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Every 10 minutes

Keep an Airtable list of new files in a Drive folder

Every file added to a Drive folder is listed in Airtable with its name, type, owner and link.

Runs
Every 10 minutes
Apps
Airtable, Google Drive
AI
Not needed
Access
Drive read (metadata); Airtable write

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: every 10 minutes, add any new files from my Drive 'Shared docs' folder to my Airtable 'Files' table with name, type, owner, date and link.

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

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

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A consultancy shares a Drive folder with each client for contracts, briefs and deliverables. Files are added by both sides, and nobody can say quickly what arrived this week or who uploaded it. Searching Drive works for one file but not for a register of everything, and the account manager keeps a manual list that is always missing something.

Logging each new file in Airtable as it appears gives the team a register they can filter, group by client or type, and add notes to, while the files themselves stay in the shared folder.

What you get out of it

  • A register that fills itself

    Every new file appears in Airtable within ten minutes, with name, type, owner, date and link.

  • Filter and sort what Drive cannot

    Group files by type or uploader, add status and notes, and build views per project in Airtable.

  • You see who added what

    The owner field shows whether a file came from your team or the client.

  • Each file logged once

    The newest file time is remembered, so the table never fills with duplicates.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. Every 10 minutes, ClickRuntime checks your Shared docs folder in Drive for files added since the last check.

  2. For each new file it collects the name, type, owner, date added and link.

  3. A row is added to your Airtable Files table for each one.

  4. The time of the newest file is remembered, so each file is logged once.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Airtable
  • Connect Google Drive

What you get

RunsEvery 10 minutes
Keep an Airtable list of new files in a Drive foldertoday, 9:00Succeeded
Airtable · FilesContoso statement of work v3.pdf · pdf · added by Sam Rivera · 19 Oct 2026 Northwind brand guidelines · document · added by Alex Kim · 19 Oct 2026

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 and Google Drive 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.
log_new_drive_files_in_an_airtable_table.pyexample
from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from clickruntime import on_trigger, credentials, http, state, report_fetched

BASE_ID, FOLDER_ID = "appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "1FolderIdOfSharedDocs"

@on_trigger
def run(event):
    drive = build("drive", "v3", credentials=Credentials(credentials.connection("google", "work")), cache_discovery=False)
    since = state.get("since") or "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"
    files = drive.files().list(q=f"'{FOLDER_ID}' in parents and createdTime > '{since}' and trashed = false",
                               orderBy="createdTime", pageSize=100,
                               fields="files(id,name,mimeType,createdTime,webViewLink,owners(displayName))").execute()["files"]
    report_fetched(len(files))
    if not files:
        return {"logged": 0}
    records = [{"fields": {"Name": f["name"], "Type": f["mimeType"].split("/")[-1].replace("vnd.google-apps.", ""),
                           "Owner": (f.get("owners") or [{}])[0].get("displayName", ""), "Added": f["createdTime"],
                           "Link": f["webViewLink"], "Drive ID": f["id"]}} for f in files]
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.connection('airtable', 'work')}"}
    for i in range(0, len(records), 10):
        http.post(f"https://api.airtable.com/v0/{BASE_ID}/Files", headers=headers,
                  json={"typecast": True, "records": records[i:i + 10]}).raise_for_status()
    state.set("since", files[-1]["createdTime"])
    return {"logged": len(records)}

FAQ

Common questions

Does it log files in subfolders?
Only files directly inside the folder you name. If you use subfolders per project, ask your AI assistant to include them or set up one automation per folder.
Are edits to existing files logged?
No. It logs files when they are first added. Changes to a file's content do not create a new row.
What does the type field show?
A readable type from Drive, such as PDF, Google Doc, spreadsheet or image, so you can filter the table by kind of file.
What permissions does it need?
Drive read (metadata); Airtable 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 each time it checks. Checks that find nothing new and stop right away aren't counted.
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.

Set up “Keep an Airtable list of new files in a Drive folder” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.