I’m getting a weird cookie error when trying to fetch data from my Airtable database using Java. The setup looks fine to me but something is going wrong.
Here’s how I initialize everything:
Airtable database = new Airtable().configure(API_TOKEN);
Base workspace = database.base("my-database-id");
The error message I keep getting is:
Nov 12, 2020 5:53:08 PM org.apache.http.client.protocol.ResponseProcessCookies processCookies
WARNING: Invalid cookie header: "Set-Cookie: brw=brwkel6HWNoWVEl49; path=/; expires=Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:53:08 GMT; domain=.airtable.com; samesite=none; secure; httponly". Invalid 'expires' attribute: Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:53:08 GMT
Exception in thread "main" com.sybit.airtable.exception.AirtableException: {"error":"NOT_FOUND"} (UNDEFINED_ERROR) [Http code 404]
at com.sybit.airtable.exception.HttpResponseExceptionHandler.onResponse(HttpResponseExceptionHandler.java:29)
at com.sybit.airtable.Table.select(Table.java:206)
at com.sybit.airtable.Table.select(Table.java:327)
This is the method that breaks:
public void fetchTableData() throws AirtableException, HttpResponseException {
List<Vehicle> records = workspace.table("Vehicle").select("Routes");
}
I double checked my API key and base ID multiple times. Anyone know what might be causing this issue?
Yeah, that cookie warning messed with me too - HttpClient’s just picky about date formats. Your real problem is the 404 error though. I hit this same thing migrating an old Java setup. You’re probably using the visual base name instead of the programmatic ID. Check your Airtable URL in the browser and grab everything after the slash - starts with “app” plus random characters. Another thing that got me: table name encoding. “Vehicle” looks fine, but try hitting it through the API docs page first. Sometimes there’s hidden unicode stuff or the table got renamed. Oh, and if you’re using a personal access token instead of the old API key, double-check your scopes include the right base and read permissions. Old API keys were way more permissive but PATs lock things down hard.
Been there with Java and Airtable headaches. The cookie warning is just noise but that 404 tells the real story.
Debugging connection problems and auth flows manually is a massive time sink. You’re stuck dealing with token validation, endpoint formatting, error handling, and tons of boilerplate code.
I ditched coding these data flows from scratch and switched to automation instead. Way more reliable and you don’t have to babysit HTTP clients or debug weird API errors.
For Airtable specifically, I use automated workflows that handle auth and data fetching without any Java complexity. The automation platform deals with all the API quirks and gives you clean data outputs.
You can focus on actually using the data instead of fighting connection code. Plus when Airtable changes something, the automation adapts automatically.
Also double-check your field name. You wrote select("Routes") but maybe it’s called something slightly different in Airtable? I’ve seen fields with extra spaces or weird casing that don’t show up in the UI. Try pulling all fields first without specifying any - see what actually comes back.
Had this exact mess a few months back when updating some legacy data sync stuff.
The cookie warning’s annoying but harmless. That 404’s your real problem.
One thing nobody mentioned - check if you’re using the right endpoint region. Some Airtable bases live on different API endpoints now. If your base URL shows eu.airtable.com or has any regional prefix, you might need to configure the client differently.
Also, try logging the actual HTTP request URL before it goes out. I’ve seen the Java library build weird URLs when there’s encoding issues with base IDs or table names.
Quick test - can you hit the same data through a simple curl command? If curl works but Java doesn’t, you know it’s something in how the library constructs requests.
Another gotcha - if this base was shared with you or transferred between accounts recently, the API permissions might be lagging behind what you see in the UI. Airtable’s API auth can be slower to update than the web interface.
That cookie warning is harmless - just the HTTP client complaining about date formatting. The real problem is the 404.
I hit something similar last year. Turned out my API token had scope issues. It worked fine for other stuff but certain tables were locked down. Try a basic select() call first without any field filtering to test your connection.
Also check you’re using the right workspace reference. I’ve mixed up workspace IDs before when juggling multiple bases. The Airtable Java library gets weird about this.
Still broken? Turn on debug logging for the HTTP client. You’ll see exactly what request it’s sending. Half the time the URL isn’t what you think it is and the debug output makes it obvious.
Ignore the cookie warning - that’s not your problem. The 404 error is what’s breaking things.
I’ve hit this before. Your base ID’s wrong or the table name doesn’t match exactly. Airtable’s picky as hell about this.
Check your Airtable base URL. Should look like https://airtable.com/appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/tblYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. That appXXXXXXXXXXXXXX part is your base ID - not the name you see on screen.
Make sure your table’s actually called “Vehicle” with that exact capitalization. I copy-paste table names straight from Airtable to avoid typos.
Also check your API token permissions. If it’s a personal access token, verify it has read access to that base.