Create a custom request

Custom requests let you connect to any REST or GraphQL API in Airtable, without coding.

You set the request URL, method, headers, body, authorization, pagination, etc. The UI might be familiar to you from API clients like Postman or Insomnia.

Before you begin

1. Add Data Fetcher to your base and sign up for a free account.

2. On the Data Fetcher home screen, click Create your first request.

Create a custom request

1. On the create request screen, under Application, select Custom.

1. Enter the request URL. You can find this in the API documentation for the API you're connecting to. It will be made up of a base URL and an endpoint.

For example, enter this URL to fetch a list of crypto prices from the CoinGecko API.

https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/markets?vs_currency=usd

You can also paste a cURL command straight into the URL input, and it will be imported.

1. Set up any other options you need for the request, such as:

• Method
• Parameters
• Authorization
• Headers
• Body
• Pagination

1. Enter a name for the request in the input at the top of the screen.

1. Select the Output Table and View. This is where the data will be imported into. By default, this is set to your current table and view.

Run the request

1. Click Save & Run in the bottom right of the screen.

The Response Field Mapping window will open. This is where you configure how the fields from the API response map to fields in your output table. You will only need to do this the first time you set up the request or when you make changes to the data transformation.

• For each field, you can select or deselect it by clicking on the field names. All the selected fields will be imported whenever the request runs.

• Selected fields can be mapped to either an Existing field or a New field.

1. Once you're happy with the mapping, click Save & Run in the bottom right of the response field mapping window.

The request will now run and import your data to Airtable.

You can run the request again at any time by clicking Run.

If you want to import the data automatically, even when you are not logged into Airtable, you can schedule the request, add a trigger or run it from a webhook.

Check out these guides to Write modes and Update based on field(s) to understand how data from the API is merged with the existing data in your output table.