Softr not pulling updated data from Airtable

Bug Reports
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FYI This is where you can submit a product idea to Airtable:

@Jjenglert @artur

I have submitted feedback to Airtable about this, but from our perspective this is ultimately an integration issue on Softr’s side.

This workflow functioned correctly prior to Softr’s recent changes. The current behavior appears to be a regression introduced by the new data-pulling mechanism.

Since Softr is integrating with Airtable (not the other way around), we need Softr’s system to reliably handle formula fields - even when Airtable does not explicitly mark them as “updated” due to upstream changes. Waiting on a potential change from Airtable isn’t a viable solution for us.

We need Softr to restore support for this use case or provide an alternative mechanism to ensure fresh data is pulled when formula results change.

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23

@DustinL we will solve this but want to point out the issues comes from Airtable’s defective product decision not to mark record updated when read only fields get updated…

Airtable suggests not to use API and use sync and they limit API heavily, so real time API becomes useless, then players like us switch to sync/cache mode and then face those new random issues…

This doesn’t mean we will not address we just want to be clear why those issues happen.

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Thank you @artur . I hear you! I agree that Airtable’s system should work differently.

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As @artur noted, we’re working on addressing this edge case for apps using Airtable as a datasource.

Thanks for the submission Dustin, and for the clear details provided. I’ll respond back on this thread once the work is complete. Hopefully in the next week or two.

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@Jjenglert I appreciate the team working on a fix.

This doesn’t feel like an edge case. Cross-table formulas are a core Airtable pattern, and I’d imagine many Softr apps depend on them for business logic.

The issue may be underreported because:

  • There was no notice that the data ingestion behavior changed
  • Customers haven’t been notified that cross-table formula-based fields are not updating correctly
  • Customers likely assume apps built months ago are still functioning as designed, while end users quietly see incorrect state

Please ask your team to consider a temporary rollback or opt-out to the previous Airtable ingestion mechanism until the new system fully supports formula fields with cross-table dependencies.

This issue goes beyond stale data. As @urbita highlighted, when cross-table formula outputs are used to control visibility, actions, or permissions, even short windows of inconsistency can lead to incorrect behavior. A temporary rollback would significantly reduce that risk while the fix is in progress.

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@DustinL You can share your app IDs with us we can put you possibly into old ways… the price will be missing out all new features and having slow Airtable…

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@DustinL @Olivia1 @nfpSpark @urbita would you folks be open to jump into a call so we can discuss your use cases ? We are interested to understand the flows that touch the source directly vs Softr app

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@artur I will send you a DM with my app ID.

I’m happy to jump on a call if helpful.

To answer your question directly: in our setup, Softr is strictly a read layer. All data creation and updates happen in Airtable, either manually or via the Airtable API. Data is never added or modified via Softr.

Here are two representative patterns that occur in our app:

Example 1: Payments and balances

A customer makes a payment, but Softr shows stale totals.

We have a formula field {Grand Total Paid} in a Reservations table that depends on a rollup from a related Misc Payments table. When a new payment record is added, the rollup and downstream formulas recalculate correctly in Airtable, but Softr continues to display the previous values. This also affects a dependent {Remaining Balance} formula.

The customer is shown incorrect data for the amount they have paid to date and their remaining balance. This is especially confusing for them to see immediately after they just made a payment.

Example 2: Form completion and UI logic

A customer submits a required form, but Softr still prompts them to submit it again.

We have a formula field {Admin Forms Needed} that depends on a count field linked to a Forms table. When a new form submission record is added, the count increases and the formula correctly evaluates to 0 in Airtable, but Softr does not pick up the change. As a result, a block with visibility controlled by that field remains visible and the customer is prompted to take an action that is no longer valid.

Happy to walk through these flows live if that’s helpful.

Thank you.

Edit to clarify: The payments and forms are not handled in Softr. We use Open URL actions to link off to systems we had in place before adding Softr to the mix.

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Hi @artur would also be happy to hop on a call if helpful.

Similar to Dustin, my company uses Softr solely as a read layer. The only thing we do directly in Softr is adding new users occasionally. All other data creation and updates are done in Airtable.

Here is an example of where we’ve seen issues:

  • A text field is manually updated in Base 1 Table 1 (B1.T1) in Airtable
  • B1.T1 is synced to Base 2 (synced table = B2.T1)
  • B2.T1 is linked to Base 2 Table 2 (B2.T2)
  • The synced text field from B2.T1 is pulled into B2.T2 via a lookup field
  • A formula field outputs either the synced, lookup text field from B2.T1 or another lookup text field from Base 2 Table 3, depending on which table is linked to the record in question. In this example, the synced, lookup text field from B2.T1 is output
  • All works as expected up to this point. The formula field in Airtable shows the updated text usually within a few seconds, but can take up to 2-3 minutes
  • The formula field is what Softr displays, but the updated text, which used to show (after refreshing the page) within a few seconds of Base 2 reflecting the update, now is taking hours or days

Flow:
Updated text field → synced table → lookup field → formula field → Softr

Again, happy to hop on a call if that’s more helpful.

Thanks!

Edit: To echo the others, this is not an edge case for us either, but vital for the running of our operations. Unfortunately, such long delays for data to be accurately reflected isn’t something that is just “annoying,” but can cause major issues. We are of course open to suggestions, such as rolling back to a previous version as discussed above. Though we could set up an automation if absolutely necessary, it does seem a shame to have to use up credits and have another potential failure point to monitor.

