How to integrate Airtable MCP with Pydantic AI

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Airtable to Pydantic AI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Airtable agent that can add new contacts from a signup list, create a project tracking table in workspace, delete outdated records from clients table, fetch schema for my marketing base through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Pydantic AI agent real control over a Airtable account through Composio's Airtable MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • How to set up your Composio API key and User ID
  • How to create a Composio Tool Router session for Airtable
  • How to attach an MCP Server to a Pydantic AI agent
  • How to stream responses and maintain chat history
  • How to build a simple REPL-style chat interface to test your Airtable workflows

What is Pydantic AI?

Pydantic AI is a Python framework for building AI agents with strong typing and validation. It leverages Pydantic's data validation capabilities to create robust, type-safe AI applications.

Key features include:

  • Type Safety: Built on Pydantic for automatic data validation
  • MCP Support: Native support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Streaming: Built-in support for streaming responses
  • Async First: Designed for async/await patterns

What is the Airtable MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Airtable MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Airtable account. It provides structured and secure access to your Airtable bases and tables, so your agent can create records, update fields, manage tables, retrieve schemas, and automate project tracking on your behalf.

  • Seamless record creation and management: Easily instruct your agent to add new records, create multiple entries at once, or delete outdated information across any Airtable table.
  • Intuitive table and field customization: Ask your agent to design new tables, add or modify fields, and tailor the structure of your bases for evolving projects and workflows.
  • Efficient schema discovery: Let your agent fetch detailed schema information, including fields and configurations, to power data-driven automation and analysis.
  • Collaborative commenting: Have your agent add or remove comments on specific records, making team collaboration and discussion much smoother from anywhere.
  • Bulk operations for productivity: Enable your agent to perform batch actions like creating or deleting multiple records in one go, saving you time on repetitive data management tasks.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Create baseCreates a new airtable base with specified tables and fields within a workspace; ensure field options are valid for their type.
Create CommentCreates a new comment on a specific record within an airtable base and table.
Create FieldCreates a new field within a specified table in an airtable base.
Create multiple recordsCreates multiple new records in a specified airtable table.
Create a recordCreates a new record in a specified airtable table; field values must conform to the table's column types.
Create tableCreates a new table within a specified existing airtable base, allowing definition of its name, description, and field structure.
Delete CommentDeletes an existing comment from a specified record in an airtable table.
Delete multiple recordsDeletes up to 10 specified records from a table within an airtable base.
Delete RecordPermanently deletes a specific record from an existing table within an existing airtable base.
Get Base SchemaRetrieves the detailed schema for a specified airtable base, including its tables, fields, field types, and configurations, using the `baseid`.
Get RecordRetrieves a specific record from a table within an airtable base.
Get user informationRetrieves information, such as id and permission scopes, for the currently authenticated airtable user from the `/meta/whoami` endpoint.
List basesRetrieves all airtable bases accessible to the authenticated user, which may include an 'offset' for pagination.
List CommentsRetrieves all comments for a specific record in an airtable table, requiring existing `baseid`, `tableidorname`, and `recordid`.
List recordsRetrieves records from an airtable table, with options for filtering, sorting, pagination, and specifying returned fields.
Update multiple recordsUpdates multiple existing records in a specified airtable table; these updates are not performed atomically.
Update recordModifies specified fields of an existing record in an airtable base and table; the base, table, and record must exist.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Tool Router

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Python 3.9 or higher
  • A Composio account with an active API key
  • Basic familiarity with Python and async programming

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.

Install dependencies

bash
pip install composio pydantic-ai python-dotenv

Install the required libraries.

What's happening:

  • composio connects your agent to external SaaS tools like Airtable
  • pydantic-ai lets you create structured AI agents with tool support
  • python-dotenv loads your environment variables securely from a .env file

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates your agent to Composio's API
  • USER_ID associates your session with your account for secure tool access
  • OPENAI_API_KEY to access OpenAI LLMs

Import dependencies

python
import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from composio import Composio
from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHTTP

load_dotenv()
What's happening:
  • We load environment variables and import required modules
  • Composio manages connections to Airtable
  • MCPServerStreamableHTTP connects to the Airtable MCP server endpoint
  • Agent from Pydantic AI lets you define and run the AI assistant

Create a Tool Router Session

python
async def main():
    api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
    user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")
    if not api_key or not user_id:
        raise RuntimeError("Set COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID in your environment")

    # Create a Composio Tool Router session for Airtable
    composio = Composio(api_key=api_key)
    session = composio.create(
        user_id=user_id,
        toolkits=["airtable"],
    )
    url = session.mcp.url
    if not url:
        raise ValueError("Composio session did not return an MCP URL")
What's happening:
  • We're creating a Tool Router session that gives your agent access to Airtable tools
  • The create method takes the user ID and specifies which toolkits should be available
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use

