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Connect Airtable

Connecting Airtable lets Winston look up, filter and report on the records in your Airtable bases, and add or change records when you ask it to. You create a personal access token in Airtable, then paste it into Winston. This page shows each screen.

Before you start

You need to be an Owner or Admin in Winston.
Use an Airtable account that can open the bases Winston should work with. A token can only reach bases its account can reach.
Decide whether Winston should only read your bases, or also add and change records. You choose this when you create the token, not in Winston.

The connection belongs to the Winston workspace, not only to you. Anyone in the workspace who asks Winston can have it read, and if the token allows it change, records in the bases the token can reach. Give the token only the bases and scopes Winston needs.

1. Create a personal access token

Sign in to Airtable and go to airtable.com/create/tokens (Builder Hub → Personal access tokens). Choose Create token and fill in the form:

Name: something you'll recognize, such as Winston. Airtable shows it in record revision history when Winston changes a record.
Scopes: choose Add a scope and add data.records:read and schema.bases:read. Winston needs both to find your bases and read them. Add data.records:write as well if Winston should be able to add, change or delete records.
Access: choose Add a base and pick each base Winston should see. Add all resources also works, but gives Winston every base the account can open, including ones added later.

Airtable's Create personal access token form with the name Winston and one base under Access, Add a base and Add a scope outlined, and the scope list open at data.records:read — Builder Hub → Personal access tokens → Create token. Name it, add a base, then add the scopes.

Choose Create token. Airtable shows the token once. Copy it with the copy button and go straight on to the next step.

Airtable's dialog headed Your token has been created, saying the token will only be shown once, with the token hidden and its copy button outlined; behind it the form lists one base and the scopes data.records:read, data.records:write and schema.bases:read — Copy the token now. Airtable won't show it again.

Treat the token like a password: paste it only into Winston's Airtable dialog, never into Chat, an email or a support message. If you lose it before connecting, create a new one.

2. Connect it in Winston

In Winston, open Settings → Connections, find the Airtable card (under Work Management, or type "Airtable" into the search box) and choose Connect.

The Connections screen in Winston searched for Airtable, with the Airtable card's Connect button outlined — Settings → Connections. Find Airtable and choose Connect.

Paste the token into Personal Access Token and choose Connect. You don't pick a base here: Winston sees every base the token allows and asks which one you mean when it needs to.

Winston's Airtable dialog with the personal access token pasted in and shown as dots, and Cancel and Connect buttons — Paste the token and choose Connect.

3. Check it is connected

The dialog changes to Airtable is connected. Choose Done. Nothing else needs to be set up.

Winston's dialog headed Airtable is connected, saying Winston can now use your Airtable account, with a Done button — Winston confirms the connection. Choose Done.

The Airtable card on the Connections screen with a green Connected badge and edit and disconnect icons — The Airtable card after connecting. The pencil changes the token; the plug icon disconnects.

Then ask Winston a small read-only question in Chat, for example "Which Airtable bases can you see?" It lists the bases the token allows. If one is missing, add it to the token in Airtable (see below).

Asking about Airtable works like any other question in Chat. Before adding, changing or deleting records, Winston says exactly what it will change and waits for you to confirm. See Asking Winston and Review and approve.

Change the bases or scopes

To give Winston another base, or to allow or stop changes, edit the token in Airtable: open Personal access tokens, choose the token, and add or remove bases and scopes. Winston picks up the change on its next request; you don't need to do anything in Winston.

Replace the token

If the token is lost, leaked or deleted, create a new one as above. Then choose the pencil on the Airtable card, paste the new token and choose Save Changes. Delete the old token in Airtable afterwards.

Winston's Update Airtable dialog, explaining that a blank field keeps the existing value, with the Personal Access Token field showing (unchanged) and a Save Changes button — Update Airtable. Paste the new token; leaving the field blank keeps the current one.

Disconnect

To stop Winston using Airtable, choose the plug icon on the Airtable card and confirm Disconnect. This applies to the whole workspace.

Disconnecting in Winston doesn't change anything in Airtable. To make sure the token can't be used again, delete it under Personal access tokens in Airtable.

If something does not work

What you see	What to do
Connect fails	Check you pasted the whole token, which starts with pat. If you no longer have it, create a new token and paste that.
Missing base	Winston can't see a base you expected. The token doesn't include it. Add the base to the token in Airtable, then ask again.
Can't change records	Winston can read but says it isn't allowed to add or change records. Add the data.records:write scope to the token in Airtable.
Stopped working	Winston could use Airtable before and now can't. The token was deleted or regenerated, or the account lost access. Create a new token and paste it with the pencil on the Airtable card.
Slow on big jobs	Airtable lets Winston make only a few requests a second to each base, and changes go in batches of ten records, so large reads and updates take a while. Ask for a filtered view or a smaller set of records.

For other connections, see Connect your tools. Anything else, see Troubleshooting or contact Support from the dashboard.