Airtable Connector Documentation

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Supported Features and Limitations

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Supported Objects/Entities

• Only records with text field types (singleLineText and multilineText) are indexed.
• Non-text fields and attachments are not indexed in the current version.

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Supported API Endpoints/Features

• Standard API: Glean uses Airtable’s standard API to ingest all data

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Limitations

• Your Airtable instance must be on the Enterprise plan, as necessary API endpoints are only available for enterprise users.
• The connector can only index bases accessible to the admin user who generates the access token.
• Interfaces in Airtable are not currently indexed. Content and access controls that exist solely within Interfaces are excluded.
• If the access token is scoped to a workspace instead of “all bases in the enterprise,” access is restricted to those bases.
• Only text field data is indexed; non-text fields will be ignored.
• Rate-limited to 5 requests per second per base by Airtable’s API.
• OAuth2 tokens are not supported; only personal access tokens (PATs) are currently used.

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Crawling Strategy

• Webhooks are automatically registered for all accessible bases and are required for real-time indexing after initial ingestion.
• Identity/permission refreshes are scheduled to accurately reflect group and user access.

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Results Display

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Requirements

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Technical Requirements

• Glean must be deployed with access to Google Cloud Platform (all customer data is managed there).
• You must be an Airtable Enterprise customer.
• Access to the Glean deployment console.

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Credential Requirements

• An Airtable personal access token (PAT) generated by an enterprise admin using the Airtable UI.
• The PAT must have the following scopes:
  • workspacesAndBases:read (admins only)
  • schema.bases:read
  • data.records:read
  • data.recordComments:read
  • enterprise.user:read (admins only)
  • enterprise.groups:read
  • webhook:manage (base creators only)
• The PAT must have access to “all current and future bases in the enterprise”, where available. If only “workspace” level is offered, access will be limited to those base(s).

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Permission Requirements

• The PAT must be created by a user in the enterprise admin role.
• Admins should ensure permission scopes are correctly set during PAT creation.
• Glean enforces all base and workspace-level access controls using user and group identities fetched from Airtable.
• For each supported endpoint, the minimum scope and privilege requirements are as above.
• Access is strictly limited to bases, tables, and records visible to the PAT creator; users will only see results corresponding to the Airtable permissions they have.

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Preliminary Source/System Setup

• Register a Personal Access Token as an Airtable Enterprise admin in the Airtable UI.
• Grant the required scopes (see list above) when creating the PAT.
• (Recommended) Adjust base or workspace membership in Airtable to ensure only desired content is within scope for the PAT.
• Make sure webhooks are enabled in Airtable for full real-time updates.

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Configuration and Setup Instructions

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Prerequisites

• An Airtable Enterprise plan
• Glean admin access with permissions to add a new connector
• An appropriate Airtable PAT (see requirements above)
• Finalized list of scopes and required access level in Airtable

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Authentication and Credentials

• Enter your Airtable PAT into the Glean deployment console when prompted.
• Confirm that the PAT includes all scopes listed in the requirements section.
• Validate the PAT by testing API calls such as:

curl -X GET "https://api.airtable.com/v0/meta/scopes" -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_PAT>"

• If required, update the PAT in Airtable for future coverage (i.e., if more bases should be accessible).

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Step-by-Step Setup

1. In the Glean Admin Console, navigate to Data Sources and select Add Data Source.
2. Choose Airtable from the available connectors. If you cannot see this option, contact Glean support to enable it.
3. Generate a PAT in Airtable as an enterprise admin, ensuring you select the option to grant access to all relevant bases and the required scopes.
4. Enter the PAT value into the PAT field in Glean’s setup form as prompted.
5. Complete and save the configuration in the Glean deployment console.
6. Wait for the initial full crawl to complete; webhooks will be registered automatically.
7. To verify indexing, search for known Airtable record names or IDs in Glean after setup.

• For edge cases (e.g., limiting scope to specific workspaces or bases), adjust PAT permissions within the Airtable admin UI, and consider regenerating the token if base membership changes.

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Crawl Configuration Options

• By default, all bases and tables accessible to the PAT will be indexed.
• You can restrict crawl scope by:
  • Limiting the PAT’s access in Airtable to desired bases or workspaces (at PAT creation).
  • Adjusting membership in Airtable workspaces and bases to further contain scope.
• Lookback period, red/greenlisting, custom object configuration, or incremental-specific crawl settings are currently not exposed in the UI and must be handled by adjusting token access and membership in Airtable.

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Permissions & Security

• Base names, descriptions, tables, record (row) data from text fields, comments, user and group identities for permission mapping.

• All permissions (base, workspace, user, group) are fetched from Airtable and respected within Glean’s search and access model. This means users cannot view any content in Glean unless they already have access to it directly in Airtable.
• Airtable Interfaces and their associated permissions are not indexed by Glean. This means that any content or permission settings defined specifically within an Interface are not integrated or enforced in Glean.

• All data is retrieved via secure APIs and stored within a GCP project under customer ownership and control.
• The administration of PATs and scope allows granular limitation of what Glean can access.
• Webhooks are managed programmatically; only required content is kept up to date.

• The connector cannot access bases outside of those directly exposed to the PAT (no universal or cross-enterprise coverage).
• Multi-instance or multiple-token scenarios are not currently supported.

• Only data directly accessible in Airtable through the specified PAT and user memberships will be indexed; customer data is retained within the Glean cloud deployment and cannot be accessed by third parties, including Glean employees, except as required for support or troubleshooting.
• Review and restrict PAT and user access in Airtable as needed for privacy compliance.