Initialize the Pydantic AI Agent

python
# Attach the MCP server to a Pydantic AI Agent
airtable_mcp = MCPServerStreamableHTTP(url, headers={"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY})
agent = Agent(
    "openai:gpt-5",
    toolsets=[airtable_mcp],
    instructions=(
        "You are a Airtable assistant. Use Airtable tools to help users "
        "with their requests. Ask clarifying questions when needed."
    ),
)
What's happening:
  • The MCP client connects to the Airtable endpoint
  • The agent uses GPT-5 to interpret user commands and perform Airtable operations
  • The instructions field defines the agent's role and behavior

Build the chat interface

python
# Simple REPL with message history
history = []
print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")
print("Try asking the agent to help you with Airtable.\n")

while True:
    user_input = input("You: ").strip()
    if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "bye"}:
        print("\nGoodbye!")
        break
    if not user_input:
        continue

    print("\nAgent is thinking...\n", flush=True)

    async with agent.run_stream(user_input, message_history=history) as stream_result:
        collected_text = ""
        async for chunk in stream_result.stream_output():
            text_piece = None
            if isinstance(chunk, str):
                text_piece = chunk
            elif hasattr(chunk, "delta") and isinstance(chunk.delta, str):
                text_piece = chunk.delta
            elif hasattr(chunk, "text"):
                text_piece = chunk.text
            if text_piece:
                collected_text += text_piece
        result = stream_result

    print(f"Agent: {collected_text}\n")
    history = result.all_messages()
What's happening:
  • The agent reads input from the terminal and streams its response
  • Airtable API calls happen automatically under the hood
  • The model keeps conversation history to maintain context across turns

Run the application

python
if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())
What's happening:
  • The asyncio loop launches the agent and keeps it running until you exit

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Airtable and Pydantic AI:

python
import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from composio import Composio
from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHTTP

load_dotenv()

async def main():
    api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
    user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")
    if not api_key or not user_id:
        raise RuntimeError("Set COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID in your environment")

    # Create a Composio Tool Router session for Airtable
    composio = Composio(api_key=api_key)
    session = composio.create(
        user_id=user_id,
        toolkits=["airtable"],
    )
    url = session.mcp.url
    if not url:
        raise ValueError("Composio session did not return an MCP URL")

    # Attach the MCP server to a Pydantic AI Agent
    airtable_mcp = MCPServerStreamableHTTP(url, headers={"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY})
    agent = Agent(
        "openai:gpt-5",
        toolsets=[airtable_mcp],
        instructions=(
            "You are a Airtable assistant. Use Airtable tools to help users "
            "with their requests. Ask clarifying questions when needed."
        ),
    )

    # Simple REPL with message history
    history = []
    print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")
    print("Try asking the agent to help you with Airtable.\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "bye"}:
            print("\nGoodbye!")
            break
        if not user_input:
            continue

        print("\nAgent is thinking...\n", flush=True)

        async with agent.run_stream(user_input, message_history=history) as stream_result:
            collected_text = ""
            async for chunk in stream_result.stream_output():
                text_piece = None
                if isinstance(chunk, str):
                    text_piece = chunk
                elif hasattr(chunk, "delta") and isinstance(chunk.delta, str):
                    text_piece = chunk.delta
                elif hasattr(chunk, "text"):
                    text_piece = chunk.text
                if text_piece:
                    collected_text += text_piece
            result = stream_result

        print(f"Agent: {collected_text}\n")
        history = result.all_messages()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Conclusion

You've built a Pydantic AI agent that can interact with Airtable through Composio's Tool Router. With this setup, your agent can perform real Airtable actions through natural language. You can extend this further by:
  • Adding other toolkits like Gmail, HubSpot, or Salesforce
  • Building a web-based chat interface around this agent
  • Using multiple MCP endpoints to enable cross-app workflows (for example, Gmail + Airtable for workflow automation)
This architecture makes your AI agent "agent-native", able to securely use APIs in a unified, composable way without custom integrations.

How to build Airtable MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Airtable MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Use Airtable MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Google ADK

Google ADK

Use Airtable MCP with Google ADK

LangChain

LangChain

Use Airtable MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK

Vercel AI SDK

Use Airtable MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI

Mastra AI

Use Airtable MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex

LlamaIndex

Use Airtable MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI

CrewAI

Use Airtable MCP with CrewAI

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Airtable MCP?

With a standalone Airtable MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Airtable tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Airtable and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Pydantic AI?

Yes, you can. Pydantic AI fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Airtable tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Airtable while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Airtable scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Airtable data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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