Fax From Airtable — Using a Run-Script Automation and Our API

How it works

You create an automation triggered by a view entering or a checkbox flipping — say a Send fax? box — and add a Run a script action. In the script you read the fax number field and the URL of an attachment (Airtable attachments expose a temporary URL) from the input config, then use fetch to POST to /v1/faxes with the number as `to` and the attachment URL as document_url. The script writes the returned fax id back into a field on the same record with the Airtable API, so every row shows whether and when it was sent. Because attachment URLs are short-lived, sensitive documents can instead be downloaded and posted inline.

What you can do

• ✓Fax a record when a checkbox, view, or field-change trigger fires an automation
• ✓Read the recipient number and an attachment URL from the triggering record
• ✓POST to /v1/faxes from Airtable's Run-a-script action with no external server
• ✓Write the returned fax id and status back into fields on the same row
• ✓Batch a whole view by looping records that match your send condition
• ✓Use an Idempotency-Key per record so a re-run never double-faxes a row

Setup steps

1. 1Put the account on Business or Enterprise and create a key at /dashboard/developers
2. 2Add fields for the fax number, the document attachment, a send trigger, and a result
3. 3Create an automation with the trigger that should send (view entry or checkbox)
4. 4Add a Run-a-script action that reads the record and POSTs to /v1/faxes
5. 5Write the fax id back into the result field via the Airtable script API
6. 6Poll GET /v1/faxes/:id or register a webhook to record final delivery

Example

// Airtable Run-a-script automation
const { faxNumber, docUrl, recordId } = input.config();
const res = await fetch("https://www.sendfaxmail.com/v1/faxes", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: "Bearer sfm_live_xxxxxxxx",
    "Idempotency-Key": recordId,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ to: faxNumber, document_url: docUrl }),
});

Airtable Fax — FAQ