Airtable
Connect Airtable to manage bases, tables, records, fields, views, comments, and attachments for your team.
One Airtable personal access token, scoped to the bases you pick and shown exactly once, pasted into PopMCP's Personal access token field.
- Setup time
- 4 min
- Auth
- API credentials
- API base URL
- https://api.airtable.com/v0
- Rate limits
- 5 requests per second per base and 50 requests per second across all bases for a single personal access token. Exceeding either returns 429 and requires a 30-second cool-down.
Before you begin
- Airtable account on any plan, including Free
- Collaborator access to the bases you want PopMCP to reach, because a token can never exceed the permissions of the person who made it
- Enterprise Scale plan only if you need the enterprise.* admin scopes
Get your credentials
Open Personal access tokens in Builder hub
Click your profile icon at the top right of the Airtable home screen and choose Builder hub, then open Development and Personal access tokens. The direct link is airtable.com/create/tokens.
Personal access tokens
Tokens you own, scoped to the bases and workspaces you grant them.
| Name | Scopes | Access | Status | Created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ops syncpat9K**** | 4 scopes | 2 bases | Active | Mar 4, 2026 |
| Legacy importpatQ2**** | 2 scopes | 1 base | Revoked | Aug 9, 2025 |
This page replaced the old API keys screen. Legacy API keys were retired in 2024.
Name the token and add scopes
Click Create new token and type a name such as PopMCP. Click + Add a scope for each permission you need, at minimum data.records:read, data.records:write and schema.bases:read.
Create personal access token
The token inherits your own permissions and never exceeds them.
The token name appears in record revision history, so make it recognisable.
Grant the token access to your bases
Under Access, click + Add a base to pick individual bases, or + Add all resources to include every base in a workspace you own. Then click Create token.
Access
Pick the bases and workspaces this token may reach.
| Resource | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Product Roadmapapp8Xk**** | Base | Granted |
| Ops workspaceAll current and future bases | Workspace | Granted |
Adding a whole workspace saves editing the token every time someone makes a new base.
Copy the token immediately
Airtable shows the pat string in a one-time dialog. Click Copy and paste it straight into PopMCP.
Personal access tokens
Tokens you own, scoped to the bases and workspaces you grant them.
Shown once. Close this dialog without copying and you have to regenerate the token from the ... menu.
Connect in PopMCP
Open your workspace, choose Airtable in the marketplace, and fill in the connect dialog:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Personal access tokensecret | Create one at airtable.com/create/tokens. Add the scopes you need (data.records:read/write, data.recordComments:read/write, schema.bases:read/write, webhook:manage, user.email:read; enterprise.* for admin) and add the bases/workspaces the token may access. An OAuth access token works here too. Stored encrypted.Encrypted with AES-256-GCM on save and never shown again. |
PopMCP verifies the credential against Airtable immediately. On success the connection flips to Verified and its MCP tools are provisioned.
Verify it worked
PopMCP shows Airtable as Connected, and a list-bases tool call returns exactly the bases you granted the token and nothing more.
Troubleshooting
401 Unauthorized
Why: Token mistyped, truncated, deleted or regenerated in Builder hub.
Fix: Create or regenerate the token at airtable.com/create/tokens and paste the fresh pat string into PopMCP.
404 NOT_FOUND on a base ID you know exists
Why: Airtable returns 404 rather than 403 for bases outside the token's access list.
Fix: Edit the token, click + Add a base, add that base, and click Save changes. No new token is needed.
403 NOT_AUTHORIZED or INVALID_PERMISSIONS
Why: The base is granted but the matching scope is missing, for example writing records with only data.records:read.
Fix: Edit the token, click + Add a scope for the missing permission, and save.
You closed the dialog before copying the token
Why: Airtable displays the pat string exactly once.
Fix: Open the ... menu next to the token and choose Regenerate token, then copy the new value.
429 with a required 30-second wait
Why: More than 5 requests per second against one base, or 50 per second across the whole token.
Fix: Let PopMCP back off for 30 seconds and use page sizes of 100 instead of many small calls.
enterprise.* scopes are greyed out
Why: Those scopes are limited to Enterprise Scale plans.
Fix: Use the standard data and schema scopes. Enterprise admin endpoints are not available on other plans.