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Hi all,

Have been scouring the web, AirTable support and various AI platforms to get an answer to this, but no joy so far.
 

I am trying to set up automation to sync changes between Google Calendar and Airtable, including updates and deletions. AirTable support instructed me to set up triggers for new events, updated events and cancelled events. 

I am doing this on an empty table at the moment just to test it out. However, I am hitting a bit of a brick wall with the Updated Events automation. 

I believe I have the Find records action set up OK, see screenshot below (although when I test the step at that stage, it says Found 0 Records but I guess this is because the table is empty currently...)

My screenshot: Find records menu

 

Where I’m really getting lost is with the Update record part. According to AirTable Support, “the ID of the action that gets the information to be used goes in Record ID, and should look like the below. “This is because this Integrated Trigger is not directly related to an airtable base or table, instead, it is related to the calendar account. Once the Record ID is set, the system will be able to find the record realted to the automation update record action”

AirTable support’s screenshot

 

However, when I click the blue + beside Record ID, I get the below menu, and can’t see any List of “Airtable record ID token option. The closest option I can see is if I select Find records and then select List. However, that just takes me to a Select fields to show menu, with no List of ‘Airtable record ID’ as far as I can see. 

My screenshot: pop-up menu after clicking the blue + beside Record ID

Would really appreciate any help. The Airtable support guidance so far has been quite vague and slow so far…

Thanks in advance!

You get the Airtable Record ID from the result of the “Find Records” action. 

 

You may also need to set up conditional actions based on whether or not you actually find any records. If you don’t find any records, use a Create Record action to create the record and store the Event ID for future use. If you find one record, use an Update Record action with a new list of the record IDs from the Find Records action. If you find more than one record, you have a problem.

Hey ​@Niallo,

 

​@kuovonne’s answer above is exactly what you are looking for. 
 

If you need additional help setting this up, feel free to reach out. 
 

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation 

Thanks so much ​@kuovonne and ​@Mike_AutomaticN!!

I think I have it working now (at least all the tests are anyway). We are syncing our records from an external database to Airtable via Google Calendar, so need to wait until the new test event I’ve added syncs up and see if the automations kick in.

Also, great tip RE the conditional action, have built that in now too.

Hi all, 

So I managed to set up the three automations and they all tested fine.

However, no new events from Google Calendar are being added.

The issue seems to be that I’m using a Google calendar subscription URL for this (we have an external database that we’re trying to sync with Airtable via Google calendar, using a Google calendar subscription URL provided by that database) and, according to Chat GPT, a calendar URL does not trigger Google calendar webhooks like a normal Google account calendar would do:
 

  • iCal feeds (calendar URLs) are "read-only" subscriptions in Google Calendar.

  • You cannot "create" events in a subscribed calendar — only the source (Overture) can send updates.

  • Google Calendar webhooks (Event Created / Event Updated / Event Cancelled) ONLY fire from editable calendars tied to a real Google Account.

✅ So your Airtable Automations can only "hear" about new events from a calendar you own or control — not from a subscribed iCal URL.

 

I just wanted to verify that that was correct? If so, it’s quite baffling as this is what Airtable support suggested we do (as using the basic Google Calendar integration has limitations in terms of amending & cancelling events). 

I did test out the automations with my own personal calendar and adding events via that. It worked perfectly and quickly.

(FYI I have been exploring using Make.com to sync the URL calendar to a personal calendar and using that for the Airtable automations. However, I’m getting nowhere with it (but that’s another long story).

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