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

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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:

{
  "result": {
    "data": "aWQsbmFtZSx2YWx1ZQoxLGFscGhhLDEwMAo...",
    "metadata": {
      "fileName": "sales_data.csv",
      "filePath": "/data/reports/sales_data.csv",
      "fileType": "csv",
      "sizeBytes": 2048,
      "lastModified": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z",
      "discoveryPattern": "^sales_.*\\.csv$",
      "outputFormat": "base64",
      "selectedBy": "lastModified",
      "matchCount": 3
    }
  },
  "_metadata": { "success": true, "functionId": "<function-id>", "durationMs": 42, "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z" }
}

Fetch Result Fields

Field	Type	Description
result.data	string	File content. Base64-encoded when outputFormat=base64 (default), the text itself when outputFormat=text — with a UTF-8 BOM stripped.
result.metadata.fileName	string	Basename of the resolved file.
result.metadata.filePath	string	Full path of the resolved file (within the base path).
result.metadata.fileType	string	Extension without the leading dot (csv, json, …). Empty when the file has no extension.
result.metadata.sizeBytes	number	File size in bytes.
result.metadata.lastModified	string	RFC 3339 UTC timestamp of last modification.
result.metadata.discoveryPattern	string	The pattern that resolved the file (the literal name or the compiled pattern).
result.metadata.outputFormat	string	base64 or text — echoes the request.
result.metadata.encodingHint	string	Optional. Present when a byte-order mark was found: utf-8-bom, utf-16le-bom, utf-16be-bom.
result.metadata.selectedBy	string	Optional. Present when the file was found by matching a pattern: the rule that picked it among the matches, lastModified or name (the function's When Several Files Match setting).
result.metadata.matchCount	number	Optional. Present when the file was found by matching a pattern: how many files matched.
_metadata.method	string	The call's own fact, on every Local File node: the operation that ran (localfile.fetch, localfile.write, localfile.list, localfile.delete, localfile.move)

Feeding the File Extractor

The content is at result.data. When piping into a File Extractor node, set its Input Field to result.data.

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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[0].result.data }} (the content an upstream Fetch delivered) to pass dynamic values to write parameters.

Output Structure

{
  "result": {
    "filePath": "/data/exports/output.csv",
    "bytesWritten": 1024,
    "encoding": "utf-8",
    "created": true,
    "appended": false,
    "duration": 15
  },
  "_metadata": { "success": true, "functionId": "<function-id>", "durationMs": 15, "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z" }
}

Write Result Fields

Field	Type	Description
result.filePath	string	Path actually written. May differ from the input when Overwrite Existing is off and a timestamped variant was written instead.
result.bytesWritten	number	Bytes written after the encoding transformation.
result.encoding	string	Encoding actually applied. When the function used auto, this reveals the encoding the connector picked.
result.created	boolean	true if the file did not exist before this call.
result.appended	boolean	true if the call appended rather than wrote whole.
result.duration	number	Write duration in milliseconds.

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Local File List Node

List the entries of a directory under the base path, optionally filtered by a glob pattern and recursively.

Function Name	Purpose	Common Use Cases
List	List a directory (path, pattern, recursive)	Discovering dropped files, driving a For Each loop

Leave path empty, or set it to / or ., to list the base path itself.

Output Structure

{
  "result": {
    "path": "inbound",
    "count": 2,
    "files": [
      { "name": "sales_2026-01-15.csv", "path": "inbound/sales_2026-01-15.csv", "size": 2048, "isDir": false, "modified": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z" },
      { "name": "archive", "path": "inbound/archive", "size": 0, "isDir": true, "modified": "2026-01-14T12:00:00Z" }
    ]
  },
  "_metadata": { "success": true, "functionId": "<function-id>", "durationMs": 4, "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z" }
}

Field	Type	Description
result.path	string	Directory that was listed, relative to the connection's base path.
result.count	number	Number of entries delivered (after the pattern filter).
result.files	array	One entry per file or directory: name, path (relative to the base path — feed it to Fetch, Move or Delete), size (0 for directories), isDir, modified (RFC 3339 UTC).

Drive a For-Each loop

Wire Local File List into a For Each Loop bound to result.files. Each iteration receives one entry and can branch on isDir.

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Local File Delete Node

Delete one file under the base path. Directories are not deleted.

Function Name	Purpose	Common Use Cases
Delete	Remove the file at fileName	Cleanup after processing, retention policies

Output Structure

{
  "result": { "filePath": "/data/inbound/processed/old.csv" },
  "_metadata": { "success": true, "functionId": "<function-id>", "durationMs": 2, "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z" }
}

Field	Type	Description
result.filePath	string	Path of the deleted file.

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Local File Move Node

Move or rename a file within the base path.

Function Name	Purpose	Common Use Cases
Move	Move sourcePath to destinationPath	Archiving processed files, date-based folders

Output Structure

{
  "result": { "sourcePath": "/data/inbound/orders.csv", "destinationPath": "/data/inbound/processed/2026-01-15/orders.csv", "moved": true },
  "_metadata": { "success": true, "functionId": "<function-id>", "durationMs": 3, "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z" }
}

Field	Type	Description
result.sourcePath	string	Resolved source path.
result.destinationPath	string	Resolved destination path.

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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.result.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: Pipeline Default (the pipeline's Error Handling setting), Stop Pipeline or Continue Execution

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

Set the File Extractor's inputField to result.data, where the Local File Fetch node puts the content.

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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.

Every path you give a Local File node — a file name, a directory, a move source or destination — is relative to that base path, and a leading / means the base path root rather than the filesystem root. /inbound/orders.csv and inbound/orders.csv are the same file. A path that climbs out with .. is refused, with or without the leading separator. This is the same rule the SMB nodes follow.

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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