Airtable connector
Your Silux Chat bot verifies customers against Airtable, then answers questions about their orders and order status from your live data.
What your bot can do with Airtable
Recognise and verify customers
Finds the customer in Airtable by the email address or mobile number they give, checks their name and one more detail, then sends a one-time code to the contact details Airtable holds. Nothing personal is shared until the code is entered.
Customers ask: “I want to check my account — it’s Jane Smith, jane@example.com”
Orders and order status
Reads a verified customer’s recent orders from Airtable — order number, date, status and total, plus tracking where Airtable records it.
Customers ask: “Where is my order?” · “Has my last order been sent?”
Set it up
Most businesses finish in under ten minutes. You need to be able to sign in to Airtable as an administrator to create the key.
Step 1 — in Airtable
- 1airtable.com/create/tokens
- 2Create token with scope data.records:read on this base
- 3copy it. Fields must be named Name, Email, Phone, Postcode (customers) and Order, Date, Status, Total, Tracking, Courier, Email (orders).
Least access: grant only the read permissions named above (customers, orders, invoices, bookings or tickets — whichever this connector uses). Never use an owner or full-admin key where Airtable lets you create a restricted one.
Step 2 — in Silux Chat
- 1Open Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and search for “Airtable”.
- 2Fill in:
Field Example Stored Base ID appAbC123dEf456Gh Setting Customers table name or ID Customers Setting Orders table name or ID Orders Setting Personal access token (data.records:read) •••••••• Encrypted - 3Press Connect & test. The platform makes a real, read-only call to Airtable with a made-up customer and shows a tick or a cross for each capability, with Airtable’s exact error if something is refused.
- 4If this is your first way of verifying customers it is switched on automatically; otherwise press Use to verify customers. The platform then runs its chained test (verify → code → account → orders → invoices) with the built-in test customer — no real person is contacted.
You create an API or access token in Airtable and paste it into your dashboard. It is sent as a Bearer token on every call, over HTTPS only.
How customer verification works
- STEP 1
Customer asks
They ask about their own account. The bot asks for their full name and their email or mobile, plus one more detail such as their postcode.
- STEP 2
Found in Airtable
The customer is looked up in Airtable by email, then mobile. The surname must match exactly and the first name must match or start with the same letter, plus one more detail.
- STEP 3
Code sent
A 6-digit code goes to the mobile Airtable holds (by text, when your plan has SMS) or otherwise to the email it holds. The chat never chooses where it goes.
- STEP 4
Verified
The customer types the code. It is valid for 10 minutes and five wrong attempts cancel it. The verified session lasts 30 minutes.
If the details don’t match, the customer is told only that they couldn’t be matched — never which detail was wrong. If Airtable can’t be reached, the bot says it can’t check accounts right now rather than “no account found”. The bot is blocked in code from reading orders, invoices or bookings until verification succeeds. Full details: Customer identity verification & OTP.
What the bot can and cannot see
Can see (after verification)
- Record ID
- Name
- Email address
- Phone / mobile
- Postcode
- Order number
- Order date
- Status
- Total
- Tracking number
- Courier
Only these standard fields are mapped from Airtable’s responses. Everything else in the response is discarded before the bot sees it.
Never sees
- passwords, security answers or login details
- records belonging to anyone other than the verified customer
- anything outside the fields listed alongside
Security
Keys encrypted at rest
Credentials are stored encrypted, shown only masked after saving, and destroyed — not just hidden — when you disconnect.
Read-only look-ups
Every capability is a look-up. The connector cannot create, change or delete anything in Airtable.
HTTPS only
Calls go to the vendor’s HTTPS address, redirects are not followed, and private network addresses are refused.
Injection-safe
Values a customer types are cleaned before they are placed in Airtable’s search, and URL-encoded in addresses.
Other customers filtered out
A row that names a different customer’s email is dropped, whatever the vendor’s search returned.
Checked daily
Connections are re-tested every day, and the owner is emailed if a working connection starts failing.
More: Security & data protection.
Technical details
For developers and IT teams: the Airtable endpoints this connector reads, relative to https://api.airtable.com/v0/{base_id}. Values in braces come from the settings you enter.
| Capability | Request | Standard fields returned |
|---|---|---|
| Recognise and verify customers | GET/{customers_table} | id, name, email, phone, postcode |
| Orders and order status | GET/{orders_table} | order_number, placed, status, total, tracking, courier |
Test level: Documented-API tested. Each capability is run automatically against Airtable’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields; your own connection is then tested with a real call when you connect. The bot receives these through the standard Account Connect endpoints, exactly as if you had built them yourself.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| “the vendor refused the credentials (401)” or (403) | The key was revoked, has expired or was copied incompletely, or it lacks a read permission this connector needs. Create a fresh read-only key in Airtable and reconnect. |
| “That Base ID doesn’t look right” | Enter it in the form shown, e.g. appAbC123dEf456Gh — without https:// or a trailing slash. |
| Customers are “not matched” although they exist | Customers are looked up by email or mobile, not postcode. Check the customer’s email or mobile is saved on their Airtable record, and that the surname matches. |
| A capability shows a cross but others work | That permission wasn’t granted in Airtable, or your Airtable plan doesn’t include that part of the API. Grant it and press Test. |
| “the vendor kept rate-limiting the request” | Airtable returned “too many requests” three times in a row. The platform already waits and retries automatically (up to 10 seconds, as Airtable asks); if it persists, ask Airtable about your API quota. |
| Results are empty for a verified customer | The records exist under a different email or customer record in Airtable, or none are recent. Check the customer’s record in Airtable directly. |
Full error reference: Troubleshooting & error reference.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Airtable connection read-only?
Yes. Every request Silux Chat makes to Airtable is a look-up; none creates, changes or deletes anything in Airtable. Give the key or sign-in read-only permissions wherever Airtable offers them.
Do I need a developer to connect Airtable?
No. You paste the details listed in the set-up steps in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and press “Connect & test”. The platform makes a real call to Airtable straight away and shows exactly which features work.
How does the bot know it is really my customer?
It finds the customer in Airtable by the email or mobile they give, checks their name and one more detail, then sends a one-time code to the mobile or email held in Airtable — never to one typed in the chat. The code lasts 10 minutes, five wrong attempts cancel it, and a verified session lasts 30 minutes.
What happens if my Airtable key is revoked or expires?
The bot tells customers it can’t check their account right now — it never pretends there are “no orders”. Connections are re-tested daily and the account owner is emailed when a working connection starts failing. Reconnect it in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors.
How has the Airtable connector been tested?
It is Documented-API tested: every capability is run automatically against Airtable’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields. When you connect, it is tested again with a real call to your own Airtable account before your bot uses it.
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Need help with your integration?
Our integration team can review your endpoints, help you choose the right connector and check a test run with you. Tell us which system you use and what you would like the bot to answer.