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Problem Summary

I'm building a WhatsApp AI concierge system using n8n that sends data to Airtable, but I'm having issues with field expressions not being processed correctly.

Current Setup

  • Tool: n8n workflow
  • Integration: WhatsApp → n8n → Claude AI → Airtable
  • Airtable Base: "My Premium Concierge - Master Database"
  • Table: "WhatsApp Automation"

The Issue

When I use expressions in my Airtable node fields, they appear as literal text instead of processed values:

What I'm trying to capture:

  • Phone Number: Real customer phone number
  • Client Name: Real customer name
  • Notes: AI response from Claude

What I'm seeing in Airtable:

  • Phone Number: $node>"Code"].json]"customerPhone"] (literal text)
  • Client Name: $node>"Code"].json]"customerName"] (literal text)
  • Notes: $node>"HTTP Request"].json]"content"]t0]t"text"] (literal text)

 

  • Phone Number: 34630158432 (actual number)
  • Client Name: John Smith (actual name)
  • Notes: Hello! This is Lincoln Silva... (actual AI response)

What I've Tried

  1. ✅ Fixed values work: When I use static text like "Test Customer", data appears correctly
  2. ❌ Expressions show as text: $node.Code.json.customerPhone appears literally
  3. ❌ JSON mode: Tried using JSON tab with same results
  4. ❌ Different expression formats: Tried various syntaxes
  5. ✅ Data exists: The expressions work in other n8n nodes

Field Configuration Examples

 

Phone Number Field:
- Type: Phone number
- Expression used: $node.Code.json.customerPhone
- Result: Shows "$node.Code.json.customerPhone" instead of actual phone

Client Name Field:
- Type: Single line text
- Expression used: $node.Code.json.customerName  
- Result: Shows "$node.Code.json.customerName" instead of actual name

Questions

  1. Expression Editor: Should I be using the fx icon vs text field differently?
  2. Field Types: Do certain Airtable field types not process expressions?
  3. n8n Airtable Node: Are there known limitations with expression processing?
  4. Alternative Approaches: Should I use HTTP Request to Airtable API instead?

Environment

  • n8n version: Cloud hosted
  • Airtable: Pro plan
  • Integration: Working (data flows, just expressions not processing)

Any help would be greatly appreciated! The workflow functions perfectly except for this expression processing issue.

The issue is you are pasting expressions like $node["Code"].json["customerPhone"] directly into the Airtable node fields without using the expression editor.

When you do that, n8n treats them as plain text instead of evaluating them. The fix is simple: click the "fx" icon next to each field, paste the expression there, and n8n will pull in the actual data from previous nodes.

Taha, Airtable Advisor

The issue is you are pasting expressions directly into the Airtable node fields without using the expression editor. When you do that, n8n treats them as plain text instead of evaluating them.

The fix is simple: click the "fx" icon next to each field, paste the expression there, and n8n will pull in the actual data from previous nodes.

Taha, Airtable Advisor

Hey ​@Lincoln Silva for sure you’ll want to set each of the mappings to fx/expression rather than those being static text. Would you mind sharing a couple of screenshot? (Especially from them Airtable node) 

Hi ​@Mike_AutomaticN  Thank you for the quick response! You're absolutely right - I was setting the fields as static text instead of using the fx/expression mode. I'll switch each field to use the fx icon and will share screenshots once I implement the changes. This explains why the expressions were appearing as literal text in Airtable. Really appreciate the guidance! 🙏

Exactly!!! Sure, please feel free to reach out as needed. 

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation

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