How to back up an Airtable base for free (CSV, schema and attachments)

说明与用途

创建只读令牌，使用浏览器工具导出表格、模式和附件，或运行 Node.js 脚本以获取 Airtable 基础的完整备份。

问题

Airtable’s built‑in safety does not guarantee a personal copy; accidental deletions, bulk edits or lost logins can destroy data. A backup must include records, schema and attachments.

结果

The backup contains complete data, schema, and attachments, enabling restoration without Airtable. The process is free and can be run manually or automated.

工作流

• Create a read‑only personal access token with scopes data.records:read and schema.bases:read.
• Run the Base to CSV tool to download all tables as CSVs in a ZIP.
• Run the Schema export tool to get a data dictionary (CSV/Markdown/JSON).
• Run the Attachment downloader to fetch all files into a ZIP with a manifest CSV.
• Optionally run the Record counter to gauge size and limits.
• For full automation, set AIRTABLE_TOKEN and BASE_ID environment variables and execute the provided Node.js script (backup.mjs).

证据

A complete backup of a base has three parts, and most people only save the first: Records, Schema, Attachments.

来源

If the view has filters or hidden fields, the CSV has them too, so you can silently miss records or columns.

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Attachment URLs expire after about two hours.

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The Node.js script (version 18 or newer, no dependencies) saves the schema, every table as JSON, and every attachment.

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