Opening Problem Statement
Meet Sarah, a market researcher managing multiple LinkedIn scraping campaigns using Phantombuster to gather potential leads for her sales team. Every day, she manually downloads data from Phantombuster, extracts key details like full name, email, and company, and then copies this information into Airtable to keep it organized. This repetitive task takes Sarah over two hours daily, eating into her core research time and introducing errors during manual copying. She knows there has to be a faster, error-proof way to handle this.
The frustration of repetitive data wrangling is not unique to Sarah; many professionals rely on Phantombuster for social media and web scraping but struggle to seamlessly save results in their databases or CRMs. Manual transfer not only wastes precious time but also risks data inconsistency, which can cost potential deals and reduce team productivity.
What This Automation Does ⚙️
This n8n workflow turns Sarah’s manual headache into a smooth, automatic process. When you trigger it, it:
- Fetches the latest output from a specified Phantombuster agent (scraper) via the Phantombuster API.
- Extracts essential information such as full name, email address, and company name directly from the fetched data.
- Organizes this data in a clean, structured format inside n8n’s Set node for easy mapping.
- Appends the structured data automatically into a designated Airtable table, creating new records without manual input.
- Reduces errors by eliminating manual copy-pasting.
- Saves around 2+ hours per day previously spent on data transfer, freeing you to focus on analyzing results or outreach.
Prerequisites ⚙️
- 🔑 Phantombuster Account with active agents for scraping data.
- 🔑 Phantombuster API credentials to allow n8n to fetch output data.
- 🔑 Airtable Account, with a base and table ready to store your leads or scraped data.
- 🔑 Airtable API key configured for n8n authentication.
- ⏱️ n8n Automation Platform to build and run this workflow.
If you want more control and performance, consider self-hosting n8n on platforms like Hostinger for improved speed and security at scale.
Step-by-Step Guide to Build and Deploy This Workflow
Step 1: Add Manual Trigger Node
Start by logging in to your n8n dashboard. Click + New Workflow. Add a new node by clicking + Add Node → search for Manual Trigger. This node lets you run the workflow on-demand. No configuration needed for basic setup here.
Outcome: You’ll have a node that you can manually trigger to start fetching fresh data.
Common Mistake: Forgetting to use the Manual Trigger will require external events to start the workflow, complicating testing.
Step 2: Add Phantombuster Node to Fetch Agent Output
Click + Add Node → select Phantombuster. This is the core data fetching node. In the parameters panel:
- Choose Operation as getOutput.
- Enter your specific Phantombuster Agent ID (you get this from your Phantombuster dashboard).
- Select the saved Phantombuster Credentials for API authentication.
This node uses a HTTP request under the hood to retrieve the scraped results in JSON format.
Outcome: You should see the raw JSON data of your scrape including nested fields like name, email, and jobs.
Common Mistake: Leaving the Agent ID empty or invalid will cause the node to fail fetching data.
Step 3: Add Set Node to Extract and Structure Data
Add a Set node by clicking + Add Node → search Set. This node lets you pick fields from raw JSON and assign them to clean, named outputs for Airtable storage.
In the Values tab add string fields:
Name:{{$node["Phantombuster"].json["general"]["fullName"]}}Email:{{$node["Phantombuster"].json["details"]["mail"]}}Company:{{$node["Phantombuster"].json["jobs"][0]["companyName"]}}
Enable Keep Only Set to ensure only these fields pass downstream.
Outcome: This node outputs simplified, clean JSON objects ready for Airtable.
Common Mistake: Incorrect reference expressions cause empty or undefined fields. Use the expression editor in n8n to validate paths.
Step 4: Configure Airtable Node for Appending Records
Add an Airtable node by clicking + Add Node → search Airtable. This node will push the cleaned data to your Airtable base.
- Set Operation to Append.
- Select your target Base and Table where data will be stored.
- Map the incoming fields (
Name,Email,Company) to corresponding columns in Airtable. - Choose your stored Airtable API Credentials.
Outcome: New entries appear automatically in Airtable after every workflow run.
Common Mistake: Incorrect base or table name leads to failures or data output to wrong place.
Step 5: Connect the Nodes
Drag the connection arrow from Manual Trigger to Phantombuster. Then connect Phantombuster node output to Set, and finally connect Set to Airtable.
Outcome: Data flows smoothly from trigger, through fetch and set, into Airtable.
Common Mistake: Forgetting to connect nodes breaks the workflow execution.
Step 6: Test Your Workflow
Click Execute Workflow in n8n. Observe console logs and ensure new rows appear in Airtable with expected data.
Outcome: Confirms your automation is working end-to-end.
Customizations ✏️
This workflow can be tailored easily:
- Add More Fields: In the Set node, add more fields from the Phantombuster output such as phone number or location using expressions like
{{$node["Phantombuster"].json["details"]["phone"]}}. - Change Trigger: Swap the Manual Trigger for a Cron node to schedule regular automated fetches instead of manual runs.
- Filter Data: Add a IF node after Set to save only records matching criteria, like company size or presence of email.
- Use Different Data Destination: Replace Airtable node with Google Sheets node for storage in a spreadsheet instead.
Troubleshooting 🔧
Problem: “Phantombuster node returns empty or no data”
Cause: Invalid agent ID or agent not run yet.
Solution: Verify the agent ID is correct in the Phantombuster node parameters and ensure the agent has recently completed a run in Phantombuster dashboard.
Problem: “Airtable append operation fails”
Cause: Wrong base or table name, or API key issues.
Solution: Double-check base and table names match exactly. Verify Airtable API credentials are correct and have write permissions.
Problem: “Set node fields are empty in output”
Cause: Expression paths referencing incorrect JSON paths.
Solution: Use n8n’s expression editor to confirm correct JSON field paths from the Phantombuster output node.
Pre-Production Checklist ✅
- Test the Phantombuster agent separately to ensure it produces output before connecting to n8n.
- Confirm API credentials for both Phantombuster and Airtable are valid and have required permissions.
- Run the workflow with the Manual Trigger and verify Airtable rows appear correctly.
- Back up your Airtable base data before running large imports.
Deployment Guide
Once the workflow is tested, go to the n8n dashboard and activate the workflow by turning on the toggle switch at the top right.
For scheduled automation, replace the Manual Trigger with a Cron node to run it periodically.
Monitor your workflow executions in the n8n execution logs to catch any errors early.
FAQs
Q: Can I use other data storage instead of Airtable?
A: Yes, n8n supports many integrations like Google Sheets, MySQL, or even custom APIs to store your data.
Q: Is my Phantombuster data secure during transfer?
A: Yes, the data is transferred securely using API credentials and HTTPS protocols between Phantombuster, n8n, and Airtable.
Q: Can I automate this workflow on a schedule?
A: Absolutely, by replacing the manual trigger with a Cron node you can schedule it to run automatically.
Conclusion
By following this guide, you’ve automated the tedious process of fetching lead data from Phantombuster and appending it directly into Airtable. Sarah, our market researcher, saved hours each day, minimized data entry errors, and streamlined her lead management workflow.
This automation frees you from manual copy-pasting and lets you focus on what really matters—using data smartly to grow your business. Next, consider automating follow-up emails using Gmail nodes or integrating Slack notifications to alert your team whenever new leads arrive.
Happy automating!