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Requests are the core of Data Fetcher - they’re saved instructions that tell Data Fetcher how to connect your Airtable base with external applications and APIs. Every time you run a request, it imports fresh data into your base or exports data to external systems.

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Choose your integration approach

Data Fetcher offers two ways to connect with external services: Pre-built integrations - Ready-to-use connections for popular platforms like Facebook Ads, OpenAI, Google Analytics, Stripe, and many others. Our Airtable integrations handle the technical setup for you, so you can focus on configuring what data to import. Custom requests - Connect to any REST or GraphQL API, or import from remote JSON, CSV, or XML files. Perfect when you need to integrate with specialized APIs or services that don’t have pre-built integrations.

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Set up a request

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Choose your application

  1. On the create request screen, select the Application you want to connect to:
    • Choose Custom to create a custom request for any API
    • Select a pre-built integration from the list of available applications

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Set up authentication

  1. Complete the Authorization step by connecting your account or entering required credentials:
    • Pre-built integrations often use OAuth to connect your existing accounts
    • Custom requests typically require API keys or other authentication methods
    • Some public APIs don’t require any authorization
Pro tip: You can store API keys and other reusable values as variables in your workspace to use across multiple requests.

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Complete the setup

  1. If applicable, select an Endpoint from the available options. This step varies by application - some have multiple endpoints while others have just one.
  2. Enter a descriptive name for your request in the input field at the top of the screen.
  3. Click Save & Continue in the bottom right corner.
  4. Fill in any required (*) configuration options for your chosen application and endpoint. These options control what specific data gets imported. Advanced option: You can use values from your Airtable tables in requests, including running separate requests for each record in a table or view.
  5. Select your Output Table and View where the imported data should go. By default, this uses your current table and view.
  6. Click Save & Run in the bottom right corner.

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Configure field mapping and run

The Response Field Mapping window opens, where you control how data from the external application maps to your Airtable fields. You only need to configure this once unless you change your data transformation settings. For each field:
  • Select or deselect by clicking the field name - only selected fields will be imported
  • Map to existing fields by choosing an existing column in your table
  • Create new fields by specifying field names and types
  1. Once you’re satisfied with the response field mapping, click Save & Run in the bottom right corner.
Your request will execute and import data into your Airtable base according to your configuration. You can click Run anytime to import the latest data.

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Next steps

Now that you have created a request, explore these key features:

Schedule requests

Run automatically at intervals, even where you’re not using Airtable

Add trigger

Run requests instantly when your base data changes

Write modes

Learn how to update or add to existing records

Update based on field(s)

Use unique fields to merge with existing records