# Instant Schema Changes in Airtable's New Database New design enables rapid schema updates even in large tables - **Source:** [Airtable Engineering](https://medium.com/airtable-eng) - **Published:** 2026-07-13 - **Topic:** [Software & Engineering](https://brifing.si/c/engineering) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/2a266828-fe0a-4e0a-9124-e14bee788b34 ## Performance Tradeoff While Airtable gained data compression benefits by switching from JavaScript to Rust, this required rewriting all rows during schema changes - taking up to 2 minutes for large tables. A new solution was needed to preserve user experience. ## Approaches Tested The team first tried simple row rewriting but abandoned it due to performance issues. Then tested separate column storage and append-only methods. Memory efficiency and data locality concerns eliminated these options. ## Inspiration from MySQL The final solution adopted MySQL 8.0's row-level schema versioning approach. Each row carries its schema version number. Schema changes only update metadata while rows remain untouched. ## Smart Translation Mechanism During reads, dynamic translation occurs based on the row's schema version. A key optimization ensures only columns requested in the query get translated, preventing unnecessary work for unneeded columns. ## Dramatic Results The new system made schema change times independent of table size. Operations that took 60 seconds now complete in 15 seconds. Additional optimizations like background row migration remain as future potential. ## Scalability Focus This development is a key part of Airtable's goal to deliver instant responses at scale. Schema change performance is becoming a critical UX metric, especially for enterprise users. ## Sources covering this story - https://medium.com/airtable-eng/instant-schema-changes-in-airtables-new-database-6998d04b9675?source=rss----103630b30187---4 — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._