Record Operations

Record Operations

This skill covers all record-level operations in NocoDB — CRUD, filtering, sorting, pagination, and bulk imports.

Available Tools

Listing Records

Basic List

Tool: list_records
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "limit": 25,
  "offset": 0
}

With Filters

Tool: list_records
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "where": "(Status,eq,Active)~and(Amount,gt,1000)",
  "sort": "-CreatedAt",
  "limit": 50,
  "offset": 0,
  "fields": ["Name", "Email", "Status", "Amount"]
}

Filter Operators

Combining Filters

• AND: (Status,eq,Active)~and(Amount,gt,1000)
• OR: (Status,eq,Active)~or(Status,eq,Pending)
• Complex: (Status,eq,Active)~and((Amount,gt,1000)~or(Priority,eq,High))

Sorting

• Ascending: sort=Name
• Descending: sort=-Name
• Multiple: sort=-Priority,Name

Pagination

• limit: Max records per request (max 100)
• offset: Skip N records
• Use offset for paginating through large datasets

Creating Records

Single Record

Tool: create_record
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "data": {
    "Name": "John Doe",
    "Email": "john@example.com",
    "Status": "Active",
    "Amount": 5000
  }
}

Bulk Create (up to 100)

Tool: bulk_create_records
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "records": [
    { "Name": "Alice", "Email": "alice@example.com", "Status": "Active" },
    { "Name": "Bob", "Email": "bob@example.com", "Status": "Lead" },
    { "Name": "Carol", "Email": "carol@example.com", "Status": "Active" }
  ]
}

Updating Records

Tool: update_record
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "record_id": "rec_xyz789",
  "data": {
    "Status": "Closed",
    "Amount": 7500
  }
}

Only send fields you want to change — other fields remain unchanged.

Deleting Records

Tool: delete_record
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "record_id": "rec_xyz789"
}

Common Workflows

Import Data

1. list_tables() -> Find target table
2. list_columns(table_id) -> Verify column structure matches data
3. bulk_create_records(table_id, records) -> Import batch (max 100)
4. Repeat step 3 for remaining batches
5. list_records(table_id, limit=5) -> Verify import

Search and Update

1. list_records(table_id, where="(Name,like,John)") -> Find matching records
2. update_record(table_id, record_id, data) -> Update each match

Filtered Report

1. list_records(table_id, where="(Status,eq,Active)~and(Amount,gt,5000)", sort="-Amount") -> Get filtered data
2. Present results in a formatted table

Search Records

Full-text search across all fields in a table.

Tool: search_records
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "query": "john"
}

Returns: Records matching the search query across all text fields.

Bulk Update Records

Update multiple records at once.

Tool: bulk_update_records
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "records": [
    { "id": "rec_1", "Status": "Closed" },
    { "id": "rec_2", "Status": "Closed" },
    { "id": "rec_3", "Status": "Closed" }
  ]
}

Bulk Delete Records

Delete multiple records at once.

Tool: bulk_delete_records
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "record_ids": ["rec_1", "rec_2", "rec_3"]
}

Advanced Workflows

Search and Bulk Update

1. search_records(table_id, query="overdue") → Find matching records
2. bulk_update_records(table_id, records=[{id, Status: "Overdue"} ...]) → Update all matches
3. list_records(table_id, where="(Status,eq,Overdue)") → Verify updates

Aggregate Data

Tool: aggregate
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "column": "Amount",
  "function": "sum"
}

Functions: sum, count, avg, min, max

Group By

Tool: group_by
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "column": "Status"
}

Returns: Records grouped by the specified column with counts.

Data Export

Tool: export_table_data
Input: {
  "table_id": "tbl_abc123",
  "format": "csv"
}

Error Handling Patterns

Common Failure Scenarios

• Table/record not found → verify table_id exists via list_tables first
• Bulk operation partial failure → check response for failed record IDs, retry individually
• Invalid field value → validate field type before create/update (number for Number fields, valid option for SingleSelect)
• Relation target missing → ensure referenced record exists before linking
• Duplicate record → use search_records to check for duplicates before creating

Defensive Workflow

1. Always resolve table name → ID via list_tables before any operation
2. For bulk operations: batch in groups of 100, check response for failures
3. For updates: read record first to verify it exists and check current values
4. For deletes: list records with filters first to confirm what will be deleted
5. After writes: verify with list_records to confirm changes

Best Practices

1. Always resolve table_id first — use list_tables to get IDs
2. Use bulk for imports — bulk_create_records is much faster than individual creates
3. Use bulk for mass updates — bulk_update_records instead of individual update_record
4. Limit results — always set reasonable limits, max 100 per request
5. Filter on server side — use where instead of fetching all and filtering locally
6. Check column types — ensure data matches column types (number for Number fields, etc.)
7. Use fields parameter — request only needed fields for better performance
8. Search before creating — use search_records to check for duplicates
9. Verify before bulk delete — always list records first to confirm what will be deleted