I’m building an app that syncs Airtable data to my local database. I’m using Go with an Airtable library and need to figure out when records get updated.
Right now when I fetch records, I only get the record ID, the actual data, and when it was created. There’s no timestamp showing when someone last edited it.
I thought about adding a “Last modified time” field to every table, which would totally fix this issue. But you can’t create those fields through the API - you have to do it manually in the Airtable interface. That’s not really practical for my users.
I know webhooks exist but I’d rather not use them if possible. Is there some other way to get modification timestamps or detect when records have changed? Maybe something I’m missing in the API response?
Any ideas would be helpful!
Been there with CRM syncing. The API formula field limitation is a pain.
I store a hash of each record’s data locally. When fetching records, I compute a hash of the field values and compare it to my stored version. Different hash means something changed.
SHA256 works well with concatenated field values. Just keep the field order consistent or you’ll get false positives.
You can also track record count and batch-compare field values. Not perfect but catches most changes without the hashing overhead.
Manual field creation sucks, but if you’ve got power users, they can set it up once and you’re done. Worth it for future tables.
This has timestamp tracking methods that might spark other sync ideas.
i get it, webhooks can be a pain, but they really help with tracking changes easily. without that last modified field, it’s gonna be tough on you. hashing might help, but it’s not ideal. good luck with the app, though!
