Set up Airtable MCP Server

The Airtable MCP Server connects AI clients like Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, and Cursor directly to an organisation's Airtable bases — with no local installation. This guide shows the fastest path to a first secure connection.

Establish the connection

For Claude and Claude Code, per the provider, a pre-built connector is available that connects in a single step. For Claude Code, the following command is also available: claude mcp add --transport http airtable https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp. For other clients such as Cursor or VS Code, add the server URL https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp to the MCP configuration file. After connecting, an OAuth flow opens for Airtable authentication.

Choose authentication

For interactive use, OAuth is the simplest option: after the OAuth flow, it is possible to choose exactly which bases, apps, and workspaces the AI client may see. For non-interactive environments — scripts, CI/CD, CLI — create a Personal Access Token (PAT) with the required scopes: data.records:read, data.records:write, schema.bases:read, schema.bases:write, data.recordComments:read, data.recordComments:write, workspacesAndBases:read. Create PATs at https://airtable.com/create/tokens.

Restrict access

Enable only the bases actually needed for the MCP integration. Less access means less risk from prompt injection or accidental write operations. Review and adjust granted permissions at any time at https://airtable.com/?integrations=thirdParty.

Verify the result

After setup, test a read operation first — for example, list all bases or retrieve records from a known table. Test write actions such as creating records or automations in a non-production base before using them in production. Note: creating records is limited to 10 per request.