Copying a table in NocoDB sounds like a simple task – until you need to move its structure, data, and configuration to another base.
Manual export and import may be enough for a single small table. The problem starts when you manage multiple environments, regularly create backups, or need to move reusable table structures between projects.
In these situations, manual work quickly becomes time-consuming and prone to errors.
That is why I created a free n8n automation that copies one or multiple NocoDB tables to a selected destination base. The workflow can clone only the table structure or both the structure and its data – without manually exporting files or rebuilding columns.
The Problem with Copying NocoDB Tables Manually
NocoDB makes it easy to manage data through a spreadsheet-like interface. However, when you work with multiple bases, there are many situations where you may need to quickly create a copy of an existing table.
For example, you may want to:
- create a backup before a risky migration,
- prepare a staging environment,
- clone a template table into a new project,
- move data between environments,
- create a recovery point before making major changes.
Rebuilding a table manually means recreating columns, configuring their types, exporting records, importing data, and checking whether anything was missed.
With one table, this may take only a few minutes. With several or a dozen tables, it becomes a separate administrative task.
This automation solves the problem by using the NocoDB v3 API directly.
What Is the NocoDB – Clone Tables to Another Base Automation?
NocoDB – Clone Tables to Another Base is an n8n workflow that creates copies of selected tables in a chosen destination base.
The automation retrieves the structure of each source table and recreates it in the destination base.
Optionally, it can also copy the records stored in the source table.
Each copied table receives a timestamp in its name, for example:
Invoices – Copy 2026-07-21 14:32:00
This helps prevent naming conflicts and makes it easy to identify when a specific copy was created.
Who Is This Automation For?
The workflow was designed mainly for:
- developers,
- NocoDB administrators,
- data engineers,
- teams managing multiple environments,
- advanced no-code and low-code users,
- companies using NocoDB as part of their internal business processes.
It is useful anywhere table cloning should be a repeatable and predictable process rather than a manual operation performed from scratch every time.
Example Use Cases
Backup Before a Migration
Before changing a table structure, you can create a complete copy together with its records. If the migration fails, you still have access to the previous data structure.
Preparing a Staging Environment
You can copy table structures from a development base into a staging environment. Depending on your needs, the workflow can transfer the data as well or create empty tables only.
Reusable Table Templates
If your projects use similar data models, you can store ready-made template tables and copy them into new bases without recreating every column.
Migration Between Bases
The workflow makes it possible to move tables from one NocoDB base to another, including between development, staging, and production environments.
Quick Data Snapshot
You can use the automation to create timestamped table copies before a large import, data cleanup, or script that modifies existing records.
How Does It Work?
The workflow is started manually and processes the tables listed in its configuration.
For each selected source table, it creates a new copy in the destination base. Depending on the selected settings, the workflow can recreate only the table structure or copy both the structure and the records.
To make repeated runs safer, every new table receives a timestamp in its name. This reduces the risk of naming collisions and makes individual copies easier to identify.
The workflow can process multiple tables during one execution, which makes it useful for backups, migrations, staging environments, and reusable project templates.
Relation-based fields are intentionally excluded because they may point to tables or records that do not exist in the destination base. This helps avoid broken references and keeps the copying process more predictable.
A detailed technical explanation of every node, API request, filter, and processing step is available directly on my n8n workflow page.
What Can Be Copied?
The workflow supports two operating modes.
Structure and Data
When row copying is enabled, the automation creates the new table and transfers its non-relational records.
This option is useful for:
- creating backups,
- moving data between bases,
- preparing staging environments,
- making snapshots before major changes.
Structure Only
When row copying is disabled, the workflow creates an empty table with the same supported field structure.
This option is useful for:
- reusable project templates,
- preparing clean testing environments,
- standardizing data structures,
- creating new client bases,
- avoiding the transfer of sensitive records.
Multi-Table Support
The automation is not limited to a single table.
You can provide multiple source table IDs in the configuration, and the workflow will process them during the same execution.
This makes it possible to copy a larger part of your NocoDB setup without starting the workflow separately for every table.
However, relations between copied tables are not recreated automatically.
How to Configure the Workflow
To use the automation, you need active n8n and NocoDB instances, together with a NocoDB API token that has access to the relevant bases and tables.
The setup is completed in the workflow’s Config node. This is where you provide your NocoDB instance address, select the source and destination bases, list the tables you want to copy, and decide whether the workflow should transfer their records or recreate only their structure.
You also need to connect your NocoDB credentials to the relevant workflow nodes. Before running the automation, confirm that the selected token has the permissions required to read the source data and create tables in the destination base.
The full configuration guide – including information on finding base and table IDs, setting the available parameters, and connecting credentials – is available on my n8n workflow page.
Why Are Relation Fields Excluded?
Relation fields are connected to other tables or records. Copying them without recreating the complete relationship structure could result in invalid references.
For this reason, the workflow excludes relation-based and system fields such as:
- Links,
- Lookup,
- LinkToAnotherRecord,
- ForeignKey,
- ID.
Other supported field types, including text, number, date, select, and checkbox fields, can be recreated in the copied table.
This is an intentional design decision that improves reliability and reduces the risk of inconsistent data.
Why Is Bulk Insert Useful?
When record copying is enabled, the workflow inserts multiple records together rather than sending a separate request for every row.
This approach:
- reduces execution time,
- lowers the number of API requests,
- helps avoid rate-limit issues,
- performs better with larger tables.
For larger datasets, this can make the workflow significantly faster than row-by-row processing.
Limitations to Keep in Mind
The automation was designed to safely copy independent fields and records. However, it is not a complete mechanism for cloning an entire NocoDB environment.
The workflow does not automatically recreate:
- relations between tables,
- linked records,
- system-generated IDs,
- dependencies between tables,
- logic that requires existing records in other tables,
- the complete configuration of an entire base.
If you copy a group of strongly connected tables, the relations must be recreated separately after the copying process is complete.
This limitation is deliberate. Excluding relations reduces the risk of broken references and makes the workflow safer for common backup, migration, and templating scenarios.
What Do You Gain from This Automation?
The biggest benefit is not the table copying itself. It is the ability to turn a repetitive, error-prone manual operation into a repeatable process.
The workflow helps you:
- prepare environments faster,
- reduce manual work,
- lower the risk of missing columns,
- create backups before changes,
- standardize data structures,
- move data between bases more efficiently,
- reuse ready-made templates,
- avoid repeated export and import operations.
Instead of rebuilding a table manually every time, you configure the workflow once and run it whenever needed.
Summary
Manual data export, column creation, and record import are not a major issue when performed occasionally.
However, if you regularly work with multiple NocoDB bases, the process quickly starts consuming time and increasing the risk of errors.
The NocoDB – Clone Tables to Another Base automation allows you to copy one or multiple tables into a selected base while preserving their supported structure and, optionally, their records.
It gives you a practical mechanism for:
- creating backups,
- preparing staging environments,
- moving data,
- cloning reusable table templates,
- protecting data before risky changes.
A few configuration values, one API token, and a single workflow execution are enough to replace a process that would otherwise have to be completed manually.
Try the Automation for Free
The automation is available for free. You can download it, review it, and adapt it to your own NocoDB environment here: https://n8n.partnerlinks.io/clone-nocodb-tables
The full workflow page on n8n includes a detailed technical description of its logic, configuration, API calls, and processing steps.
You can use the workflow as it is or extend it with features such as:
- automatic scheduling,
- completion notifications,
- backup history logging,
- record filtering,
- source-to-destination table mapping,
- additional relation handling.
