MCP Server for Airtable

Build 25.0.9440

Establishing a Connection

The CData MCP Server for Airtable defines each connection to Airtable as a named configuration that Claude can use when sending natural language queries.

You create and manage these configurations using the MCP Configuration Tool. The tool automatically handles formatting, storage, and registration with Claude Desktop.

Understanding Connection Configurations

Each connection configuration is stored in a .mcp file. This file includes the details needed to initialize the connector when Claude starts a session.

  • On Windows, configuration files are stored in "~/AppData/Roaming/CData/Airtable Data Provider/".
  • On macOS, configuration files are stored in "~/Library/Application Support/CData/Airtable Data Provider/".

The .mcp file is a text file that contains a list of connection properties and a timestamp. For example: 

#Tue May 20 15:48:40 EDT 2025
AuthScheme=Basic
User=myUser
Password=myPassword
Security Token=myToken

The configuration tool handles these settings automatically. Each saved configuration enables Claude to launch a dedicated MCP Server instance with the correct connector and options. Manual file editing is not required.

Connecting to Airtable

The server requests tables and views from Airtable. There is one optional connection property available: Schema.

The Schema property limits the shown tables and views to a particular base. If limitation is desired, set this property to the name of the schema that you want to use. (This corresponds to the name of the Base in Airtable.)

In addition to all Airtable Bases, a static schema named Information is also available. This schema enables the querying of static tables such as Bases, Tables, and Users. If DisplayObjectIds is set to True, you must set the value of Schema to the Airtable Base id, not the name.

Authenticating to Airtable

You can authenticate to Airtable using either a Personal Access Token or OAuth PKCE.

Personal Access Token

First, generate a personal access token, if you have not done so already:

  1. Log in to your user account.
  2. Navigate to the token creation page.
  3. Click Create new token.
  4. Under Scopes, click Add a scope to add each of the following:
    • data.records:read
    • data.records:write
    • schema.bases:read
  5. Under Access, add all the workspaces and bases that you want the token to have access to.
  6. Click Create token to generate the token. Copy and save the generated token, as it will only be shown once.
Next, set the following:
  • AuthScheme: PersonalAccessToken.
  • Token: The value of the personal access token that you generated earlier.

OAuth PKCE

Set AuthScheme to OAuthPKCE.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth desktop Authentication. Alternatively, you can create a custom OAuth application. See Creating a Custom OAuth App for information about creating custom applications and reasons for doing so.

Get and Refresh the OAuth Access Token

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
  • OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): The client secret assigned when you registered your application. Specifying this value is optional if a value was not generated during the OAuth custom application creation process.
  • CallbackURL (custom application only): The redirect URI defined when you registered your application. For example: http://localhost:3333
When you connect, the server opens Airtable's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The server then completes the OAuth process:
  1. The server obtains an access token from Airtable and uses it to request data.
  2. The OAuth values are saved in the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation, to be persisted across connections.
The server refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

Web Applications

When connecting via a Web application, you need to register a custom OAuth application with Airtable. You can then use the server to get and manage the OAuth token values. See Creating a Custom OAuth App for more information.

Get an OAuth Access Token

Set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuthAccessToken:

  • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings. Specifying this value is optional if a value was not generated during the OAuth custom application creation process.

Then call stored procedures to complete the OAuth exchange:

  1. Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Set the CallbackURL input to the Redirect URI you specified in your application settings. The stored procedure returns the URL to the OAuth endpoint as well as a PKCEVerifier value. Note the value of the PKCEVerifier for later use.

  2. Navigate to the URL that the stored procedure returned in Step 1. Log in, and authorize the web application. After authenticating, the browser redirects you to the redirect URI.
  3. Call the GetOAuthAccessToken stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB. Set the PKCEVerifier input of this procedure to the PKCEVerifier output from the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL procedure executed in Step 1.

After you have obtained the access and refresh tokens, you can connect to data and refresh the OAuth access token either automatically or manually.

Automatic Refresh of the OAuth Access Token

To have the server automatically refresh the OAuth access token, set the following on the first data connection.

