New beta: Sync API

[derekwu]

Hi everyone! We're excited to release a new feature into beta: the Sync API.

It's a new sync integration that accepts CSV-formatted data through our REST API. We're hoping this makes it easier to plug in data sources that Airtable doesn't natively support.

Developer documentation is available here. Usage limits are currently 10,000 rows/500 columns/2 MB per request, rate-limited to 1 request/10 min.

Sync API is available as a table sync source right now - tucked away under "more sources" in this menu. A full setup guide is available here.

    

Sync API is currently limited to Pro and Enterprise customers.

[Karlstens]

Thanks for sharing this - it's really neat! My initial tinkering shows it works well - and I'm now considering use case scenarios.

I also liked how that with an automation to monitor the record creation within the sync'd CSV table - that could then trigger actions within the CSV or other tables too - very cool!

[Karlstens]

Good afternoon @derekwu  - I've been using the Sync API with CSV files in production lately, it's great!

I have some feedback - during today's testing, I created a CSV with pricing data, and I went to use the new Sync API to bring that CSV back into a new sync'd table - however I noticed that for any currency field within the input CSV file, the sync tool was unable to convert this to either an Airtable numeric or currency field.

I feel that a lot of CSV data would be output from systems, containing units, be it either units of currency or measurement - and it would be greatly beneficial if this could be configured somehow when configuring the CSV Sync.

Considering this limitation for the first time now, I think the only two workarounds available are to either manually strip out the units from the original CSV data, or, continue with the sync, then create a formula field that parses the CSV string data into the desired numeric value with post-Airtable Field formatting applied.

[Karlstens]

Good morning @derekwu - just some further feedback on the Sync API for CSV_DATA - in that when taking CSV from one source.

I've found that the incoming CSV data may contain duplicate fields and I'd like the ability to resolve this problem within Airtable, and not have to deal with it prior to my data uploading to Airtable using another app.

For example, I can't control the fields that output from this running data source - meaning that before I get this data sync'd in Airtable, I have to parse it through another app, be it Google Sheets, Excel... Really I'd just like to have it upload to Airtable and then review/resolve the duplicate field issues from within Airtable.

Also, I've another question on if the "Duration" conversion process could be improved. Here we have running data, but none of it can be converted to leverage the Duration column - at least not easily.

Some similar data - "Best Lap Time" that could be displayed via a Duration field;

But upon converting within the Sync CSV Data setup, there's no way to correct the duration format.

EDIT: Thankfully those duration field configs aren't stuck - and can be updated to reflect the true data after the initial sync process. 🥳

[ScottWorld]

Note that Airtable’s Sync API limitations can be worked around by using Make’s CSV Tools to automatically sync CSV files into Airtable.

I give step-by-step instructions on how to do this in this episode of the BuiltOnAir Airtable podcast.

There is a small learning curve with Make, which is why I created this basic navigation video to help. I also provide the links to a few other Make training resources there as well.

p.s. I am available for hire as an expert Airtable consultant to help with any of this by contacting me through my website: Airtable consulting — ScottWorld