Records: Link & Unlink

This script demonstrates how to create and manage relational fields in NocoDB, including linking & unlinking records between tables

This script demonstrates how to create and manage relational fields in NocoDB, specifically focusing on linking and unlinking records between two tables using the LinkToAnotherRecord field type.

// NocoDB Script: Relational Fields Demo (LinkToAnotherRecord, Lookup, Rollup)

const projectsTableName = 'Projects';
const tasksTableName = 'Tasks';

// ---------------------
// Ensure Projects Table
// ---------------------
let projectsTable = base.getTable(projectsTableName);
if (!projectsTable) {
  projectsTable = await base.createTableAsync(projectsTableName, [
    { name: 'Project Name', type: "SingleLineText" },
    { name: 'Client', type: "SingleLineText" }
  ]);
  output.text(`✅ Created table "${projectsTableName}"`);
}

// ---------------------
// Ensure Tasks Table
// ---------------------
let tasksTable = base.getTable(tasksTableName);
if (!tasksTable) {
  tasksTable = await base.createTableAsync(tasksTableName, [
    { name: 'Task Name', type: "SingleLineText" },
    {
      name: 'Status',
      type: "SingleSelect",
      options: {
        choices: [
          { title: 'To Do', color: '#6c757d' },
          { title: 'In Progress', color: '#007bff' },
          { title: 'Done', color: '#28a745' }
        ]
      }
    },
    { name: 'Hours', type: "Number" }
  ]);
  output.text(`✅ Created table "${tasksTableName}"`);
}

// ---------------------
// Create LinkToAnotherRecord: Tasks → Projects
// ---------------------
if (!tasksTable.getField('Project')) {
  await tasksTable.createFieldAsync({
    name: 'Project',
    type: "LinkToAnotherRecord",
    options: {
      relation_type: 'mm',
      related_table_id: projectsTable.id
    }
  });
  output.text(`🔗 Created "Project" field in "Tasks" as LinkToAnotherRecord to "Projects"`);
}

// ---------------------
// Demo: Insert records, link, unlink
// ---------------------

// Step 1: Insert sample projects if empty
const projectRecords = await projectsTable.selectRecordsAsync();
if (projectRecords.records.length === 0) {
  await projectsTable.createRecordsAsync([
    { fields: { 'Project Name': 'Website Redesign', 'Client': 'Acme Corp' }},
    { fields: { 'Project Name': 'Mobile App Launch', 'Client': 'Globex Inc' }}
  ]);
  output.text(`➕ Inserted sample records in "${projectsTableName}"`);
}

// Step 2: Insert sample tasks if empty
const taskRecords = await tasksTable.selectRecordsAsync();
if (taskRecords.records.length === 0) {
  await tasksTable.createRecordsAsync([
    { fields: { 'Task Name': 'Design UI', 'Status': 'To Do', 'Hours': 10 }},
    { fields: { 'Task Name': 'Build Backend', 'Status': 'In Progress', 'Hours': 20 }},
    { fields: { 'Task Name': 'Write Docs', 'Status': 'Done', 'Hours': 5 }}
  ]);
  output.text(`➕ Inserted sample records in "${tasksTableName}"`);
}

// Refresh records
const projects = await projectsTable.selectRecordsAsync();
const tasks = await tasksTable.selectRecordsAsync();

const projectIds = projects.records.map(r => r.id);
const taskIds = tasks.records.map(r => r.id);
const projectField = tasksTable.getField('Project');

// Step 3: Link tasks to projects
const linkUpdates = tasks.records.map((task, i) => ({
  id: task.id,
  fields: {
    [projectField.id]: [{ id: projectIds[i % projectIds.length] }]
  }
}));

await tasksTable.updateRecordsAsync(linkUpdates);
output.text('🔗 Linked each task to a project');

// Step 4: Display linked state
const linkedTasks = await tasksTable.selectRecordsAsync();
output.text('📌 Tasks after linking to projects:');
output.table(linkedTasks.records.map(r => ({
  Task: r.getCellValue('Task Name'),
  Project: r.getCellValue('Project')?.records[0]?.name || ''
})));

// Step 5: Unlink all tasks
const unlinkUpdates = linkedTasks.records.map(r => ({
  id: r.id,
  fields: {
    [projectField.id]: [] // remove link
  }
}));

await tasksTable.updateRecordsAsync(unlinkUpdates);
output.text('❌ Unlinked all tasks from projects');

// Step 6: Display unlinked state
const finalTasks = await tasksTable.selectRecordsAsync();
output.text('📌 Tasks after unlinking:');
output.table(finalTasks.records.map(r => ({
  Task: r.getCellValue('Task Name'),
  Project: r.getCellValue('Project')?.records[0]?.name || '(none)'
})));

Related pages

• Table Operations : Demonstrates how to check for table existence, create a table, and list all tables in the base.
• Fields: Text-Based : Learn how to create and manage text-based fields in NocoDB.
• Fields: Numerical : Learn how to create numerical fields for storing quantities, percentages, currency, and more.
• Fields: Date & Time : Create fields to capture dates, times, and durations.
• Fields: Select : Create single select and multi select fields for categorizing data.
• Fields: System : Capture automatic audit information with system fields in NocoDB.
• Fields: User & Collaborator : Assign or reference users directly within records.
• Fields: Virtual & Formula : Add calculated or derivative data with virtual fields in NocoDB.