Simplescraper

Scraping website data into Airtable ​

With Simplescraper you can scrape data from any website directly into your Airtable bases quicky and easily. This guide has been updated to show you how to use Personal Access Tokens (PAT) instead of the now deprecated API keys.

Follow the steps below or watch the short video above

Activating the Airtable Integration ​

  • In Simplescraper, navigate to the Send tab of your recipe and locate the Airtable integration
  • Toggle the Activate switch on to enable the integration

Setting up Your Personal Access Token ​

To add your Personal Access Token in Airtable:

  • Visit your Personal Access Token page on Airtable: https://airtable.com/create/tokens
  • Click the '+ Create new token' button
  • Name your token something like 'Simplescraper access'
  • Under Scopes, select 'data.records:read' and 'data.records:write'
  • Choose the access level for your PAT:
    • For flexibility, select 'All current and future bases in all current and future workspaces'
    • If you'll only use a single base, choose access to that specific base
  • After creating your token, copy it to your clipboard (token is shown only once)
  • Paste this token into the Personal Access Token field in Simplescraper and press Enter to save

Adding Your Base ID ​

  • Open the Airtable base you wish to save data into
  • Note the string after 'https://airtable.com/' in your URL bar (begins with 'app', e.g., 'appQjzhfyaBCde')
  • Copy this base ID and paste it into the Base ID field in Simplescraper
  • Press Enter to save

Alternative method:

  • Navigate to Airtable's API page
  • Click on your desired base
  • Find the Base ID highlighted in green in the introduction section

Setting Your Table Name ​

  • Navigate to your Airtable base
  • Copy the name of the table where you want the data to appear
  • Paste this name into the Table name field in Simplescraper
  • Press Enter to save

Configuring Properties ​

  • In the Airtable Integration section in Simplescraper, toggle on the property names in the 'Included properties' section for the data you want to save
  • For each selected property, create a corresponding single-line text field in your Airtable table with the exact same name
  • Set up these fields in Airtable before you begin
  • For link properties, create an additional field with '_link' added to the property name
    • Example: For 'jobtitle' that's a link, create both 'jobtitle' and 'jobtitle_link' fields
  • If a property has no matching field in your table, the send still goes through: that property is left out and every other field arrives

Choosing a Save Method ​

Under 'Save method', choose how each send treats the records already in your table:

  • Append new results to existing data: each send adds new records and keeps the old ones.
  • Replace existing data with new results: each send adds the new records, then deletes the old ones. The old records are deleted only after the new ones exist, so a send that fails never leaves your table empty. 'Test integration' never deletes records.

Testing and Running ​

  • Click 'Test integration' to verify the connection
  • If successful, you'll see the message 'Test passed - successfully connected.' If an included property has no matching field, the message names it and asks you to add the field or switch the property off
  • Run your scrape recipe, and when complete, your data will automatically save to your Airtable base
  • Under the buttons, the panel shows the outcome of the last send, for example 'Last sent 8 Oct 14:02 with 12 records.', and names any field that was left out

Troubleshooting ​

If the test integration button didn't return a 'test passed' message it's likely an issue with your Airtable configuration. Follow the steps below for solutions to common error messages:

  • 'Something went wrong - please try again.': make sure to press the ENTER key after entering the Personal Access Token, Base ID and Table name into the input fields
  • 'Not found - base ID or table name may be incorrect or may not exist': verify that the base ID matches the base that you wish to scrape data into, and ensure that a table with the exact same name that you entered in the 'Table name' section exists in that base
  • 'Airtable has no field named ...': the named property was left out of the send because your table has no field with that name. Add a single line text field with exactly that name in Airtable, or switch the property off
  • 'None of the included properties has a field in your Airtable table.': nothing was sent. Add a single line text field with the same name for each property you send
  • 'No Airtable API key is saved.' or 'The saved Airtable API key can't be read.': paste your Personal Access Token into the API key field again and press Enter

Note: your Airtable Personal Access Token is encrypted before being securely stored. If you have any questions please reach out to us via chat.