Updated Feb 04, 2026

How APIs Connect No-Code Apps to Cloud Databases

Table of Contents

APIs are the key to connecting no-code apps with cloud databases, enabling seamless data exchange without custom backend code. They handle tasks like retrieving, creating, updating, and deleting records while ensuring secure access through authentication methods like API keys or Personal Access Tokens. Platforms like Adalo make this process easier by offering tools to visually configure API endpoints, map data fields, and enable CRUD operations.

Here’s what you need to know:

APIs act as a bridge between your app and its database, using structured data formats like JSON.
No-code platforms rely on APIs for external database connections, allowing real-time syncing and secure data handling.
Cloud databases like Airtable, Supabase, and Google Sheets provide scalable, real-time storage options for apps.
Setup essentials include accounts with no-code platforms and databases, API documentation, and tools like Postman for testing.
Authentication is critical - use tokens securely and ensure permissions match your app’s needs.

🎙️ Build your own APIs and No-Code Backend

Preparing for API Integration

Before connecting your no-code app to a cloud database, make sure you’ve got the right accounts, tools, and credentials in place. Many of these resources are free or might already be part of your existing setup.

Required Accounts and Tools

Start with an Adalo account that includes API integration capabilities. This requires the Professional plan or higher, which starts at $36/month. This plan unlocks External Collections, the feature you’ll need to connect your app to external databases. Then, create an account with your preferred cloud database provider. Popular choices include Airtable (offering a free tier with unlimited bases), PostgreSQL, Google Sheets, or MS SQL Server.

Next, access your provider’s API documentation - usually found under sections like "Help" or "Developer Hub." This documentation is your go-to guide for Base URLs, endpoint structures, and required headers. To test and troubleshoot API requests, tools like Postman are invaluable. They let you experiment with GET and POST requests without writing any code.

Here’s a tip: Create a dummy record in your database that includes data in every column. Some APIs struggle to detect or map empty columns during the initial setup.

Once your accounts and tools are ready, the next step is setting up API authentication.

API Keys and Authentication

Authentication credentials, such as Personal Access Tokens (PATs) or API Keys, are essential for securely connecting your app to the cloud database. For example, Airtable transitioned entirely to Personal Access Tokens on February 1, 2026. These tokens provide scoped permissions, like data.records:read or data.records:write, allowing you to control access more precisely.

"Airtable authentication changed in 2026 - Personal Access Tokens replaced API keys, making older tutorials incompatible." - Adalo Team

When generating a PAT, select only the permissions you need. This minimizes risk if the token is ever compromised. Most APIs require these credentials to be sent as a header parameter (often named Authorization) rather than in query parameters. The header value typically follows a "Bearer" token format, such as Bearer patABC123.... Be sure to include both the word "Bearer" and the space that follows it.

Store your tokens securely - use a password manager and avoid exposing them in public repositories, shared documents, or client-side code. Note that some tokens, like Airtable’s PATs, are only visible once during creation. In Adalo, you can enter these tokens into secure input fields, ensuring they’re encrypted and stored safely on the backend.

To prepare for API integration, familiarize yourself with basic HTTP methods like GET (retrieve), POST (create), PUT/PATCH (update), and DELETE (remove). Additionally, understand JSON data structures, as APIs commonly use this format to handle data. Learn your API’s Results Keys (or "Top-Level Keys"), which tell your app where to find the data array in a JSON response. For instance, Airtable uses "records", while DreamFactory uses "resource."

With these basics in place, you’ll be ready to map your data effectively in the next steps of the integration process.

How APIs Connect No-Code Apps to Cloud Databases

5-Step Process to Connect No-Code Apps to Cloud Databases via APIs

Connecting your no-code app to a cloud database using APIs might sound complex, but with Adalo’s visual interface, the process is straightforward. You’ll define API endpoints, handle authentication, map data to your app, enable CRUD operations, and even set up real-time updates if needed. Let’s break it down step by step.

Step 1: Define Cloud Database API Endpoints

Start by opening your Adalo project and heading to the Database tab. When creating a new collection, choose "External Collection" and give it a name that reflects its purpose, like "Products" or "Customers." Then, input the Base URL of your cloud database. For Airtable, this might look like https://api.airtable.com/v0/appID/TableName. If your database doesn’t have built-in REST APIs, tools like DreamFactory can generate them for you. For example, DreamFactory’s Base URL might be https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}.

