Fix AirtableAPI session initialization race condition

The AirtableAPI was being initialized in plugin.load() before the aiohttp
session existed, causing 'self.session' to be None. This led to production
errors during /mentor command: "AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no
attribute 'get'".

Solution:
- Defer AirtableAPI initialization to startup callback (same pattern as SlackPlugin)
- Make _initialize_api() idempotent to preserve test mocks
- Update test fixtures to manually trigger initialization when needed

Author: Irving Popovetsky

README.md

@@ -262,6 +262,22 @@ Similarly, the `/mentor` and `/mentor-volunteer` commands require access to an A
 environment with a specific configuration.  If you're planning on working with the mentor
 functionality please reach out to the `#oc-python-projects` channel for help getting set up.
 
+### Airtable Authentication
+
+**⚠️ IMPORTANT:** Airtable deprecated API keys on February 1, 2024. You must use a **Personal Access Token (PAT)**:
+
+1. Go to [Airtable Developer Hub](https://airtable.com/create/tokens)
+2. Click **Create new token**
+3. Configure the token with required scopes:
+   - `data.records:read` - Read records from tables
+   - `data.records:write` - Create/update records
+   - `schema.bases:read` - Read base schema
+4. Select the specific base(s) to grant access to
+5. Copy the generated token (starts with `pat...`)
+6. Set environment variable: `AIRTABLE_API_KEY=<your-pat-token>`
+
+**Note:** Despite the variable name `AIRTABLE_API_KEY`, you must use a Personal Access Token, not the deprecated API key format.
+
 #### Interactive Components
 
 You can follow the instructions (and read helpful related information) on the
@@ -290,6 +306,9 @@ Name | Description | Example
 ---- | ----------- | -------
 SLACK_BOT_SIGNING_SECRET | The unique signing secret used by Slack for a specific app that will be validated by pybot when inspecting an inbound API request | f3b4d774b79e0fb55af624c3f376d5b4
 BOT_USER_OAUTH_ACCESS_TOKEN | The bot user specific OAuth token used to authenticate the bot when making API requests to Slack | xoxb-800506043194-810119867738-vRvgSc3rslDUgQakFbMy3wAt
+AIRTABLE_API_KEY | Airtable Personal Access Token (PAT) for API authentication. **Must be a PAT (starts with `pat...`), not deprecated API key** | patAbCd1234567890.1234567890abcdefghijklmnop
+AIRTABLE_BASE_KEY | The base ID for your Airtable base | appSqQz7spgg0I1jQ
+YELP_TOKEN | API token for Yelp Fusion API (required for `/lunch` command) | your-yelp-api-token
 
 ## License
 This package is available as open source under the terms of the [MIT License](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT).

pybot/plugins/airtable/plugin.py

@@ -42,15 +42,24 @@ def load(
         base_key: str | None = None,
         verify: str | None = None,
     ) -> None:
-        self.session = sirbot.http_session
+        # Store reference to sirbot for later initialization
+        self._sirbot = sirbot
         self.api_key = api_key or os.environ.get("AIRTABLE_API_KEY", "")
         self.base_key = base_key or os.environ.get("AIRTABLE_BASE_KEY", "")
         self.verify = verify or os.environ.get("AIRTABLE_VERIFY", "")
 
-        self.api = AirtableAPI(self.session, self.api_key, self.base_key)
+        # Initialize API after session is created
+        sirbot.on_startup.append(self._initialize_api)
 
         sirbot.router.add_route("POST", "/airtable/request", endpoints.incoming_request)
 
+    async def _initialize_api(self, app: Any) -> None:
+        """Initialize AirtableAPI after http_session is created."""
+        if self.api is None:
+            logger.info("Initializing Airtable API client")
+            self.session = self._sirbot.http_session
+            self.api = AirtableAPI(self.session, self.api_key, self.base_key)
+
     def on_request(self, request: str, handler: AsyncHandler, **kwargs: Any) -> None:
         handler = _ensure_async(handler)
         options = {**kwargs, "wait": False}

tests/conftest.py

@@ -44,10 +44,11 @@ async def bot() -> SirBot:
     b.load_plugin(airtable)
     b.load_plugin(api)
 
-    # Manually initialize the Slack API for tests that don't use aiohttp_client
+    # Manually initialize API clients for tests that don't use aiohttp_client
     # (which would trigger startup callbacks automatically).
-    # The _initialize_api method is idempotent, so it won't overwrite mocks.
+    # The _initialize_api methods are idempotent, so they won't overwrite mocks.
     await slack._initialize_api(b)
+    await airtable._initialize_api(b)
 
     yield b