Manual Refresh of the OAuth Access Token

The only value needed to manually refresh the OAuth access token when connecting to data is the OAuth refresh token. Use the RefreshOAuthAccessToken stored procedure to manually refresh the OAuthAccessToken after the ExpiresIn parameter value returned by GetOAuthAccessToken has elapsed, then set the following connection properties:

  • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings. Specifying this value is optional if a value was not generated during the OAuth custom application creation process.

Then call RefreshOAuthAccessToken with OAuthRefreshToken set to the OAuth refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken. After the new tokens have been retrieved, open a new connection by setting the OAuthAccessToken property to the value returned by RefreshOAuthAccessToken.

Finally, store the OAuth refresh token so that you can use it to manually refresh the OAuth access token after it has expired.

Headless Machines

To configure the driver, use OAuth with a user account on a headless machine. You need to authenticate on another device that has an internet browser.

  1. Choose one of two options:
    • Option 1: Obtain the OAuthVerifier and PKCEVerifier values as described in "Obtain and Exchange a Verifier Code" below.
    • Option 2: Install the server on a machine with an internet browser and transfer the OAuth authentication values after you authenticate through the usual browser-based flow.
  2. Then configure the server to automatically refresh the access token on the headless machine.

Option 1: Obtain and Exchange Verifier Codes

To obtain a verifier code and PKCE verifier, you must authenticate at the OAuth authorization URL.

Follow the steps below to authenticate from the machine with an internet browser and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property.

  1. Choose one of these options:
    • If you are using the Embedded OAuth Application, call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Open the URL returned by the stored procedure in a browser.
    • If you are using a custom OAuth application, set the following properties:
      • InitiateOAuth: Set to OFF.
      • OAuthClientId: Set to the client Id assigned when you registered your application.
      • OAuthClientSecret: Set to the client secret assigned when you registered your application. Specifying this value is optional if a value was not generated during the OAuth custom application creation process.
      Then call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure with the appropriate CallbackURL. The stored procedure returns the URL to the OAuth endpoint as well as a PKCEVerifier value. Note the value of the PKCEVerifier for later use. Open the URL returned by the stored procedure in a browser.
  2. Log in and grant permissions to the server. You are then redirected to the redirect URI.

There will be a parameter called code appended to the redirect URI. Note the value of this parameter. Later you will set this in the OAuthVerifier connection property.

Next, you need to exchange the OAuth verifier code for OAuth refresh and access tokens.

On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuth authentication values:

  • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
  • OAuthVerifier: The noted verifier code (the value of the code parameter in the redirect URI).
  • PKCEVerifier: The PKCEVerifier value you noted earlier in Step 1.
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to persist the encrypted OAuth authentication values to the specified location.
  • OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): The client secret in the custom OAuth application settings. Specifying this value is optional if a value was not generated during the OAuth custom application creation process.

Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file, then reset the following properties to connect:

  • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
  • OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
  • OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only):The client secret assigned when you registered your application. Specifying this value is optional if a value was not generated during the OAuth custom application creation process.
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: The location containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. Make sure this location gives read and write permissions to the server to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.

Option 2: Transfer OAuth Settings

Prior to connecting on a headless machine, you need to install and create a connection with the driver on a device that supports an internet browser. Set the connection properties as described in "Desktop Applications" above.

After completing the instructions in "Desktop Applications", the resulting authentication values are encrypted and written to the location specified by OAuthSettingsLocation. The default filename is OAuthSettings.txt.

Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file, then copy the OAuth settings file to your headless machine.

On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to connect to data:

  • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
  • OAuthClientId (custom applications only): Set this to the client Id assigned when you registered your application.
  • OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only): Set this to the client secret assigned when you registered your application. Specifying this value is optional if a value was not generated during the OAuth custom application creation process.
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the location of the OAuth settings file you copied from the machine with the browser. Make sure this location gives read and write permissions to the server to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.

Copyright (c) 2025 CData Software, Inc. - All rights reserved.
Build 25.0.9440