Airtable

What you get

• One record per submission
• Field-level mapping with type compatibility checks
• Metadata mapping, including a link to the generated submission PDF
• Optional rich-text body field with headings, bold, lists, and piped answers
• Backfill existing submissions on connect (batches of 10)
• Auto-recovery when columns are renamed
• Test record to verify the connection before real submissions arrive

Connect Airtable

1. 1

   Open Form settings → Integrations

   Choose Airtable from the list.

2. 2

   Connect, pick a base and table

   Pick an existing connected Airtable account, or authorize a new one. You'll be redirected to Airtable to grant access to the bases you choose. Then pick the target base and table.

3. 3

   Map fields → columns

   Match each form field to a column. Only compatible column types are shown. You can also compose a rich-text body using the template editor.

4. 4

   Finalize

   Use "Send test" to write a placeholder record and verify the connection. Enable "Export existing submissions" to backfill past responses. New submissions start syncing once you save.

Column types

formbase auto-creates select options when the submitted value doesn’t match an existing option.

Formula, rollup, count, lookup, linked record, collaborator, created/modified time, created/modified by, auto-number, button, and synced-source columns are read-only and cannot be mapped.

Repeating groups

A repeating group lets respondents add as many entries as they need — like a list of guests, each with a name and age. In the field picker you choose how to map it:

• The whole group maps to one field. Every entry shows as numbered, labeled rows, like “1. Full name: Jane Appleseed, Age: 34, 2. Full name: Marcus Lee, Age: 29”.

• Each member field maps to its own field. The values from every entry join with · , so the Full name field reads “Jane Appleseed · Marcus Lee”.

Pick one, the other, or both. If you remove a member field from your form later, it still appears in the picker so past records keep their field — your mapping never breaks.

Rich-text body

If your table has a Rich text, Long text, or Single line text column, you can compose its content with the template editor. Type @ to insert any form field value or metadata such as PDF Link — the editor shows them as mention chips that resolve at sync time. Rich text columns preserve formatting; other column types receive plain Markdown.

Supported formatting: headings (H1-H4), bold, italic, strikethrough, inline code, links, and ordered/unordered lists. Images and embeds are not supported.

Backfill existing submissions

After connecting, you can backfill past responses. Records are written in batches of 10 with a short delay between batches to stay within Airtable’s rate limits. Progress is shown in the integration panel.

Test event

The Finalize step and the integration detail panel both have a Send test button that writes a placeholder record. Text columns get [Question Title] strings, numbers get 0, emails get test@example.com, dates get the current timestamp, and selects use the first option from the question’s choices (to avoid creating stray options). Delete the test record after verifying.

Abandoned response events

If a respondent starts your form but doesn’t finish, formbase can still sync the partial data. On the Abandoned submissions step, set Send abandoned event after to 12 hours, 1 day, 3 days, or 1 week. An hourly sweep then writes a record using the same field mapping as a completed submission. Map the “Submission status” metadata field to a single-select or text column to tell “Partial” records from “Completed” and “Updated” ones.

Only drafts from a share link are swept, and Required fields narrows it further: the record is written only when at least one of the fields you pick was filled in.

Schema changes and auto-recovery

If you rename a column in Airtable, formbase detects the change on the next submission and updates its mapping automatically. Columns are matched by their stable internal ID, so renames are transparent.

If you delete a column, formbase drops it from the mapping and keeps syncing the remaining fields. If a column’s type changes to something incompatible, the value fails to sync — re-open the integration and re-map that field.

Troubleshooting

• Authorization expired — Airtable access tokens last about an hour and are refreshed automatically, both by a daily job and before each delivery. If the refresh itself fails — the grant was revoked, or the refresh token expired — the connection is marked expired and every integration on it stops. Press Reconnect.

• Column not visible — Confirm the OAuth grant includes the base and the column type is writable (see table above).

• Rate limit — Airtable enforces 5 requests/second per base. Backfills throttle automatically; live syncs retry with backoff.

FAQ

Next steps