BuiltOnAir

In this third installment of our DevOps series, Dan Fellars dives deep into the administrative side of running a business on Airtable. We explore the critical questions of who controls your environment, who can change your bases, and what happens to your automations and integrations when a team member departs. Dan covers everything from the nuances of user roles (Creator vs. Editor) to the powerfu...

Managing an Airtable base in production is inherently risky because there isn't a true staging environment. A single field rename or automation tweak can have immediate, breaking ramifications for your entire team. In this episode, Dan Fellars dives into the DevOps mindset required to keep your Airtable systems production-ready. We break down the essential questions every builder should ask: what...

In this deep dive into Airtable administration, Dan Fellars explores the essential skills needed to protect, find, and restore your data. Whether you are managing a small team or a large organization, understanding how to use snapshots, record revision history, and the trash bin is critical for preventing data loss and ensuring business continuity. Dan also covers the nuances of CSV exports and im...

Alli Alosa and Danny Fellars dive into a series of recent Airtable product updates. They discuss the new ability to perform unique counts on linked record fields and how this functionality specifically improves data visualization within interface charts. The walkthrough covers several workflow improvements, including better handling of lookup and rollup configurations, field matching during connec...

Danny and Alli discuss the significant expansion of Airtable automation limits, which now range from 75 for free users up to 200 for enterprise accounts. They also touch on recent stability fixes, including auto-retries for script input errors. The conversation covers new automation capabilities, such as the ability to delete records directly and dynamic date field comparisons. The hosts weigh in...

Rupert from DocsAutomator demonstrates an advanced e-signing suite designed for seamless Airtable integration. Unlike traditional manual workarounds, this tool provides a legally compliant way to manage business contracts with full audit trails and seven-year document retention. The demonstration features the DocsAutomator AI agent, which can build complex legal templates through a simple chat int...

A deep dive into the technical workflow of DocsAutomator, demonstrating how to map Airtable fields and related line items to Google Doc placeholders. Rupert explains how the built-in AI agent can reverse the traditional workflow by generating templates directly from your existing Airtable data structure. The discussion covers post-generation actions, such as saving PDFs back to Airtable, merging e...

The team explores advanced workflows for managing AI agents, specifically how to use formulas and triggers to prevent an AI from overwriting manual human edits. They demonstrate using "last modified" fields and custom checkbox logic to create a "global stopper" for automations. They also dive into the various output types available for field agents, including single and multiple select fields, num...

Alli Alosa provides a deep dive into AI field agents within Airtable, explaining how they function as mini-agents within your database tables. She discusses the evolution of field agent outputs and how users can now work in tandem with the AI within a single field. The discussion covers practical prompt engineering, including how to reference other fields and how to enable web search tools. Crucia...

Kamille Parks demonstrates how to use the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to manage Airtable automations via Claude. She walks through updating an existing automation by adding placeholder email addresses to a notification step, showing how the AI can modify specific parameters while preserving existing context. The demo also covers management tasks like deleting an automation and using the "undo" fe...

Alli Alosa demonstrates how to use the 'Insert as JSON' feature in Airtable automations to reliably handle incoming data from external webhooks, such as Fillout. She explains why this method is more robust than traditional field mapping, especially when dealing with inconsistent data. The discussion covers a practical use case involving event feedback collection. By passing the entire payload as a...

In this well timed episode, we break down the massive news that Airtable is being acquired by the Italian company Bending Spoons. We dive into the details of the valuation, the shock to the community, and what this means for the future of the platform. We explore Bending Spoons' track record with previous acquisitions like Evernote and StreamYard, discussing their reputation for restructuring pric...

In this episode, Kamille demonstrates the power and limitations of using Claude and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to build an Airtable base from scratch. She walks through a live experiment where she prompts Claude to create a complex meal planner, including tables for recipes, ingredients, and a shopping list, as well as the necessary automations and interfaces. The team also dives into recent...

Get up to speed on the latest Airtable news and learn how to expand your no-code toolkit with Softr. We start with a breakdown of recent Airtable automation updates that make handling arrays much easier, saving you from unnecessary schema complexity. Then, we jump into a practical build. Watch as we use Softr to create a teacher portal powered by Airtable. We cover everything from user login and o...

Ever felt the pain of updating hundreds of records one by one? In this episode, Kamille Parks shows you how to build a custom "Bulk Updater" tool directly within Airtable to save hours of manual work. We walk through a real-world scenario—managing event meal requests—to demonstrate how to handle new, revised, and removed entries. Whether you are a scripting pro or prefer using Airtable’s native au...

We are back! Season 25 kicks off with a deep dive into the latest Airtable updates that every builder needs to know. From a brand new automation trigger for comments to the technical advantages of inserting data as JSON strings, we cover the tools that will speed up your workflow. We also look at how Airtable's AI is moving into Slack and what that means for your team's productivity, including a b...

Ever felt like you needed a complex script or a third-party automation just to rank your records or find the 'next' item in a sequence? In this episode, we show you a much cleaner, more stable way to do it using nothing but Airtable's native Rollup and Lookup field sorting! We break down the exact formulas and structural setups needed to build dynamic leaderboards and sequential approval workflows...

Ever wondered how to let users submit multiple line items in a single Airtable form without paying for a dozen editor licenses? We've got you covered! In this episode, Kamille walks you through three practical and creative ways to handle sub-records and order forms using native Airtable tools and even AI. We also recap the latest from the Airspace event and discuss the potential of 'Canvas,' Airta...

Ever wished you could just talk to your Airtable base and have it do the heavy lifting? In this episode, we explore the incredible potential of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and how it allows Claude to "speak" Airtable. We walk through a live setup and demonstration, showing you how to use natural language to discover your interfaces, query specific records, and even build out new tables and sa...

Ever wondered what's hiding in the Airtable API documentation? In this episode, we're playing detective! Kamille uncovers a potentially game-changing undocumented automation scope that could change how you manage your bases forever. We also get hands-on with Airtable's AI Labs. Watch (and listen) as we test the limits of AI image and video generation, attempt to build web prototypes, and explore h...

Ever thought about learning Airtable by playing a role-playing game? In this episode, we sit down with special guest Lisa to explore her brilliant hackathon project: 'Friends with Airtable.' It’s a playful, immersive way to master the basics of the platform using the world of the hit TV show. Lisa takes us through her creative process—from being inspired by the intentional design of Super Mario to...

Ready to level up your Airtable development workflow? Today, we're diving deep into Airtable Sandboxes! If you've ever wanted to test a massive schema overhaul or a complex new automation without the fear of breaking your team's live work, this episode is for you. Kamille walks us through exactly how sandboxes work, acting much like a development branch for your data structure. But be warned: it's...

Want to take your Airtable game to the next level? In this episode, our team shares their top tips and tricks for maintaining and updating your bases. From creating new fields to avoiding common pitfalls, we've got you covered. Tune in for actionable advice and expert insights to help you optimize your workflow and get the most out of Airtable. 📝 Read the full episode post and show notes: https:/...

Get ready to be inspired by the creativity and innovation of the Airtable community! In this episode, we explore the recent Airtable Build-a-Thon and the community-led hackathon, where participants showcased their skills and built amazing projects using Airtable. Our special guest, Mike Simmons, shares his experience judging the hackathon and we announce the winners of each category. Tune in to le...

In this episode, we explore the intersection of AI and Airtable with Rob Weidner. We discuss the current state of AI, its potential impact on productivity, and how Airtable is uniquely positioned to lead the charge. Rob also shares his thoughts on the pros and cons of building on Airtable versus standalone platforms and showcases his work with HyperAgent, a cutting-edge AI tool. Tune in to learn m...