Local File Nodes

Local File nodes allow pipelines to interact with files on the local filesystem. All file operations are restricted to a configured base directory for security. Use these nodes to read data files, write output files, and integrate file-based workflows with other pipeline operations.

Configuration Quick Reference

Local File Nodes

Field	What you choose	Details
Parameters	Connection, Function, Function Parameters, Timeout Override	Select the connection profile, function, configure function parameters with expression support, and optionally override timeout.
Settings	Description, Timeout (seconds), Retry on Timeout, Retry on Fail, On Error	Node description, maximum execution time, retry behavior on timeout or failure, and error handling strategy. All execution settings default to pipeline-level values.

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Local File Fetch Node

Read files from the local filesystem for processing in your pipeline.

Supported Function Types:

Function Name	Purpose	Common Use Cases
Fetch Local File	Read file content	CSV data import, configuration files, log analysis

Node Configuration

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
Connection	Selection	Yes	Local File connection profile to use
Function	Selection	Yes	Fetch function from the selected connection
Function Parameters	Dynamic	Varies	Auto-populated from the function schema. See your Local File connection functions for full parameter details.
Timeout Override	Number (seconds)	No	Override the default function timeout

All function parameters support expression syntax ({{ expression }}) for dynamic values from the pipeline context.

Input

The node receives the output of the previous node as input. Input data can be referenced in function parameter expressions using $input.

Output Structure

On success the node produces:

{
  "success": true,
  "functionId": "<function-id>",
  "data": {
    "fileName": "sales_data.csv",
    "filePath": "/data/reports/sales_data.csv",
    "size": 2048,
    "data": "<file content as string or base64>",
    "encoding": "utf-8",
    "mimeType": "text/csv",
    "modifiedAt": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z"
  },
  "durationMs": 42,
  "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z"
}

Field	Type	Description
success	boolean	true when the function executed without errors
functionId	string	ID of the executed function
data	object	File content and metadata (see below)
durationMs	number	Execution time in milliseconds
timestamp	string	ISO 8601 / RFC 3339 UTC timestamp

File Data Fields

Field	Type	Description
fileName	string	Name of the file that was read
filePath	string	Full path to the file (within base path)
size	number	File size in bytes
data	string	File content (text or base64-encoded)
encoding	string	Content encoding used
mimeType	string	Detected MIME type of the file
modifiedAt	string	File last modification timestamp

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Local File Write Node

Write content to files on the local filesystem.

Supported Function Types:

Function Name	Purpose	Common Use Cases
Write to Local File	Write file content	Export reports, save processed data, create log files

Node Configuration

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
Connection	Selection	Yes	Local File connection profile to use
Function	Selection	Yes	Write function from the selected connection
Function Parameters	Dynamic	Varies	Auto-populated from the function schema (e.g., fileName, data). See your Local File connection functions for full parameter details.
Timeout Override	Number (seconds)	No	Override the default function timeout

All function parameters support expression syntax ({{ expression }}) for dynamic values.

Input

The node receives the output of the previous node as input. Use expressions like {{ $input.payload.content }} to pass dynamic values to write parameters.

Output Structure

The write node uses the same output envelope as the fetch node:

{
  "success": true,
  "functionId": "<function-id>",
  "data": {
    "fileName": "output.csv",
    "filePath": "/data/exports/output.csv",
    "bytesWritten": 1024,
    "created": true,
    "appended": false
  },
  "durationMs": 15,
  "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z"
}

Write Result Fields

Field	Type	Description
fileName	string	Name of the file that was written
filePath	string	Full path to the written file
bytesWritten	number	Number of bytes written
created	boolean	Whether the file was newly created
appended	boolean	Whether content was appended to an existing file

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Common Use Cases

Reading CSV Data for Processing

1. Configure a Local File connection with base path pointing to your data directory
2. Create a Fetch Local File function targeting your CSV file
3. Add a Local File Fetch node to your pipeline
4. Connect the output to a File Extractor node to parse the CSV into JSON

[Trigger] → [Local File Fetch] → [File Extractor] → [Process Data]

Writing Pipeline Results to File

1. Configure a Local File connection with base path pointing to your output directory
2. Create a Write to Local File function with parameterized filename and data fields
3. Add a Local File Write node after your data processing nodes
4. Use expressions to pass the processed data and dynamic filename

[Fetch Data] → [Transform] → [Local File Write]

Parameterized File Operations

Use parameter placeholders in your functions to create dynamic file paths:

Parameter Pattern	Example	Use Case
((fileName)).csv	sales.csv	Simple parameterized filename
((date))/report.csv	2026-01-15/report.csv	Date-based folder structure
((region))/((year))/data.json	us-west/2026/data.json	Multi-level parameterization

Pass parameter values using expressions in the node configuration:

fileName: {{ $trigger.payload.filename }}
date: {{ $execution.startedAt | date: 'YYYY-MM-DD' }}

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Settings Tab

Both Local File node types share the same Settings tab:

Setting	Type	Default	Description
Description	Text	—	Optional description displayed on the node
Timeout (seconds)	Number	Pipeline default	Maximum time the node may run before timing out
Retry on Timeout	Toggle	Pipeline default	Automatically retry the node if it times out
Retry on Fail	Toggle	Pipeline default	Automatically retry the node if it fails
On Error	Selection	Pipeline default	Error strategy: stop the pipeline, continue to the next node, or follow the error output path

When left at their defaults, these settings inherit from the pipeline-level execution configuration.

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Integration with File Extractor

The Local File Fetch node is commonly used with the File Extractor node to parse CSV and Excel files into structured JSON data:

1. Local File Fetch reads the raw file content
2. File Extractor parses the content into rows and columns

Ensure the File Extractor's inputField matches the Local File Fetch output path (default: data.data).

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Best Practices

• Use specific file paths rather than regex patterns when possible for better performance
• Set appropriate timeouts for large files or slow storage
• Validate file existence before write operations that should not overwrite
• Use parameterized paths to create organized, date-based folder structures
• Configure size limits in the connection to prevent memory issues with large files

Security

All file operations are restricted to the base path configured in the connection. Symlinks are disabled by default to prevent access outside the base directory.

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Related Documentation

• Local File Connection Guide — connection configuration, function builder, and detailed parameter reference
• File Extractor Node — parse CSV and Excel files into structured JSON