Airtable MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that provides tools for interacting with Airtable's API. This server enables programmatic management of Airtable bases, tables, fields, and records through Claude Desktop or other MCP clients.

This MCP server features a specialized implementation that allows it to build tables in stages, leveraging Claude's agentic capabilities and minimizing the failure rate typically seen in other MCP servers for Airtable when building complex tables. It also includes system prompt and project knowledge markdown files to provide additional guidance for the LLM when leveraging projects in Claude Desktop.

Requirements: Node.js

Install Node.js (version 18 or higher) and npm from nodejs.org
Verify installation:
```
node --version
npm --version
```

⚠️ Important: Before running, make sure to setup your Airtable API key

Obtaining an Airtable API Key

Log in to your Airtable account at airtable.com
Create a personal access token at Airtable's Builder Hub
In the Personal access token section select these scopes:
- data.records:read
- data.records:write
- schema.bases:read
- schema.bases:write
Select the workspace or bases you want to give access to the personal access token
Keep this key secure - you'll need it for configuration

Installation

Method 1: Using npx (Recommended)

Navigate to the Claude configuration directory:
- Windows: C:\Users\NAME\AppData\Roaming\Claude
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/
You can also find these directories inside the Claude Desktop app: Claude Desktop > Settings > Developer > Edit Config
Create or edit claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airtable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@felores/airtable-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "AIRTABLE_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: For Windows paths, use double backslashes (\) or forward slashes (/).

Method 2: Using mcp-installer:

mcp-installer is a MCP server to install other MCP servers.

Install mcp-installer
Install the Airtable MCP server by prompting Claude Desktop:

Install @felores/airtable-mcp-server set the environment variable AIRTABLE_API_KEY to 'your_api_key'

Claude will install the server, modify the configuration file and set the environment variable AIRTABLE_API_KEY to your Airtable API key.

Method 3: Local Development Installation

If you want to contribute or modify the code run this in your terminal:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/felores/airtable-mcp.git
cd airtable-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the server
npm run build

# Run locally
node build/index.js

Then modify the Claude Desktop configuration file to use the local installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airtable": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/airtable-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "AIRTABLE_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Verifying Installation

Start Claude Desktop
The Airtable MCP server should be listed in the "Connected MCP Servers" section
Test with a simple command:

List all bases

Features

Available Operations

Base Management

list_bases: List all accessible Airtable bases
list_tables: List all tables in a base
create_table: Create a new table with fields
update_table: Update a table's name or description

Field Management

create_field: Add a new field to a table
update_field: Modify an existing field

Record Operations

list_records: Retrieve records from a table
create_record: Add a new record
update_record: Modify an existing record
delete_record: Remove a record
search_records: Find records matching criteria
get_record: Get a single record by its ID

Field Types

singleLineText: Single line text field
multilineText: Multi-line text area
email: Email address field
phoneNumber: Phone number field
number: Numeric field with optional precision
currency: Money field with currency symbol
date: Date field with format options
singleSelect: Single choice from options
multiSelect: Multiple choices from options

Field Colors

Available colors for select fields:

blueBright, redBright, greenBright
yellowBright, purpleBright, pinkBright
grayBright, cyanBright, orangeBright
blueDark1, greenDark1

Contributing

We welcome contributions to improve the Airtable MCP server! Here's how you can contribute:

Fork the Repository
- Visit https://github.com/felores/airtable-mcp
- Click the "Fork" button in the top right
- Clone your fork locally:
```
git clone https://github.com/your-username/airtable-mcp.git
```

Create a Feature Branch

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

Make Your Changes
- Follow the existing code style
- Add tests if applicable
- Update documentation as needed

Commit Your Changes

git add .
git commit -m "feat: add your feature description"

Push to Your Fork

git push origin feature/your-feature-name

Create a Pull Request
- Go to your fork on GitHub
- Click "New Pull Request"
- Select your feature branch
- Describe your changes in detail

Development Guidelines

Use TypeScript for new code
Follow semantic commit messages
Update documentation for new features
Add examples for new functionality
Test your changes thoroughly

Getting Help

Open an issue for bugs or feature requests
Join discussions in existing issues
Ask questions in pull requests

Your contributions help make this tool better for everyone. Whether it's:

Adding new features
Fixing bugs
Improving documentation
Suggesting enhancements

We appreciate your help in making the Airtable MCP server more powerful and user-friendly!

License

MIT

Made with ❤️ by the Airtable MCP community