Smart Columns

A smart column is a column that executes work per record, instead of just holding data. Hypertab supports HTTP, formula, integration, waterfall, lookup, and extract smart columns, plus static data fields.

Each kind has its own configuration form, rate-limit profile, and retry policy. AI agents create them via MCP; humans create them through the column-add dropdown.

The seven smart column kinds

(Plus one, static, that just holds data.)

HTTP columns

moderate (50 req/s)

Call a configured public HTTP(S) API per record when its final destination passes Hypertab safety checks. Extract specific JSON paths into typed cells.

// example
GET https://api.clearbit.com/v2/companies/find?domain={{domain}}

Formula columns

local computation; runtime controls apply

Compute from other columns using a JS-like expression engine. Formula and lookup work never counts as external ops.

// example
Math.round({{revenue}} * 0.15)

Integration columns

conservative (10 req/s)

Push to a configured credential-free public HTTP(S) endpoint when conditions are met and the destination passes safety checks. Use a saved API account when authentication is required.

// example
When {{score}} > 80, post the record to a configured webhook

Waterfall columns

gentle (2 req/s)

Try sources in order, use the first one that returns data.

// example
Try Apollo → Hunter → ZoomInfo for email enrichment

Lookup columns

local computation; runtime controls apply

Cross-table VLOOKUP with optional caching. Formula and lookup work never counts as external ops.

// example
Match deal.account_id to accounts.id, return accounts.name

Extract columns

local computation; runtime controls apply

Pull a JSON field from an upstream smart column. Zero API cost, just data routing.

// example
From {{enrich_response}} extract .company.industry

Reliability built in

Token-bucket rate limiting, proactive throttle per (provider, account).
Adaptive backoff on 429, auto-reduce rate when APIs throttle.
Circuit breaker, pauses column if >50% error rate in 60s window.
Retry with exponential backoff, configurable max retries per cell.
Per-cell state tracking, idle → pending → running → complete/error/skipped.
Cross-record parallelism, current Free beta allows up to five record DAGs per Table, additionally bounded by provider and runtime controls.

FAQ

What's a smart column in Hypertab?: A smart column is a column that executes work per record instead of just holding data. Hypertab supports HTTP, formula, integration, waterfall, lookup, and extract smart columns. Each has its own configuration and rate-limit profile.
How do smart columns reference each other?: Use template syntax: {{column_name}} or {{column_name.field.path}} for JSON paths. Hypertab parses these refs and auto-builds a dependency graph (DAG). You can also explicitly declare dependencies via config.depends_on.
What happens on errors?: Each cell tracks state: idle → pending → running → complete/error/skipped. Errors don't stop the run, downstream cells are marked skipped with a reason. You can retry failed cells via hypertab_retry_failed_cells. Circuit breaker pauses the column if >50% error rate in 60s.
How is rate limiting handled?: Token-bucket per (provider, account). Adaptive throttling auto-reduces rate on 429 responses. Presets: aggressive (500/s), moderate (50/s), conservative (10/s), gentle (2/s). You can override per-column.

Build your first smart column

Public beta access.

open app →