How to Look Up Data in Airtable When a New Record is Created

In this step-by-step guide, you'll learn how to keep your Airtable updated with up-to-date information. We'll use an extension called Data Fetcher to lookup data automatically every time you add a new record in your base.

For this example, we'll look up website info, but you can explore all of Data Fetcher's Airtable integrations or create a custom API request to import any data into Airtable.

Let's dive in!

Set up Airtable base

Start by renaming the default table in Airtable to Websites. Then add a field called URL with the type URL and add some sample data. We will use these two website URLs:

• https://www.bbc.com/news
• https://www.ft.com/

Add a filter to the view with the condition URL is not empty. This ensures that we will only look up the data for records with a URL.

Add Data Fetcher Extension

Install Data Fetcher from the Airtable marketplace. Data Fetcher is a free extension that allows you to look up data whenever your base data changes, e.g. when a record is added or updated. It does this by connecting to third-party applications and APIs with no-code.

Once the extension is up and running, either sign up for a new Data Fetcher account for free or log in if you already have one. Use the Sign up for free option for a new account or click on the Have an account? button to log in.

After logging into Data Fetcher, you'll see the home screen. Click Create your first request.

For the Application, select Microlink. Microlink is a service that allows you to extract info from and create screenshots of URLs. Microlink has a free plan, so we can start using it for free.

For the Endpoint, select Extract meta information from URLs.

Add a request name, like Import website info. Then click Save & Continue.

Next to URL, select the + icon on the right-hand side on the input. We're going to reference the URL field in our table here.

A window will open where we can add a reference to the URL field in our table. For the Table, select Websites. For the Field, select URL. Then click Confirm.

We need to manually run the request the first time we set it up. After that, we can trigger it automatically when a new record is created. Click Save & Run in the bottom right-hand corner.

The Response Field Mapping will open. This window is where you set up how the data fields are imported into the fields in your Airtable table

For this example, we will deselect all fields by clicking Deselect all. Then we'll map the Title field to our existing Name field by selecting Existing field and selecting the Name field.

Search for "Logo" and select the Logo url field to be imported too.

Once you are happy with the field mapping, click Save & Run.

Data Fetcher will create the new field and look up the data for all the records in our table!

Look Up Data in Airtable When a Record is Created

We've set up a request to lookup website info in Airtable. Now, let's use Data Fetcher's Trigger feature to look up this data automatically when a new record is created in the table. This will work even when you do not have Airtable or Data Fetcher open.

Triggers are a paid Data Fetcher feature, so you will need to upgrade your account. To do this, in Data Fetcher, scroll to the Schedule | Trigger | Webhook URL tabs and click 'Upgrade'.

Select a plan from the options and enter your payment details to upgrade.

Return to Data Fetcher and click I've done this.

Next, select the 'Trigger' tab and click '+ Authorize' underneath.

Accept the prompt I understand, let's Authorize.

Click + Add a base.

By selecting All current and future bases in all current and future workspaces, we'll avoid the need to re-authorize access for individual bases in the future.

Click on Grant access.

Back in Data Fetcher, ensure the Trigger tab is still selected. For the trigger type, select Record created.

Select a Table to watch for new records - this should be the Websites table you have been using for the rest of this tutorial. For the View, select Grid view. We want to only look up data for records that have a URL, and our Grid view has the filter on it for URL not being empty.

Finally, click Save in the bottom-right hand corner. When a new record is created in our Websites table, Data Fetcher will look up the data for the new record!

You can test the trigger is working by double-clicking in the URL cell for a new record and pasting in this URL:

https://www.economist.com/