I’m having trouble setting up an automation that automatically connects records between two different tables in Airtable. The matching logic seems correct but it’s not working.
My current setup:
- Two tables:
Companies and Project Status
- Both tables have a formula field named
Full Identity that creates text like: Awesome Store — John Smith
- The
Project Status table has a linked record field called Connected Company that should link to the Companies table. I want this to fill automatically when new records are added by matching records where Full Identity values are the same.
My automation attempt:
- Trigger: New record added to
Project Status
- Step 1: “Find records” action looking for
Companies.Full Identity = Project Status.Full Identity
- Step 2: “Update record” action to fill the
Connected Company field with the matched record ID
The issue:
The values look identical when I check them, but the automation never finds matches and the Connected Company field stays empty. Manual linking works perfectly, but I need this to happen automatically.
Could this be a problem with using formula fields in automation conditions?
Has anyone successfully automated linked record population like this? I’m open to alternative approaches that don’t require manual intervention for each new entry.
Your automation setup looks right, but formula fields mess up automation workflows. I’ve hit this exact problem tons of times. Here’s what happens: Airtable runs automations faster than formulas can finish calculating. So when a new record triggers your automation, the Full Identity formula is still calculating or showing empty values, making the find operation fail. Try using a webhook instead of Airtable’s native automations. Zapier or Make add natural delays and retry logic that handle formula timing way better. I’ve had much better luck with external tools for this cross-table matching stuff. Or go with a two-step internal process. First automation creates the record and fills a simple text field with your matching criteria. Second automation kicks in when that text field updates and does the actual linking. This splits the formula calculation from the matching logic. For debugging, add a temp text field to capture the Full Identity value when the automation runs. You’ll see exactly what values your automation gets versus what shows up in the interface.
yeah, this is super annoying but happens constantly. formula fields don’t play nice with automations because of timing issues. quick fix that works for me - add a checkbox field called “ready for linking” or whatever, then manually check it after creating records. use that as your automation trigger instead of record creation. bit more manual but way more reliable than fighting formula timing problems.
Been dealing with the same automation headaches for months. Your formula field matching is definitely the bottleneck. One thing that saved me - switch your automation trigger to “Record updated” instead of “Record created” with a condition checking if the Full Identity field isn’t empty. That way automation only runs after the formula actually calculates. Also check if your formula fields have trailing spaces or formatting differences. I found using TRIM() in my formulas helped eliminate invisible whitespace breaking matches. Another approach - create a separate text field that gets populated by a different automation right after record creation, then use that for matching instead of the formula field directly. Takes an extra step but removes timing uncertainty completely. Manual linking working perfectly means your logic’s sound, just gotta work around Airtable’s formula calculation timing.
Formula fields in automations are tricky. Hit this exact issue last year building a project tracker.
It’s a timing problem. New records get created, but the formula field hasn’t calculated yet when your automation fires. Happens all the time.
What worked for me:
Add a 1-2 second delay between your trigger and find action. Gives Airtable time to calculate the formula values.
Check your formula fields for hidden characters or spacing. Copy the values to a text editor and compare character by character - sometimes there are invisible differences.
More reliable approach: use regular text fields instead of formulas for matching. Populate them with automations or scripts.
I switched to unique IDs or email addresses for matching instead of concatenated text. Way more reliable.
Still having issues? Test your find records step manually with known values first. That’ll tell you if it’s timing or data.
This topic was automatically closed 4 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
