Transform Airtable data into simplified object structure

[SpinningGalaxy]

I need help converting a complex Airtable response into a cleaner format. Right now I have this messy data structure:

[
  {
    "_table": {
      "_base": {
        "_airtable": {},
        "_id": "appXYZ123ABC456"
      },
      "id": null,
      "name": "EventsTable"
    },
    "id": "recABC123XYZ789",
    "_rawJson": {
      "id": "recABC123XYZ789",
      "createdTime": "2022-06-15T10:30:15.000Z",
      "fields": {
        "Title": "Workshop Session 1",
        "UniqueID": "abc123def456ghi789"
      }
    },
    "fields": {
      "Title": "Workshop Session 1",
      "UniqueID": "abc123def456ghi789"
    }
  },
  {
    "_table": {
      "_base": {
        "_airtable": {},
        "_id": "appXYZ123ABC456"
      },
      "id": null,
      "name": "EventsTable"
    },
    "id": "recDEF456UVW012",
    "_rawJson": {
      "id": "recDEF456UVW012",
      "createdTime": "2022-06-16T14:20:30.000Z",
      "fields": {
        "Title": "Training Module B",
        "UniqueID": "xyz789abc012def345"
      }
    },
    "fields": {
      "Title": "Training Module B",
      "UniqueID": "xyz789abc012def345"
    }
  }
]

But what I actually want is just the clean version like this:

[
  {
    "Title": "Workshop Session 1",
    "UniqueID": "abc123def456ghi789"
  },
  {
    "Title": "Training Module B",
    "UniqueID": "xyz789abc012def345"
  }
]

Basically I want to extract only the fields property from each item and ignore all the metadata stuff. I think I should use the map function but I’m not sure how to handle nested objects like this.

[Jack81]

I destructure right in the map function with Airtable responses. const result = data.map(({ fields }) => fields) works great. Watch out though - Airtable sometimes returns records where field values are undefined or completely missing. I add basic validation when I’m expecting specific properties. You can also use optional chaining like data.map(item => item.fields || {}) to prevent crashes if the structure changes. The nested metadata is annoying but it’s consistent across their API, so cleanup’s pretty straightforward once you know the pattern.

[nateharris]

Had the exact same problem pulling Airtable data for a dashboard last year. Their API dumps so much unnecessary metadata.

Laura’s map approach works perfectly. Here’s what I used:

const cleanData = airtableResponse.map(record => record.fields);

Each record has a fields property with your actual data. Map just pulls that out into a clean array.

Want to be safer? Add a filter for missing fields:

const cleanData = airtableResponse
  .filter(record => record.fields)
  .map(record => record.fields);

Learned this after empty fields killed my entire pipeline. Worth the extra line.

[Laura219]

yep, just use data.map(item => item.fields) and you’ll get exactly what you need! gives you a clean array with just the fields, no extra stuff.

[Oscar64]

You can also transform fields during mapping if needed. I’ve hit issues where Airtable field names had spaces or special characters that broke my frontend components. Something like data.map(item => ({ title: item.fields.Title, uniqueId: item.fields.UniqueID })) lets you rename properties while extracting. Also helpful to grab the record ID for later updates - data.map(item => ({ id: item.id, ...item.fields })) keeps the Airtable record ID with your clean field data. The spread operator keeps it clean and you’ve got the reference back to Airtable for record modifications.