Why isn't my Airtable GET request sending data to the client?

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1

I’m having trouble with a Node.js and TypeScript project. I’m trying to fetch data from Airtable using their API. The weird thing is, I can see the data in my backend console, but when I try to get it through Postman or my frontend, I get nothing. The request just times out.

I’ve tried different ways to return the data, including Promises and async/await, but no luck. Here’s a simplified version of my code:

import { DataBase } from 'cloudtable';

const db = new DataBase(process.env.API_KEY, process.env.BASE_ID);

async function findPupil() {
  const pupilName = 'Sam';
  await db.table('Pupils')
    .filter(`{Name} = "${pupilName}"`)
    .each(record => {
      console.log('Found:', record);
    });
}

app.get('/pupil', (req, res) => {
  findPupil().then(data => res.send(data));
});

When I run this, Postman gives me a ‘socket hang up’ error. Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong or how to fix this?

2

hey there! i had a similar issue. try adding a return statement in your findPupil function to actually send the data back. like this:

return db.table(‘Pupils’).filter({Name} = "${pupilName}").all();

then in your route:

app.get(‘/pupil’, async (req, res) => {
const data = await findPupil();
res.json(data);
});

hope this helps! lmk if u need more help

3

I’ve dealt with similar Airtable API issues before. One thing that often trips people up is the rate limiting. Airtable has pretty strict limits on how many requests you can make in a short time. Have you checked if you’re hitting those limits? You might need to implement some kind of throttling or caching mechanism.

Another potential issue could be with how you’re handling the stream of data. Airtable often returns data in chunks, especially for larger datasets. You might need to accumulate all the chunks before sending the response. Something like this could work:

async function findPupil() {
  const pupilName = 'Sam';
  let allRecords = [];
  await db.table('Pupils')
    .filter(`{Name} = "${pupilName}"`)
    .eachPage((records, fetchNextPage) => {
      allRecords = [...allRecords, ...records];
      fetchNextPage();
    });
  return allRecords;
}

This way, you’re sure to get all the data before sending it to the client. Hope this helps!

4

I encountered a similar issue when working with Airtable’s API. The problem likely stems from not properly handling the asynchronous nature of the database operations. Here’s a suggestion to modify your code:

async function findPupil() {
  const pupilName = 'Sam';
  const records = await db.table('Pupils')
    .filter(`{Name} = "${pupilName}"`)
    .all();
  return records;
}

app.get('/pupil', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const data = await findPupil();
    res.json(data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching pupil:', error);
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal Server Error' });
  }
});

This approach ensures that the data is properly returned and sent to the client. Also, don’t forget to handle potential errors to prevent your server from hanging indefinitely.