The moment it happens

Save form submissions to Airtable

Every submission lands as a record in your table, and returning people update their existing record instead of creating a new one.

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

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: give me a link I can point my website contact form at. Add each submission to my Airtable Leads table, and if the email is already there, update that record instead.

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

Add to ChatGPT Add to Claude

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

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Forms and apps come in many varieties: a website contact form, a Typeform, a Stripe event, a mobile app's sign-up, a booking tool. Each sends data in its own format, and the people who need the data want it in one Airtable table. Copying from email notifications is slow and error-prone, and a basic integration that adds a new row for every event creates duplicates when the same person submits twice or an event is delivered again.

When data arrives, the automation maps its fields to your table's columns, looks up an existing record by the key field you choose (such as email or order ID), and creates a new record or updates the existing one. The data lands in Airtable within seconds of the event.

Use it when you want any team that wants Airtable as the single source of truth for what comes in from forms and tools.

What you get out of it

Everything lands in one table
Submissions and events from different sources end up in the same place, so you search, filter and report in one view instead of across email threads and tool dashboards. That frees time for the work the data is meant to support.
Duplicates are prevented
Checking for an existing record by key field means a repeated submission or a retried webhook updates the same row, so your counts stay honest. If a sender renames a field, you notice and update the mapping, not find broken data weeks later.
No copying and pasting
Data entry from notification emails disappears. That saves time and avoids typos that turn into wrong phone numbers or misspelled names. That means the next step in your process can begin immediately, with the full record in front of the person who needs it.
Field mapping is explicit
Because each incoming field is mapped to a column, a change in the sender's format is visible and fixable, instead of silently ending up in the wrong place. Errors are easier to find and fix.
Work can start immediately
With the record created in seconds, views, automations and teammates can react to it at once, whether that means an assignment, a follow-up or a status change. Rules and views can respond right away.

How it works

What happens, step by step

The moment someone submits your form, or another app sends an event, ClickRuntime receives the answers.
It matches each answer to the right field in your Airtable table.
It looks for an existing record with the same email or key field.
If one exists, that record is updated; otherwise a new record is created, so returning people never become duplicates.

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

Save form submissions to Airtablejust nowSucceeded

Airtable · Leadsdana@northwind.example · Northwind · "Can we get a quote for 40 seats?" (updated existing record)

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.

save_incoming_form_or_webhook_data_as_records.pyexample

from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, log

BASE_ID = "appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
TABLE = "Leads"

@on_event
def handle(event):
    form = event.json or {}
    email = (form.get("email") or "").strip().lower()
    if not email:
        log.warning("submission without email skipped")
        return {"saved": False}
    resp = http.patch(
        f"https://api.airtable.com/v0/{BASE_ID}/{TABLE}",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.connection('airtable', 'work')}"},
        json={"performUpsert": {"fieldsToMergeOn": ["Email"]}, "typecast": True,
              "records": [{"fields": {"Email": email, "Name": form.get("name", ""),
                                      "Company": form.get("company", ""),
                                      "Message": form.get("message", "")}}]},
    )
    resp.raise_for_status()
    data = resp.json()
    return {"saved": True, "created": bool(data.get("createdRecords")), "id": data["records"][0]["id"]}

FAQ

Common questions

What if the sender includes fields I have not mapped?

Unmapped fields are ignored unless you add them. You can also store the whole payload in a long text field as a backup, which is useful when you are not sure what a new tool sends.

Which field should be the key for matching?

Whichever identifies a unique item: email for people, order number for purchases, or an event ID for webhooks. Choose a field that does not change between submissions. Email works well for people, because it is unique and rarely edited.

Can it save attachments or files?

Yes, if the sender provides a public file URL. The URL can be written as an attachment object in an Airtable attachment field, and Airtable downloads and stores it. Airtable does the downloading and keeps its own copy of the file.

What permissions does it need?

data.records:read, 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