development-airtable.md

Development: Airtable Setup

You should already have an Airtable account, as detailed in the Prerequisites.

Now we need to set up a base and table to store some sample data.

1. Log into Airtable. The dashboard defaults to the Bases view.
2. Click the + icon to Add a base.
3. In the dropdown, choose Start from scratch.
4. Name your base something descriptive. A base is a collection of tables, and we'll use a table inside this base to store speaking events. You can also select a color and an icon for your base.
5. Once your base is set up, click on it to open it. You will see an empty table in grid view. It should look something like this:
6. Rename "Table 1" to a name of your choosing. This will be the table where the Slack bot saves and reads data. For example, I called the table Slackbot Template.
7. Modify/add the table fields as described below. It's very important that the fields be named and formatted exactly as shown, otherwise, the app will not be able to read or save the data properly without further code edits:

• Name | Single line text
• Email | Single line text
• Image | URL
• URL | URL
• Bio | Long text (no rich text formatting)
• Slack ID | Single line text

8. Add your table's name to your .env file in the AIRTABLE_TABLE variable.
9. Examine the table's URL in the browser. It should look something like this: https://airtable.com/[tblXXXxxx]/[viwXXXxxx]?blocks=...
10. Copy the segment of the URL that begins with "tbl" to .env as the AIRTABLE_TABLE_ID variable.
11. Copy the segment of the URL that begins with "viw" to .env as the AIRTABLE_VIEW_ID variable. (It should be the "Grid view.")
12. In the upper right of your base view, you should see a link that says HELP (?).
    Click on this link and in the dropdown, choose API Documentation. This opens the API docs for your base.
13. In the Airtable API Introduction section, find the line that says:

The ID of this base is appXXXXXX.

14. Copy the base ID and paste it into your .env file as the AIRTABLE_BASE_ID variable.
15. Now return to your base view. In the upper right corner, click on your avatar icon and choose Account from the dropdown.
16. You should now see your Account overview page. In the "API" section, there is a personal API key (displayed as dots in an input field). Click in the field to view the text contents. It should reveal a string starting with "key." Copy this API key and paste it into your .env file as AIRTABLE_API_KEY.
17. Save your .env changes.

You are now ready to use Airtable as your data source for events! Head back to the Development docs or you can move to the next step: Development: MongoDB Setup.