Next, set up the core endpoint actions:

Get All Records: Retrieves a full list of data.
Get One Record: Fetches a single item by ID.
Create a Record: Adds new data.
Update a Record: Modifies existing data (use PATCH for Airtable to avoid overwriting).
Delete a Record: Removes data.

Each action corresponds to an HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT/PATCH, DELETE). Lastly, specify the Results Key, which tells Adalo where to find your data in the API response. For example, Airtable uses records, while DreamFactory uses resource.

Step 2: Set Up API Authentication

Authentication happens in the same External Collection screen. Most cloud databases require you to pass an API key or token via a header parameter. Click "Add Header" and input the required header name. For Airtable, it’s Authorization, and the value format is Bearer pat.123.... DreamFactory uses X-DreamFactory-API-Key, while CData Connect Cloud requires credentials encoded in base64, formatted as Authorization: [email protected]:MY_PAT.

Once configured, click "Test Connection". Adalo will send a request to your API and detect available fields. If the test fails, double-check your Base URL, headers, and token format. Keep Airtable’s rate limits in mind - too many requests in quick succession might trigger a temporary block.

Step 3: Map API Data to App Components

After a successful connection test, Adalo will display the fields detected in your API response. These fields may have prefixes like fields >, which you can rename within Adalo for clarity.

To display this data in your app, drag a List component onto your screen and link it to the External Collection. Map text and image fields by selecting a field (e.g., fields > Product Name) using the Magic Text icon. For images, connect the Image component to a URL field.

For detail screens, add a Link action to list items. Pass the "Current Record" data to the new screen, then map the components on that screen to fields from the selected record. Forms can be used to create or update data by mapping input fields to the API’s parameters (e.g., {form.customer_name} to customer_name).

Step 4: Enable CRUD Operations

CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations allow users to interact with your app’s data. Here’s how to configure each one in Adalo:

Read (GET): Use the "On Load" action to fetch data from your External Collection. This ensures lists or detail views populate automatically.
Create (POST): Add a form with a "Submit" action that calls the Create a Record endpoint. Map the form inputs to the API’s fields and navigate to a confirmation screen or display an error message based on the result.
Update (PUT/PATCH): Use an "Edit" button to open a form pre-filled with existing data. Submitting the form triggers the Update a Record endpoint. For Airtable, remember to use PATCH to update only specific fields.
Delete (DELETE): Add a "Delete" button or swipe action to trigger the Delete a Record endpoint. Use a confirmation modal to prevent accidental deletions.

Step 5: Add Real-Time Updates

By default, Adalo fetches data only when a screen loads or an action is triggered. For apps requiring instant updates - like live inventory or chat - you can use WebSockets for real-time synchronization.

If your database supports WebSockets (e.g., Supabase), you can add a WebSocket endpoint in Adalo. Subscribe to changes in specific tables, like updates to a "products" table, and map the live data stream to your app components. This approach minimizes API calls and keeps your app responsive.

For databases without WebSocket capabilities, consider using middleware or automation tools to push updates to Adalo via webhooks.

Troubleshooting and Optimizing API Connections

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

Once your setup is complete, you might encounter some typical API issues. Here’s how to tackle them effectively:

A 401 Unauthorized error usually stems from incorrect authentication. Double-check your authentication header formatting, ensure your token hasn’t expired, and confirm that your Personal Access Token includes the necessary scopes (data.records:read, data.records:write, and schema.bases:read) for Airtable integrations.
If you see a 429 error, it means you’ve hit the rate limit. To address this, reduce the frequency of API calls by adding a 1-second delay between requests, enable pagination in list components to fetch data in smaller batches, or switch to WebSocket subscriptions. This last option can cut API load by 80–90%. For Supabase’s free tier, which allows up to 500,000 row reads per month, you can monitor usage directly in Adalo’s dashboard to stay within limits.
A 422 error indicates a missing record ID in the endpoint URL. Verify that the endpoint includes /{{id}}. Also, use PATCH instead of PUT for updates to modify only the fields that have changed.
A 404 Not Found error suggests that your Base URL doesn’t match the database documentation. Double-check the URL, ensuring it’s accurate and uses HTTPS instead of HTTP.

