Airtable · sdk · fg-0434

Airtable update wipes every field that was not in the request

Other fields on the record are blank after an update

Verified 2026-10-15 · Confirmed by 0 builders · Trust 50/100

Cause

A PUT to the records endpoint is a destructive update that clears every cell not included. airtable.js replace() sends PUT, while update() sends PATCH.

Fix

Use PATCH (update() in airtable.js) for partial changes, and reserve PUT for writes that send the full record.

Apply

await base("Contacts").update([{ id: rec.id, fields: { Status: "Won" } }]); // PATCH, other fields kept

Affects: Airtable Web API; airtable.js 0.12.2 and earlier

Sources

Have your agent know this before it fails

claude mcp add --transport http footgun https://getfootgun.com/api/mcp