# Tables

> Tables are spreadsheets inside your Switchboard that your Flows, automations, templates and the API read and write.

Source: https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables

> **Note**
>
> Tables are in Beta: real and ready to use, and still growing.

A **table** is a spreadsheet that lives inside your Switchboard: typed columns and rows, edited
in a grid that works like the spreadsheet apps you already know. Your services and prices, your
appointments, your delivery areas, your coupon codes - anything you keep track of can be a table.

What makes a table more than a spreadsheet is that the rest of Avox can use it. A Flow can show
your menu from a table, check a pincode, or save a booking into it. An automation can start when a
row is added or a booking is near, look up an order's status, add a lead, or count down the seats
left (see [Automations with tables and Flows](https://docs.theavoxai.com/automation/tables)). Templates can fill in values
from a row, and the API can read and write rows from your own systems.

## Find Tables

Open **Tables** in the sidebar, under **Interactions**. The page lists every table in the
Switchboard with its row count, when it was last edited and what uses it, plus your drafts and
the premade tables you can start from. There are  premade tables, from
**Services and prices** to **Appointments** and **Delivery areas** - see
[Premade tables](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/premade).

Tables needs a WhatsApp number on the Switchboard, like Flows and automations do. Until one is
connected, **Tables** shows locked in the sidebar and opening it takes you to **Connections**
([AVX-3502](https://docs.theavoxai.com/error-codes/avx-3502)). Tables you made before stay saved and come back as soon as a
number is connected.

## What a table is made of

| Part | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| **Columns** | Each column has a name and a type (text, number, money, date, single choice, phone number and more). The type decides what a cell may hold, so a price is always a number and a date is always a real date. Up to 50 columns per table. See [Column types](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/column-types). |
| **Rows** | One row per thing you keep track of: one service, one booking, one pincode. Every row gets a number of its own, shown at the left of the grid. |
| **Required columns** | Must have a value in every row a Flow, automation, import or the API adds. In the grid you can leave them empty for a while; those cells are marked. |
| **Unique columns** | No two rows may hold the same value, like an order number or a coupon code. Capital letters and spaces at the ends don't make two values different. |
| **API name** | Each table and each column has a short API name in small letters (like `order_status`), so the API and automations can find them even after you rename them. |

## The pages of a table

Open a table and you'll see four tabs:

| Tab | What you do there |
| --- | --- |
| **Data** | The grid: add, edit, paste, sort, filter and search rows, change columns, import and export. See [Editing a table](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/editing). |
| **Analytics** | Rows over time, reads and writes by where they came from, the values looked up most, and when the table was last used. See [Analytics and used by](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/analytics). |
| **Used by** | Every Flow, automation, template, API key and app that reads or writes this table, and anything that needs your attention. |
| **Settings** | Name, description, icon and colour, the API name, how the grid looks, and copying, archiving or deleting the table. |

## Who can see and change tables

Two permissions control Tables in each Switchboard:

| Permission | Lets a member |
| --- | --- |
| **See tables** | Open tables, read their rows, see analytics and where they're used, and download them as CSV. |
| **Create and edit tables** | Create tables, edit rows and columns, import, archive, copy and delete. |

Admins always have both. Managers have both by default; an Admin can change that for each
Manager in **Settings > Switchboard > Members**. See [Members and roles](https://docs.theavoxai.com/switchboard/members).

Avox staff can also switch Tables off for one account, or only creating new tables. Then the page
and every Tables request, including the [Avox API](https://docs.theavoxai.com/avox-api), are refused
([AVX-3503](https://docs.theavoxai.com/error-codes/avx-3503), [AVX-3504](https://docs.theavoxai.com/error-codes/avx-3504)). Tables you already have keep
working inside your Flows and automations. Contact [Support](https://docs.theavoxai.com/support) if that happens to you.

## Plan limits

Each plan allows a number of tables per Switchboard and a number of rows per table. Active and
archived tables count towards the table limit; drafts don't. Deleted rows stop counting straight
away. See [Plans](https://docs.theavoxai.com/plans) for each plan's table and row limits. If you need more than your plan
allows, [Support](https://docs.theavoxai.com/support) can raise the tables, rows per table or daily API calls for your
account.

## Archived and deleted tables

- **Archived:** the table keeps every row and can still be read by Flows, automations and the
  API, but nothing can change it. It still counts towards your plan's tables. Restore it any
  time from its page or its menu on the Tables page.
- **Deleted:** the table and its rows are gone for good. Download it first if you might need it.

If a Flow, automation or template uses a table, Avox shows the list before you archive or delete
it, so nothing stops working by surprise.

## Related