AirBridge

Local backup and restore for Airtable bases.

AirBridge is a local-first, open-source desktop app for backing up, inspecting, validating, and restoring Airtable bases with best-effort schema reconstruction.

AirBridge is designed for teams that use Airtable as an operational database and need a practical way to create local backups, inspect what those backups contain, validate backup integrity, and restore a base into a new or empty destination base when needed.

What AirBridge does

AirBridge focuses on four core workflows:

1. Backup — Export Airtable base metadata, tables, fields, records, linked-record references, select options, view metadata where available, attachment metadata, and reports into a portable .airbridge package.
2. Inspect — Open a backup package and review its contents before attempting any restore operation.
3. Validate — Check package structure, manifest compatibility, checksums, record files, schema consistency, and restore compatibility.
4. Restore — Plan and preview a restore into a new or empty base using a staged dry-run process with a clear readiness report. Runtime restore execution is not yet available in v0.1.0-alpha — live writes to Airtable are disabled by policy pending product and security approval.

What AirBridge does not promise

AirBridge does not claim to be a full-fidelity Airtable clone tool. The goal is reliable local backup and transparent best-effort restore, not perfect replication of every Airtable feature.

AirBridge v0.1 does not restore:

• Airtable automations
• Airtable interfaces
• Base permissions and sharing settings
• Exact system field values such as created time, modified time, created by, or last modified by
• Full attachment file re-upload
• Restore into non-empty bases
• Merge or overwrite workflows

Some computed or advanced field types are backed up and reported, but may require manual recreation depending on Airtable API support and account permissions.

Platform targets

AirBridge is planned as a cross-platform desktop application:

• macOS
• Windows
• Linux

Technology stack

Desktop framework: Tauri
Frontend: React + TypeScript
Core engine: Rust
Local state: SQLite
Credentials: OS credential store where available
Backup package: .airbridge ZIP package
Distribution: GitHub Releases

Backup package format

AirBridge uses a portable .airbridge package. The file is a standard ZIP archive with a documented internal structure.

example.airbridge
├── manifest.json
├── base.json
├── schema.json
├── tables/
│   └── tbl_xxx/
│       ├── table.json
│       ├── fields.json
│       ├── records.jsonl
│       └── records.csv
├── links/
│   └── linked-records.jsonl
├── attachments/
│   └── metadata.jsonl
├── reports/
│   ├── backup-report.json
│   ├── compatibility-report.json
│   └── validation-report.json
└── checksums/
    └── sha256.json

records.jsonl is the restore source of truth. records.csv is provided for human-readable inspection.

Restore philosophy

Restore is intentionally conservative. In v0.1 AirBridge supports:

• Restore to a new base, when the token and workspace permissions allow it
• Restore to an empty existing base

AirBridge does not restore into non-empty bases in v0.1. This avoids destructive operations, unexpected overwrites, duplicate conflicts, and unsafe merge behavior.

Security and privacy

AirBridge is local-first by design:

• No telemetry in v0.1
• No cloud sync
• No token stored inside backup packages
• Token storage uses the operating system credential store where available
• Backup files remain under user control
• Redaction and exclusion options are part of the backup flow

Backup files can contain sensitive Airtable data. Treat .airbridge files like database exports.

Project status

AirBridge is in public alpha (v0.1.0-alpha).

Available in v0.1.0-alpha:

• Airtable Personal Access Token connection and permission inspection
• Base catalog and schema read
• Schema and record backup with .airbridge package creation
• Backup package inspection and validation
• Restore compatibility report
• Restore dry-run planning (read-only, no token required)
• Restore schema creation planning and record import planning (read-only)
• Restore safety gate evaluation (all preconditions validated; write engine disabled)
• Optional OS keychain token storage
• Local job history (in-memory)
• Cross-platform release build workflow (macOS, Linux, Windows)

Not yet available:

• Runtime restore execution (live writes to Airtable are disabled; requires product and security approval)
• Attachment binary backup/restore (metadata only)
• Credential auto-fill from saved token
• Streaming backup progress
• Job history persistence between sessions

Documentation

Start with:

• Overview
• Getting Started
• Backup Guide
• Restore Guide
• Backup Format
• Field Compatibility
• Restore Limitations
• Security and Privacy
• Architecture Overview
• Development Setup

Current Status (v0.1.0-alpha)

AirBridge is in public alpha. The current build supports:

• Personal access token connection checks and permission inspection.
• Base catalog and schema read.
• Backup planning and records export planning.
• Backup package creation (requires explicit file selection and confirmation text CREATE BACKUP).
• Package inspection and validation.
• Restore dry-run planning (read-only, no token required, no Airtable calls).
• Restore schema creation planning (read-only, no token required, no Airtable calls).
• Restore record import planning (read-only, no token required, no Airtable calls).
• Restore execution safety gate — validates all preconditions. When all pass, returns a readyButDisabled result. No Airtable base, table, field, or record is created.
• Optional OS keychain token storage (Settings → Saved Credentials). Token is never stored in files, logs, or results.
• Local activity history — recent operations shown on the Reports page with safe summaries (no tokens, no full paths). History is in-memory and does not persist between sessions.
• Cross-platform release builds via a workflow_dispatch-only GitHub Actions workflow. No release is published automatically.

Restore write execution is disabled. This is a deliberate product policy, not a gap in the safety contract. Live Airtable writes require explicit product and security approval. The dry-run and planning flows are complete; no restore execution UI or Tauri command exists.

Attachment handling is metadata-only. Backup packages capture attachment metadata and URLs. File bytes are not downloaded or re-uploaded. Attachment URLs from backup time may expire.

Token persistence is manual. Tokens saved to the OS keychain are not yet automatically retrieved for operations — users must still paste the token manually when initiating a backup or connection check.

See the full details in:

• v0.1.0-alpha Release Notes
• Feature Status
• Known Limitations
• v0.1.0-alpha Readiness
• Release Process

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome through issues and pull requests. Please read:

• Contributing
• Code of Conduct
• Security Policy
• Roadmap

License

AirBridge is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE.