airtable

Use curl with a POST to /v0/$BASE_ID/$TABLE to create records and PATCH to update them, sending JSON bodies with a fields object. For idempotent syncs, use performUpsert with fieldsToMergeOn to create or patch records based on a merge field like Email.

Pass a URL-encoded Airtable formula such as {Status}='Todo' as the filterByFormula query parameter. Encode it with Python's urllib.parse.quote rather than hand-escaping, since field names with spaces or braces must be percent-encoded.

You need a Personal Access Token starting with pat, created at airtable.com/create/tokens, with data.records:read, data.records:write, and schema.bases:read scopes. Legacy key... API keys were deprecated in February 2024, and each base must be added to the token's Access list.

Airtable PATs are scoped per base, so a 403 means the token's Access list does not include that base, not an authentication failure. Revisit the token settings at airtable.com/create/tokens and grant access to the missing base.

The API allows 5 requests per second per base and returns at most 100 records per page. When a response includes an offset field, pass it back on the next request and loop until it is absent; back off when you receive a 429.

Use PATCH, which merges only the supplied fields and preserves everything else. PUT replaces the entire record and clears any field you did not include, so it is risky for partial updates.