Number API Calls

how do you make the queries to the API? any particular tool?

This usually depends on the tool that is making the Airtable calls, not just on how many records are returned.

At the Airtable API level, one search/list request and one update request can be two HTTP requests. But many no-code nodes count more than that because they may also make extra requests to fetch table metadata, resolve field names, paginate/check for more results, validate the connection during a test run, retry a failed request, or read the record again after updating it.

Also, the number of API calls is based on requests made, not on records returned. So a search that returns 1 matching item is still at least one request, and it can be more if the integration wraps it with setup or validation calls.

If you want to confirm exactly where the extra calls come from, check the execution log in the tool you are using and look for each Airtable HTTP request. If the tool lets you use raw API calls, the minimal version is usually:

1. list/search records with a filter and maxRecords = 1
2. PATCH the matched record by record ID

If you share which tool the “search node” is from, it should be easier to say which hidden calls it is adding.