Airtable MCP Server

A remote Model Context Protocol server that exposes the full Airtable Web API to Claude — including document (attachment) upload and download, which the official Airtable connector does not support.

It runs on Cloudflare Workers, authenticates each user with their own Airtable account via OAuth 2.1 (PKCE-S256), and stages file uploads through Cloudflare R2 so files of any size can be attached to Airtable and then removed from Cloudflare automatically.

Works as a claude.ai custom connector, in Claude Desktop, and in Claude Code.

Why this exists

Uploading a file from your computer into an Airtable attachment field — and pulling files back out — without you having to think about hosting, URLs, or cleanup. You point Claude at a record; Claude uploads the document; the server handles staging, ingestion, and teardown.

How document upload works

Airtable ingests attachments from a publicly reachable URL, which it then re-hosts on its own storage. This server automates that safely, supporting files up to Airtable's 5 GB per-file limit:

1. The file is staged in a private R2 bucket — small files inline as base64, large files streamed straight to R2 via a presigned PUT URL (bytes never pass through the Worker, so there's no ~100 MB request-body ceiling).

2. The server hands Airtable a short-lived presigned GET URL for the staged object.

3. Airtable fetches and re-hosts the file.

4. The server polls the record until Airtable's re-hosted copy appears, then deletes the staged file from R2.

Presigned URLs are generated with an R2 S3 API token; the bucket itself stays private.

Architecture

Transport: Streamable HTTP at /mcp (plus legacy /sse).

Tools

Records — list_records, get_record, create_records, update_records (PATCH + upsert), replace_records (PUT), delete_records (create/update/delete auto-batch in groups of 10)

Schema — list_bases, get_base_schema, create_base, create_table, update_table, create_field, update_field

Comments — list_comments, create_comment, update_comment, delete_comment

Webhooks — create_webhook, list_webhooks, delete_webhook, list_webhook_payloads, refresh_webhook, manage_webhook_notifications

Attachments — upload_attachment, create_attachment_upload_url, download_attachment

User — whoami

The server ships a detailed instructions block so Claude picks the right tool and follows the correct sequence (resolve IDs → read/write; stage → attach → cleanup) with minimal prompting.

Setup & deploy

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and the Cloudflare Wrangler CLI (npm i -g wrangler or use npx), logged in (wrangler login).

• R2 enabled on your Cloudflare account (Dashboard → R2 → enable). Required before deploy.

• An Airtable account.

1. Install

npm install
npm run cf-typegen   # generates worker-configuration.d.ts

2. Create resources

npx wrangler kv namespace create airtable-mcp-server-OAUTH_KV   # put the id in wrangler.jsonc
npx wrangler r2 bucket create airtable-mcp-files

3. First deploy (to get your Worker URL)

npm run deploy

Note the URL, e.g. https://airtable-mcp-server.<your-subdomain>.workers.dev.

4. Register an Airtable OAuth integration

Go to https://airtable.com/create/oauth → Register new OAuth integration.

• Name: anything (e.g. "My Airtable MCP").

• OAuth redirect URL: https://airtable-mcp-server.<your-subdomain>.workers.dev/callback

• Scopes (must match the server): data.records:read, data.records:write, data.recordComments:read, data.recordComments:write, schema.bases:read, schema.bases:write, webhook:manage, user.email:read.

• Copy the Client ID, then generate and copy the Client secret (shown once).

5. Create an R2 S3 API token

Cloudflare dashboard → R2 → Manage API Tokens → Create API Token (Object Read & Write). Copy the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.

6. Set secrets

npx wrangler secret put AIRTABLE_CLIENT_ID
npx wrangler secret put AIRTABLE_CLIENT_SECRET
npx wrangler secret put R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID
npx wrangler secret put R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

R2_ACCOUNT_ID is already set as a var in wrangler.jsonc.

7. Redeploy

npm run deploy

Connecting

• claude.ai → Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector → paste https://<your-worker>/mcp. Sign in with Airtable when prompted.

• Claude Desktop → Settings → Connectors → add the same /mcp URL.

• Claude Code → claude mcp add --transport http airtable https://<your-worker>/mcp

Large files: truly unlimited uploads work best from Claude Code, which can stream bytes to the signed upload URL. From claude.ai/Desktop, files pass through the conversation and are bounded by context size.

Local development

cp .dev.vars.example .dev.vars   # fill in secrets
npm run dev

License

MIT