Airtable automation action: Run a script

To start creating an automation, click on Automations in the upper left corner of an open base.

Next, choose a trigger, such as the When record matches conditions trigger. In our example, the "Calculate?" field is a checkbox field type. When that checkbox field is checked the automation will be triggered to run.

After testing the trigger successfully, we can move on to setting up the action. Click the blue + Add Action button. Then, click on the Run a script option. This will bring up a window for editing your script's code. We'll start by setting up our input variables.

Input variables let you bring information from triggers and previous actions into your Run a script action. In this example, we're going to bring our "First Number" and "Second Number" fields into the script so that we can calculate their sum.

Note

Give careful consideration to how you name your script variables. As a rule of thumb, variables should be clear, descriptive, and distinct.

After we've named our variables and added them in the Input Variables sidebar, we need to declare those variables in our script. We do this by creating an inputConfig variable with the input.config() object, after which we can declare each of our desired variables in the manner shown below:

// Set up input variables
let inputConfig = input.config();
let firstNumber = inputConfig.firstNumber;
let secondNumber = inputConfig.secondNumber; 

Copy and paste the code above into your script editor before proceeding.

Now we're going to add the code below to the main body of our script.

//Perform the calculation
let calculation = firstNumber + secondNumber;

Copy the code above into the console below the input variables we declared above.

Note

For more information on internal Airtable classes that can be accessed via your script—check out our API reference documentation.

Next, we're going to set up an output variable. Output variables let us pass data from the Run a script action to any remaining actions in the automation run. In this example, we're going to pass our calculation variable to an Update record action. We do this by using the output.set() method to declare any variables we want to use outside of this Run a script action.

// Set the output variable
output.set('calculationOutput', calculation);`

Copy the code above into the console below the rest of the script above, then click the blue test button to make sure your code does not have any errors.

Now, we'll add one more action to our automation, an Update record action that updates the "Addition" field of the triggering record with the calculationOutput from our Run a script action.

Once you've successfully tested the Update record action, you can proceed with toggling on the automation in the upper left corner of the Automations console.

Scripting extension scripts run in the foreground of the base. They’re triggered directly by a user, who is then able to see any output from the script and add any additional input the script asks for. They’re ideal for automating workflows that require some human involvement.

Scripts from the scripting action run in the background of the base. They’re triggered indirectly and run automatically behind the scenes while the user keeps working. They’re ideal as an extensible tool for when our other automation actions don’t support something, or for advanced automation use-cases.

Yes. Once enabled, the script will run when a record enters the view, regardless of whether the base is open. This allows you to schedule when a script runs, or trigger a script based on a form submission or by using the Airtable API to create or edit a record.

You can access any external API or use the Airtable API to make a change in another Airtable base. Unlike the scripting extension, there is no core origin resources sharing (CORS) limitation.

Yes, it is possible to set a script to run on a schedule using the "At a scheduled time" trigger. Learn more here.

No, the “Run a script” action is not available on a Team plan trial.

You’ll want to use the run history to reveal the “Execution log” to troubleshoot as outlined here.