How to automate workflows in Airtable

How to Automate Workflows in Airtable

Airtable Automations allow trigger-based actions within and between bases. As of April 2026, automations are available on all paid plans: Team ($20/seat/month, 25,000 runs/month), Business ($45/seat/month, 100,000 runs/month), and Enterprise Scale (500,000 runs/month).

Step 1: Open the Automation Panel

Open any base and click "Automations" in the top toolbar. Click "Create automation" and give it a descriptive name.

Step 2: Choose a Trigger

Available triggers:

• When record matches conditions — A record meets specific field criteria
• When record is created — New record added to a table
• When record is updated — A field value changes
• When record enters view — Record appears in a filtered view
• When form is submitted — Airtable form submission
• At a scheduled time — Daily, weekly, or custom schedule
• When webhook received — External HTTP POST triggers the automation

Step 3: Add Actions

• Create record — Add a record to any table in the base
• Update record — Modify fields on the triggering record or related records
• Send email — Send a formatted email to addresses from record fields
• Send Slack message — Post to a Slack channel
• Run script — Execute JavaScript for custom logic
• Find records — Query records from another table for use in subsequent actions

Step 4: Use the Script Action for Advanced Logic

The "Run script" action executes JavaScript with access to the Airtable Scripting API. Use it for:

• Complex conditional logic (if/else/switch)
• Data transformation (parsing, formatting, calculations)
• External API calls (fetch data from other services)
• Batch operations across multiple records

Practical Example: Project Intake Pipeline

1. Trigger: When form is submitted (client request form)
2. Action 1: Create record in "Projects" table with form data
3. Action 2: Find records — Look up the Account Manager for this client
4. Action 3: Update record — Assign the Account Manager and set Status to "New"
5. Action 4: Send Slack message to #projects with project details
6. Action 5: Send email to the client confirming receipt with an estimated response time

Connecting to External Tools

For workflows that span multiple apps, connect Airtable to Zapier or Make:

• Sync Airtable records to Google Sheets, Notion, or a CRM
• Trigger Airtable automations from external events
• Build multi-app workflows with Airtable as the central database

Usage Limits (April 2026)

• Team: 25,000 automation runs/month
• Business: 100,000 automation runs/month
• Enterprise: 500,000 automation runs/month

Each action in a multi-step automation counts as one run.