The moment it happens

Import a CSV file into Airtable

Send a link to a CSV and every row is added to your table, with an email telling you how many.

Runs: The moment it happens
Apps: Airtable
AI: Not needed
Access: data.records:write

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: give me a link where I can send a CSV file URL. Add every row to my Airtable Products table and email me how many were added.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

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First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Airtable has its own CSV import, but it is a manual step in the browser, and it works on whole tables at once. Anyone who regularly receives spreadsheets from a supplier, a conference scanner, a former CRM or a client's accountant ends up uploading the same kind of file over and over, matching the columns by hand each time and hoping nothing is duplicated. When a large file is involved, the browser upload times out or someone forgets to run it.

You send the link to a CSV, and the automation downloads it, maps the columns to your table's fields and creates the records in batches of 10, which is the number the Airtable API accepts per request. When it finishes, you get an email with the number of rows created, so you know the import completed.

It suits operations teams, event organizers and finance staff who receive recurring data files.

What you get out of it

Imports no longer depend on a person at a computer
Send the link from your phone or from another tool, and the rows appear in Airtable. The file does not wait for someone to be at their desk with the right browser tab open.
Column mapping is the same every time
Once the mapping from CSV headers to Airtable fields is set, each file is treated identically. That removes the mismatches and mispasted columns that corrupt data when it is done by hand.
Large files are handled in batches
Airtable accepts ten records per request. Splitting the work into batches means a file with several thousand rows is imported steadily, instead of failing halfway through as a browser upload might.
You get a count to check against
The confirmation email reports how many records were created. If the file had 1,200 rows and the email says 1,200, you know it worked, and a mismatch tells you to investigate.
Data from other tools becomes easy to bring in
Any system that can export or host a CSV can feed your base: a payments report, a survey export, a newsletter list. Airtable stays the one place where everything is combined.
Less risk of duplicate or lost rows
A defined process runs the same way each time, so you avoid the uploading of the same file twice or the accidental skipping of the last page of data. A repeatable import keeps your table clean.

How it works

What happens, step by step

When you send ClickRuntime a link to a CSV file, the automation downloads it.
It matches each column in the file to a field in your Airtable table.
Every row is added to the table, ten at a time.
You get an email saying how many rows were added, for example "248 of 248 rows added".

Before it runs live

Connect Airtable
Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens

Import a CSV file into Airtablejust nowSucceeded

Email · CSV import: 248 products added248 of 248 rows added from https://files.northwind.example/products.csv

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

Your own rules
Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.
Any number of apps
One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.
AI where it helps
Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.
On a schedule or on each event
Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
Combine it with other Airtable steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.

bulk_import_records_from_a_csv.pyexample

import csv, io
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, notify

BASE_ID = "appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
COLUMNS = {"name": "Name", "sku": "SKU", "price": "Price", "stock": "Stock"}

@on_event
def handle(event):
    csv_url = (event.json or {}).get("csv_url")
    rows = list(csv.DictReader(io.StringIO(http.get(csv_url).text)))
    records = [{"fields": {COLUMNS[k]: v for k, v in row.items() if k in COLUMNS and v}} for row in rows]
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.connection('airtable', 'work')}"}
    added = 0
    for i in range(0, len(records), 10):
        resp = http.post(f"https://api.airtable.com/v0/{BASE_ID}/Products", headers=headers,
                         json={"typecast": True, "records": records[i:i + 10]})
        resp.raise_for_status()
        added += len(resp.json()["records"])
    notify.email_me(f"CSV import: {added} products added", f"{added} of {len(rows)} rows added from {csv_url}")
    return {"added": added}

FAQ

Common questions

Where must the CSV be hosted?

At a URL the automation can download, such as a Google Drive public link, a Dropbox link, S3 or your own server. The link must work without a login, so share the file with link access before you send it.

What happens with rows that do not match my field types?

Values that cannot be stored, such as text in a number field, can be skipped or written to a log with the row number. You choose in advance so a few bad rows do not stop the whole import.

Can it update existing records instead of adding new ones?

Yes, if you pick a key field such as email or order number. The automation looks for a matching record and updates it, and creates a new one only when none is found, which avoids duplicates.

What permissions does it need?

data.records:write. Nothing else in your accounts is used.

Does it need AI?

No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.

How many runs does it use?

One run for each event the app sends.

Can I change how it works?

Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

The moment it happens