How to Secure API Connections

Once you’ve resolved common errors, focus on securing your API connections to maintain reliability and protect sensitive data. Adalo encrypts API keys server-side, ensuring they are not exposed on the client side. For additional security, use OAuth 2.0 or Bearer tokens for databases like PostgreSQL, and limit API keys to read-only permissions whenever possible.

For databases such as Supabase, enabling row-level security adds another layer of protection beyond Adalo’s built-in authentication. If your database supports it, configure custom headers for IP whitelisting. Additionally, rotate API keys regularly, especially after any team member changes. Keep in mind that Adalo’s Professional Plan ($36/month) is required for External Collections, while the Team Plan ($160/month) provides advanced integrations like Xano, which includes extra security features.

Improving Performance for Large-Scale Apps

Optimizing performance is essential for apps dealing with large datasets. Here are some strategies to ensure smooth operation:

Use pagination with Limit and Offset parameters tied to list components with infinite scroll. This significantly reduces initial load times, even for tables exceeding 10,000 rows.
Instead of filtering data within Adalo, create filtered views directly in your external database (e.g., Airtable) to minimize payload sizes and avoid hitting rate limits.
Frequently accessed data can be cached in Adalo’s internal database and synced periodically rather than reloading it every time a screen is accessed.
Enable lazy loading for components that are offscreen and activate gzip compression in your database settings to shrink response sizes. When combined with edge databases like Supabase for global distribution, these optimizations can cut latency by up to 50%.

Conclusion

Connecting no-code apps to cloud databases through APIs changes the way applications are built and scaled. Here's the process in a nutshell: define your endpoints, secure authentication, map your data, enable CRUD operations, and incorporate real-time updates. Each step works together to create a smooth data flow, letting your team manage information in tools like Airtable while offering users a polished mobile experience.

When done right, API integration opens the door to scalable solutions. Adalo’s single-codebase setup ensures instant updates across web, iOS, and Android, showing that no-code platforms can meet production-scale demands when paired with the right cloud databases.

Security and efficiency are just as important as functionality. Protect your API keys by keeping them on the backend, and use filtered views in your database instead of filtering within the app to stay within rate limits. These strategies help your app stay secure and maintain top performance as it grows.

FAQs

How do APIs securely connect no-code apps to cloud databases?

APIs serve as secure gateways connecting no-code apps to cloud databases, dictating how data is accessed and exchanged. They rely on standardized endpoints to handle interactions with databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server, ensuring that every exchange is both authorized and protected.

To bolster security, APIs incorporate features like role-based access controls (RBAC), API key management, and activity logging. These tools limit access to approved users and provide a clear record of data interactions. On top of that, authentication processes confirm user identities before granting access, minimizing the chances of unauthorized data breaches.

By offering a controlled and secure framework, APIs allow no-code apps and cloud databases to integrate smoothly while safeguarding data integrity and privacy.

What do I need to connect APIs to a no-code platform?

To link APIs to a no-code platform like Adalo, you'll need a few essential tools and accounts:

External database accounts: Platforms like Airtable, Google Sheets, Firebase, or SQL databases (e.g., MySQL or PostgreSQL) are great options for storing and managing your data.
API credentials: You'll need secure access details, such as API keys or tokens, to establish connections between your no-code app and external APIs or databases.
Adalo account: An active Adalo account is necessary to configure API connections, manage integrations, and set up external collections.

Once you have these in place, you can connect your no-code app to external APIs and data sources with minimal effort, unlocking powerful integration possibilities.

What are the best practices for securely and efficiently connecting my app to a cloud database using APIs?

To ensure your app connects securely and runs smoothly when using APIs to interact with a cloud database, here are some key practices to keep in mind:

Secure access with strong authentication: Use API keys or tokens to control who can access your database, keeping unauthorized users out.
Set up role-based access controls (RBAC): Limit what each user can do by assigning roles, ensuring only the right people can access or modify specific data.
Keep an eye on API performance: Monitor usage, cap the number of requests, and fix bottlenecks to ensure your app stays responsive.
Delegate data management to external tools: For large datasets, rely on specialized databases or services to handle the load, reducing strain on your app.
Stay vigilant with security updates: Regularly review and update security settings, and check logs for any suspicious activity to prevent breaches.

By prioritizing security, efficient data handling, and ongoing performance checks, you can build a reliable and secure connection between your app and cloud databases.