Filtering data with fields parameter in Airtable API through iOS Shortcuts

Other Questions Airtable
1

I’m having trouble using the fields parameter when making requests to Airtable API from iOS Shortcuts app.

When I make a simple request to get records using the maxRecords parameter, everything works fine:

https://api.airtable.com/v0/<BaseID>/<TableName>?maxRecords=5

But when I try to filter specific columns using the fields parameter, I keep getting an error:

https://api.airtable.com/v0/<BaseID>/<TableName>?fields=['Title']

The error response I get is:

{
  "error": {
    "type": "INVALID_REQUEST_UNKNOWN",
    "message": "Invalid request: parameter validation failed. Check your request data."
  }
}

I’ve checked the Airtable documentation multiple times but can’t seem to get the syntax right. Has anyone successfully used field filtering with Airtable API in Shortcuts? What am I doing wrong with the URL format?

2

for sure! i had the same issue, just remove the brackets from the fields param. it should be fields=Title instead of fields=[‘Title’]. made all the diff for me. good luck!

3

Had this exact problem when I first started with Airtable API in Shortcuts. The square brackets and quotes are your issue. The fields parameter wants plain field names, not array syntax. So instead of fields=['Title'], just use fields=Title. For multiple fields, chain them with commas: fields=Title,Status,Created. Field names are case sensitive - they need to match exactly what’s in your Airtable base. If your field names have spaces, you might need to URL encode them, though single-word fields usually work fine in Shortcuts.

4

This is a URL encoding issue. iOS Shortcuts gets picky about square brackets and quotes in the fields parameter. Just use fields=Title without any brackets or quotes - that’s the cleanest fix. For multiple fields, separate with commas: fields=Title,Description,Date. iOS Shortcuts can be weird with special characters in URLs, so keeping it simple usually fixes these validation errors. Also check there aren’t extra spaces around your field names.