. Search and Filter Records

When to use: User wants to find specific records using formulas

Tool sequence:

AIRTABLE_GET_BASE_SCHEMA - Verify field names and types [Prerequisite]

AIRTABLE_LIST_RECORDS - Query with filterByFormula [Required]

AIRTABLE_GET_RECORD - Get full record details [Optional]

Key parameters:

filterByFormula: Airtable formula (e.g., {Status}='Done')

sort: Array of sort objects

fields: Array of field names to return

maxRecords: Max total records across all pages

offset: Pagination cursor from previous response

Pitfalls:

Field names in formulas must be wrapped in {} and match schema exactly

String values must be quoted: {Status}='Active' not {Status}=Active

422 INVALID_FILTER_BY_FORMULA for bad syntax or non-existent fields

Airtable rate limit: ~5 requests/second per base; handle 429 with Retry-After

3. Manage Fields and Schema

When to use: User wants to create or modify table fields

Tool sequence:

AIRTABLE_GET_BASE_SCHEMA - Inspect current schema [Prerequisite]

AIRTABLE_CREATE_FIELD - Create a new field [Optional]

AIRTABLE_UPDATE_FIELD - Rename/describe a field [Optional]

AIRTABLE_UPDATE_TABLE - Update table metadata [Optional]

Key parameters:

name: Field name

type: Field type (singleLineText, number, singleSelect, etc.)

options: Type-specific options (choices for select, precision for number)

description: Field description

Pitfalls:

UPDATE_FIELD only changes name/description, NOT type/options; create a replacement field and migrate

Computed fields (formula, rollup, lookup) cannot be created via API

422 when type options are missing or malformed

4. Manage Comments

When to use: User wants to view or add comments on records

Tool sequence:

AIRTABLE_LIST_COMMENTS - List comments on a record [Required]

Key parameters:

baseId: Base ID

tableIdOrName: Table identifier

recordId: Record ID (17 chars, starts with 'rec')

pageSize: Comments per page (max 100)

Pitfalls:

Record IDs must be exactly 17 characters starting with 'rec'

Common Patterns

Airtable Formula Syntax

Comparison:

{Status}='Done' - Equals

{Priority}>1 - Greater than

{Name}!='' - Not empty

Functions:

AND({A}='x', {B}='y') - Both conditions

OR({A}='x', {A}='y') - Either condition

FIND('test', {Name})>0 - Contains text

IS_BEFORE({Due Date}, TODAY()) - Date comparison

Escape rules:

Single quotes in values: double them ({Name}='John''s Company')

Pagination

Set pageSize (max 100)

Check response for offset string

Pass offset to next request unchanged

Keep filters/sorts/view stable between pages

Known Pitfalls

ID Formats:

Base IDs: appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17 chars)

Table IDs: tblXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17 chars)

Record IDs: recXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17 chars)

Field IDs: fldXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17 chars)

Batch Limits:

CREATE_RECORDS: max 10 per request

UPDATE_MULTIPLE_RECORDS: max 10 per request

DELETE_MULTIPLE_RECORDS: max 10 per request

Quick Reference

Task	Tool Slug	Key Params
List bases	AIRTABLE_LIST_BASES	(none)
Get schema	AIRTABLE_GET_BASE_SCHEMA	baseId
List records	AIRTABLE_LIST_RECORDS	baseId, tableIdOrName
Get record	AIRTABLE_GET_RECORD	baseId, tableIdOrName, recordId
Create record	AIRTABLE_CREATE_RECORD	baseId, tableIdOrName, fields
Create records	AIRTABLE_CREATE_RECORDS	baseId, tableIdOrName, records
Update record	AIRTABLE_UPDATE_RECORD	baseId, tableIdOrName, recordId, fields
Update records	AIRTABLE_UPDATE_MULTIPLE_RECORDS	baseId, tableIdOrName, records
Delete record	AIRTABLE_DELETE_RECORD	baseId, tableIdOrName, recordId
Create field	AIRTABLE_CREATE_FIELD	baseId, tableIdOrName, name, type
Update field	AIRTABLE_UPDATE_FIELD	baseId, tableIdOrName, fieldId
Update table	AIRTABLE_UPDATE_TABLE	baseId, tableIdOrName, name
List comments	AIRTABLE_LIST_COMMENTS	baseId, tableIdOrName, recordId