Airtable trigger

Overview

Polls an Airtable table on a schedule to detect new or recently modified records. Uses a configurable date/time trigger field with the IS_AFTER() formula to filter records created or modified since the last poll. Supports additional formula filters, view scoping, field selection, and attachment downloading. Returns each matching record as a separate workflow item.

Node Type

Trigger — polling (checks for new data on a schedule)

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	None (trigger node)
Output	Output

Credentials

This tool requires Airtable Personal Access Token credentials. See the Credentials Guide for setup instructions.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Base ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the Airtable base (e.g. appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX). You can find this in the Airtable URL: https://airtable.com/{baseId}/…
Table ID	string	Yes	—	The ID or name of the table (e.g. tblXXXXXXXXXXXXXX). You can find this in the Airtable URL after the base ID.
Trigger Field	string	Yes	—	A Created Time or Last Modified Time field used to detect new/updated records. If you do not have one, create a Created Time or Last Modified Time field in your Airtable schema.
Download Attachments	boolean	No	false	Whether attachment fields should be downloaded and included as binary data in the output.
Download Fields	string	No	—	Comma-separated names of attachment-type fields to download (e.g. ‘Photos, Documents’). Case sensitive. (shown when Download Attachments is true)
Additional Fields	collection	No	{}	Optional query refinements applied on top of the time filter.
— Fields	string	No	—	Comma-separated list of field names to include in the response. By default all fields are returned. Example: Name, Email, Status
— Formula	string	No	—	An additional Airtable formula to combine with the time filter using AND(). See https://support.airtable.com/hc/en-us/articles/203255215-Formula-Field-Reference
— View ID	string	No	—	The name or ID of a view in the table. If set, only records in that view will be returned.
Poll Interval	number	No	1	How often to check for new data.
Poll Interval Unit	options	No	minutes	Unit for the poll interval.
				Options: seconds, minutes, hours

Output Data

Each new or updated record becomes one output item. The Airtable record is emitted as-is, plus two trigger markers:

{
  "id": "recXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
  "createdTime": "2026-08-15T09:12:44.000Z",
  "fields": {
    "Name": "Acme Corp",
    "Status": "Active",
    "Last Modified": "2026-08-15T09:12:44.000Z"
  },
  "_trigger": "airtable_polling",
  "_timestamp": "2026-08-15T09:13:00.000Z"
}

• id — the Airtable record ID.
• createdTime — when Airtable created the record.
• fields — the record’s column values, restricted to Fields when that option is set.
• _trigger — always airtable_polling.
• _timestamp — when the poll that produced the item ran.

When Download Attachments is on and Download Fields names one or more attachment columns, each item additionally carries:

• _attachments — an object keyed by attachment field name, each holding an array of { url, filename, type, key } entries.
• Binary properties named {fieldName}_{index} (for example Photos_0), holding the downloaded file so that downstream nodes can read it. An attachment that cannot be downloaded is skipped; its URL metadata is still emitted.

Reference record values downstream by expression, e.g. {{ $json.fields.Email }}.

Example Configuration

Watch a table for newly created records:

{
  "type": "airtable_trigger",
  "parameters": {
    "baseId": "appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
    "tableId": "tblYYYYYYYYYYYYYY",
    "triggerField": "Created Time",
    "pollInterval": 1,
    "pollIntervalUnit": "minutes"
  }
}

Watch for modified records in one view, narrowed by a formula and a field list:

{
  "type": "airtable_trigger",
  "parameters": {
    "baseId": "appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
    "tableId": "Customer Records",
    "triggerField": "Last Modified",
    "pollInterval": 5,
    "pollIntervalUnit": "minutes",
    "additionalFields": {
      "fields": "Name, Email, Status, Priority",
      "viewId": "Active Customers",
      "formula": "{Priority} = 'High'"
    }
  }
}

Download attachments from the records that match:

{
  "type": "airtable_trigger",
  "parameters": {
    "baseId": "appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
    "tableId": "Project Files",
    "triggerField": "Created Time",
    "downloadAttachments": true,
    "downloadFieldNames": "Photos, Documents",
    "pollInterval": 30,
    "pollIntervalUnit": "seconds",
    "additionalFields": {
      "formula": "{Processing Status} = 'Pending'"
    }
  }
}

Trigger Behavior

• Activation: Polling starts when the workflow is activated. There is no poll at the moment of activation — the first check runs one full interval later.
• Schedule: The trigger polls for new data based on the configured polling interval.
• State: Maintains internal state (the last poll timestamp plus the record IDs seen at that boundary) so each poll returns only records that are new since the last check.
• First Run: The first poll records the current position and returns no items, so activating the workflow never replays existing records.
• Testing: Running the node from the editor emits a single sample record so you can build the rest of the workflow; real records arrive only while the workflow is activated.

Tips

This tool monitors Airtable tables for new or updated records. It is ideal when you need to initiate a workflow based on changes within an Airtable database, rather than manually checking for updates or using a different data source. It produces individual workflow items for each record that matches the configured criteria.

Parameter Relationships

• Download Fields dependency: The downloadFieldNames parameter is only available when downloadAttachments is set to true. This lets you specify which attachment fields to download rather than downloading all attachments.

• Additional Fields structure: All filtering options (fields, formula, viewId) must be nested within the additionalFields object. They cannot be specified at the top level of parameters.

• Trigger Field requirement: The specified triggerField must be a Created Time or Last Modified Time field type in your Airtable schema. Standard text or number fields will not work for change detection.