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31

Happy to explain in more detail. The mechanics are pretty similar to DustinL but here’s a couple of examples:

Flagging for urgent/important needs:

One group, supporting children, have a flagging system for kids who have a severe allergy, additional needs, medical conditions or are part of an ongoing safeguarding investigation. Airtable formulas help to flag these through simple visual flags so that team members at events can see at a glance if there are issues they need to be aware of.

Event Creation:

For another group we use a combination of Softr, Airtable & Fillout to create bookable events. These guys put on all sorts of weekly activities for families of kids with disabilities and formulas do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of creating Fillout forms, tracking attendees in real time through event sign in etc including updating whether an event is at capacity or not based on volume of bookings.

The big challenge from their (and my) perspective is confidence in the systems. Previously we had a situation where they were confident that data was always up to date but now they make an important update (safeguarding, event capacity etc) and it might go live straight away or it might be hours later - which massively undermines their confidence.

Again, appreciate this is an issue that isn’t entirely in Softr’s hands to control, but as DustinL has said, for apps that use these formulas they’re definitely not edge cases - they’re vital. Have hassled Airtable again but still not had anything useful back!

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Are these issues only occuring where data is managed exclusively in Airtable or when data in Airtable is managed by Softr as well?

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@Ben when the data is managed in Airtable… when it’s changed via Softr app we take care of the updates

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@Olivia1 @nfpSpark feel free to DM me your APP ids/urls and we will disable for you until we improve early next week I think

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Hello everyone,

We are experiencing a very similar problem and believe it is related to the issue discussed here.

We also use Airtable and frequently perform record deletions via the API (using Python code or Make.com). However, it then takes hours, and in some cases even days, for these deletions to be reflected on the Softr website.

This suggests that the root cause may not only be related to formula fields, but that the update process following API-driven deletion operations is also severely delayed. It would be important to consider this aspect in the bug analysis.

@artur

1 Like
36

I’m running into the same issues.

For one client, I rely heavily on linked records and formulas to calculate and display financial dashboards, so we really need a reliable solution. It’s also making me question whether Airtable is the right database long-term—I’m even considering switching to Supabase.

For your specific case (deleted records still showing up in Softr), a practical workaround is to add a visibility flag and filter on it in Softr. For example, create a “Visible” field (true/false) and only display records where Visible = true.

Then, in Make (or your automation tool), update the record to Visible = false before deleting it. That way it disappears from the UI immediately, even if Softr/Airtable caching delays the deletion.

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Hi everyone — I’m trying to confirm something Softr Support just told me, because it would be a big issue for my workflow.

About 2 weeks ago, I reported several problems to Softr live support:

  • Search bar doesn’t work reliably

  • Deleted records still appear on Softr pages

  • New/updated records in Airtable don’t show up in Softr (or take a long time)

My setup:

  • Database: Airtable

  • Main record creation: Fillout.com (I use it because Fillout forms are much more powerful than Softr forms)

Support told me at the time that it would take about 2 weeks to solve these issues. During these two weeks, the problems actually happened more frequently, while Softr continued launching new features. My users kept complaining / asking why their records weren’t appearing or updating.

Now, Softr Support finally replied and said (paraphrasing / based on their message):

In the future, records will not sync immediately unless they’re created or updated directly via Softr. Otherwise, syncing can take up to 30 minutes.

If that’s true, it’s honestly unacceptable for a front-end platform, because near-real-time sync is critical for user trust and basic operations.

Can anyone confirm if this is actually how Softr works in the future?

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@artur @Jjenglert

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Thanks for the tip i think this could solve some of the issues we are facing, but not all of them.
For example we regularly push data to airtable to then generate some charts in softr. Sometimes we need to delete and reupload the data, but then the old data is still visible in the chart and the values are double, triple, etc. the correct value. Very frustrating when our customers rely on the data

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Hi @Rexxx

We are working on updating our airtable infrastructure to a more powerful one. This migration has come with some challenges though, and we are working to get them ironed out. In the meantime, if you want to DM your APP ID, we can disable the new updates for you with Airtable until a later time.

Re. the 2 minute caching, that’s the normal period… Support was just giving you an edge case in case an app is inactive, it could reach up to 30 minutes. But we are definitely building with performance and real time data in mind.

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I am 1) simultaneously relieved to have found this post (I thought I was taking CRAZY PILLS for the last two weeks!), and 2) I am EXTREMELY concerned.

I have been fielding countless customer complaints due to their app UIs not updating on the simplest of operations. Guys, this is absolutely unacceptable! For the past two years, we have relied on block refreshes or page refreshes to immediately display updated information to users. Am I really hearing you say that we can expect a 2-minute to 30-minute delay Airtable data accuracies in the front end?

I am realizing this, specifically, is due to our EXTENSIVE use of API calls in apps. We use make.com scenarios for hundreds of complex operations as middleware for Airtable. It is these scenarios that are changing the backend and not being reflected in Softr front end (on page refresh, block refresh, etc.)

It discourages me to think I will have to “cache bust”-workaround on the 900+ scenarios we have.

@artur @Jjenglert You know I love you guys, and always appreciate how hard you work to support us. But if my user front ends aren’t updating on demand, I’m dead in the water.

@Jjenglert If there’s a rollback version for Airtable integration that “goes back”, sign me up immediately!

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