Airtable Python Wrapper

0.15.3 · active · verified Thu Apr 16

airtable-python-wrapper is a Python API client wrapper for the Airtable API, enabling programmatic interaction with Airtable bases and tables. The latest version is 0.15.3, released in July 2021. While functional, this library has effectively been superseded by 'pyairtable' for its 1.x+ releases, and no new releases are expected under the `airtable-python-wrapper` name.

Common errors

```
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'airtablib' (or 'airtable_wrapper')
```
cause Incorrect module name in the import statement. The package `airtable-python-wrapper` installs the module `airtable`.

fix Change your import statement to `from airtable import Airtable`.
```
ImportError: cannot import name 'Api' from 'airtable'
```
cause Attempting to import a class named `Api` which does not exist in the `airtable-python-wrapper` library. The main class is `Airtable`.

fix Change your import statement to `from airtable import Airtable` and use `Airtable(...)` to instantiate.
```
ImportError: cannot import name 'Airtable' from 'airtable' (path/to/your/project/airtable.py)
```
cause This usually happens when your own Python script or a file in your project directory is named `airtable.py`, causing Python to import your local file instead of the installed library.

fix Rename your script or any conflicting file named `airtable.py` to something else (e.g., `my_airtable_script.py`) to avoid module name collisions.
```
requests.exceptions.HTTPError: 422 Client Error: Unprocessable Entity for url: ... [Error: {'type': 'INVALID_FILTER_BY_FORMULA', 'message': 'The formula for filtering records is invalid: unknown field names: id'}]
```
cause Attempting to use `id` (Airtable's internal record ID) directly in a formula without explicitly creating a formula field in Airtable named 'id' with the formula `RECORD_ID()`.

fix If you need to filter or search by record ID using formulas, create a new field in your Airtable base, name it 'Record ID' (or similar), set its type to 'Formula', and use the formula `RECORD_ID()`. Then refer to this new field name in your Python formula, e.g., `airtable.get_all(formula='{Record ID} = "recXXXXXXX"')`.

Warnings

breaking The `airtable-python-wrapper` library has been renamed to `pyairtable` for its 1.x+ releases. New features and ongoing development are in `pyairtable`, and `airtable-python-wrapper` will not receive further updates beyond 0.15.3. Migration to `pyairtable` is recommended for active projects.
Fix: For new projects or upgrades, install `pyairtable` (`pip install pyairtable`) and consult its migration guide for breaking changes between `airtable-python-wrapper` and `pyairtable` 1.x+.
breaking As of version 0.15.0, API key configuration via environment variables was dropped. The `api_key` must now be passed directly as an argument to the `Airtable` constructor.
Fix: Update your code to pass `api_key` directly: `airtable = Airtable('base_id', 'table_name', api_key='YOUR_API_KEY')`.
breaking Python 2 and IronPython support were dropped starting from version 0.15.0.
Fix: Ensure your project runs on Python 3.5 or newer. The library officially supported 3.7 and 3.8 as of 0.13.0, and newer Python versions are supported by its successor, `pyairtable`.
gotcha The `Airtable` constructor expects the `base_id` (a string like 'appXXXXXXX') not the human-readable 'base name'. Using the base name will lead to connection errors.
Fix: Locate your Airtable base ID from the Airtable API documentation for your base and use it in the constructor: `Airtable('YOUR_BASE_ID', 'Your Table Name', ...)`.

Install

pip install airtable-python-wrapper Install stable version

Imports

Airtable
wrong:
```
from airtable import Api
```
correct:
```
from airtable import Airtable
```
The primary class is 'Airtable', not 'Api' or 'AirtableAPI', especially in recent versions.
Airtable
wrong:
```
from airtablib import Airtable
```
correct:
```
from airtable import Airtable
```
Common mistake with incorrect module name. The package name is 'airtable-python-wrapper', but the module to import is 'airtable'.
Airtable
wrong:
```
from airtable_wrapper import AirtableAPI
```
correct:
```
from airtable import Airtable
```
Another common mistake with outdated import paths and class names.

Quickstart

Initialize the Airtable client with your Base ID, Table Name, and API Key, then perform basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations. Ensure API key is stored securely.

import os
from airtable import Airtable

# It's recommended to store sensitive information like API keys in environment variables
AIRTABLE_API_KEY = os.environ.get('AIRTABLE_API_KEY', 'YOUR_API_KEY')
AIRTABLE_BASE_ID = os.environ.get('AIRTABLE_BASE_ID', 'YOUR_BASE_ID')
AIRTABLE_TABLE_NAME = os.environ.get('AIRTABLE_TABLE_NAME', 'YOUR_TABLE_NAME')

# Initialize Airtable client
airtable = Airtable(AIRTABLE_BASE_ID, AIRTABLE_TABLE_NAME, api_key=AIRTABLE_API_KEY)

# Fetch all records from the table
records = airtable.get_all()
print(f"Fetched {len(records)} records.")
# print(records[0]) # Uncomment to see an example record

# Insert a new record
new_record_data = {'Name': 'New Task', 'Status': 'To Do'}
inserted_record = airtable.insert(new_record_data)
print(f"Inserted new record with ID: {inserted_record['id']}")

# Update a record (using its ID)
# Note: You'll need a valid record ID for this to work.
# Example: record_to_update_id = inserted_record['id']
# updated_data = {'Status': 'Done'}
# updated_record = airtable.update(record_to_update_id, updated_data)
# print(f"Updated record with ID: {updated_record['id']}")

# Search for records by field value
found_records = airtable.search('Name', 'New Task')
print(f"Found {len(found_records)} records matching 'New Task'.")

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