External API to Webflow CMS

Design help CMS
1

I am researching the possibilities with webflow for my company website. One of my must is connecting to an external API (get,post,patch,delete etc). In this case, I want to get data from Airtable with its REST api. So far the only thing I came across was integration with zapier. Is there nothing like what bubble offers (API connector) that is already built in webflow and does not require a third service like zapier? Am I missing something? I did come across this: https://webflow.com/website/Retrieving-data-from-an-external-API-todo-list . But I cannot see what it is exactly doing and do not want to clone without understanding.

2

Hey there!

You will need to use a third party tool like zapier or integromat to get this done.

:+1:

3

You can’t call the Airtable API directly from your Webflow pages because of CORS restrictions. And Webflow’s CMS doesn’t provide a backed API connector.

If you want a dead simple solution that will mirror your Airtable base into your Webflow CMS, checkout PowerImporter.

1 Like
4

Hi Ahmed,

You can not use REST API because:

  • Webflow generates static HTML websites,
  • If you used jQuery to connect (PUT, POST, GET) you would need to public your secret token to the audience. That would be very risky as anyone could do changes on your table (database) + CORS is not enabled probably.

The way how I do it - I do not use CMS from Webflow at all. Instead of that, I have created a gateway between Webflow & Airtable and I can use POST/PUT/GET requests - so all the limitations like updating data from the website, etc are solved.

If you’re interested - just let me know at mateusz@codingisthinking.com - I will try to help.
Thanks

5

Okay then. Is calls to the Webflow API similarly blocked through CORS restrictions from Airtable Scripting which only I will have access to?

6

Hi again,

Thank you for many e-mails on how to integrate Webflow and Airtable.
It’s really difficult to have a call with everyone and explain it, so let me quickly explain to you guys how you can do it.
I recorded a 10 minutes video where I integrated Airtable with Webflow- you can watch it on youtube - Webflow and Airtable integration without CMS collections - YouTube

Hope it helps,
If not please e-mail me and we can think about some cooperation if you’re interested. E-mail in the previous comment.

Thanks,
Mateusz

7

Hey @JudoHacker It would be great if you give me information about pulling data from third-party API to webflow CMS.
Can I pull data from Coingecko API to directly Webflow CMS and remember the data will be changed every hour or 24 hour. So is it possible that when data changes in the API it will automatically change on the CMS too ?? Also, your mentioned PowerImporter can help me in this situation.

8

We just launched CMS Bridge, which let’s you add Airtable superpowers to Webflow CMS.

CMS Bridge is a native Airtable Extension that’s approved by both Webflow and Airtable.