Search Records

airtable.search_records

ActionFiles & storageconnection required

Calls the Airtable API with the connection's credentials.

Search a table with a filterByFormula, a view, a sort order and Airtable's offset pagination, returning one page and the token for the next.

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Connection

Required: Yes — the node will not save without one
Auth type: Bearer token
Providers: Airtable
Secret shape: the Airtable access token
Resolved by: config.connection_id, else node.connection_id

Configuration

13 fields, 2 required. A dotted path is a nested object and name[] an array of objects — the editor renders the same tree.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Constraints	Example
base_id Airtable base id (app…), from the base's API docs URL or airtable.list_bases.	string	Yes	—	—	appAbCdEfGhIjKlMn
table Table id (tbl…) or table name. An id survives a rename; a name does not.	string	Yes	—	—	Tasks
filter_formula An Airtable formula that must be truthy for a record to be returned, e.g. AND({Status}='Open', {Owner}='Ada').	string	No	—	—	{Status}='Open'
view Restrict to a view's records and order: only rows visible in that view come back, in the view's own order.	string	No	—	—	—
sort Sort order, as a JSON array of {"field": name, "direction": "asc"\|"desc"} objects applied in order.	array	No	—	array of object	—
return_fields Only return these columns, as a JSON array of field names or ids. Leave empty for every field.	array	No	—	array of string	—
page_size Records per request; Airtable's maximum and default is 100.	number	No	—	1–100	—
max_records Stop after this many records in total, across pages.	number	No	—	≥ 1	—
offset Airtable's continuation token from a previous call's 'offset'. Leave empty for the first page.	string	No	—	—	—
cell_format How cell values come back: 'json' (native types) or 'string' (formatted the way the Airtable UI shows them).	string	No	—	one of "json", "string"	—
time_zone IANA time zone used to format dates; required when cell_format is 'string'.	string	Conditional	—	only with cell_format	Asia/Kolkata
user_locale Airtable user locale used to format numbers and dates; required when cell_format is 'string'.	string	Conditional	—	only with cell_format	en-gb
return_fields_by_field_id Key the returned 'fields' object by field id (fld…) instead of field name.	boolean	No	false	—	—

Example configuration

Every value below is the contract’s own example or default — nothing invented.

{
  "base_id": "appAbCdEfGhIjKlMn",
  "filter_formula": "{Status}='Open'",
  "return_fields_by_field_id": false,
  "table": "Tasks",
  "time_zone": "Asia/Kolkata",
  "user_locale": "en-gb"
}

Output

One shape.

result

Field	Type	Example
records[].id The Airtable record id (rec…).	string	—
records[].fields The record's cell values, keyed by field name.	object	—
records[].createdTime When the record was created (ISO 8601).	string	—
count How many records this call returned.	number	—
offset The token for the next page; empty on the last page.	string	—
has_more True while another page is waiting behind 'offset'.	boolean	—

{
  "count": 0,
  "has_more": false,
  "offset": "",
  "records": [
    {
      "createdTime": "",
      "fields": {},
      "id": ""
    }
  ]
}

Notes

This is one page, not the whole table. Loop with control.while on 'has_more', feeding 'offset' back in, to walk everything.
filterByFormula runs on Airtable's side over every record in the table, so an unindexed formula over a large table is slow — a view is usually faster.
Airtable caps every batch write at 10 records per request. The batch nodes chunk for you and report how many calls they made in 'batches'; the calls are sequential and not a transaction, so a failure part-way leaves the earlier chunks committed and says how many got through.
typecast is what lets a plain string be written into a single-select, date or number column. It is on by default, matching airtable.create_record.
Reads page on an opaque 'offset' token, not a page number: feed the offset a call returns back into the next call while 'has_more' is true.
The base/table/field nodes use Airtable's metadata API, which needs the 'schema.bases:read' (or ':write') scope on the personal access token. A token minted only for 'data.records:*' gets a 403 from them.

Related Airtable nodes

Templates that use Airtable

See Search Records run in a workflow.

In a technical demo we add the Airtable connection, drop the node on the canvas and let Workflow Health pre-flight it before the first real run.

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