
An invoice lands in a folder, a workflow reads it and files it away. Nobody has to pass it along.
What it does
Workspace files is one folder for everyone in your workspace. Your workflows can watch it, read from it, write to it and organize it, so a file a person or a coworker saves there can set work in motion, and the results come back to the same place. Everything a workflow changes keeps its history like any other file, and the Files page names the workflow that made each change.File Added to Folder
Start a workflow when files arrive in a folder.
Workspace Files
Write, list, move, copy and delete files.
Read File
Read the text of a file in the folder.
Execute Code
Let Python work on files and databases in the folder.
When you’d use it
- “Every invoice someone drops in
Inbox/Invoicesshould be read and logged, then put away.” - “The weekly report should land in
Reportswhere the whole team looks, not in someone’s inbox.” - “Our coworker writes a summary each morning. Send it to the team once it’s there.”
- “We keep a small customer database in the folder, and a workflow updates it every night.”
- “When the price list gets a new version, check that every product still has a price.”
Start when a file arrives
A File Added to Folder trigger watches one folder (or the whole workspace folder) and starts a run when a file is added, and if you like, when a file gets a new version. You choose whether a batch of files that arrive together starts one run or one run per file. If too many arrive in an hour, the rest wait their turn. Nothing is dropped.
Watch a folder for new PDFs and start one run for each.
Save and organize files
A Workspace Files step does one thing per step: write a file, list a folder, pass a file on, move or rename it, copy it, or move it to the Trash. Writing to a file that already exists adds a new version by default, so earlier ones stay in its history.
Save a written summary as a file. Saving again adds a version instead of a second file.
Read a file, or give it to AI
A Read File step reads the text of a file in the folder, by its path or from an earlier step, for files up to 50 MB. An AI step can also take a file from the folder as an attachment and work with it directly.Work on files with code
An Execute Code step can mount files or folders from Workspace files, so your Python works on a copy of them. When the code succeeds, the files it changed are saved back as new versions, and files you mark as read-only never are. If the code fails, nothing is saved. Use a SQLite database with Workspace files walks through it with a database that a workflow updates every night.Send a file out
A file from the folder can go out with an HTTP Request step as a form field, to any service that takes uploads.Who made the change
On the Files page, a change a workflow made shows the workflow’s name, with Open the run to see the run that made it. A version a code step saved also carries the note “Written by the Code node”. See Editing and file history for versions and restores.Good to know
A workflow’s write never pushes out a version a person made, however often a workflow saves the file. Your edit stays in its history for up to 30 days after it’s replaced, or for good as a checkpoint.
Common questions
Will my workflow keep starting itself on its own files?
Will my workflow keep starting itself on its own files?
No. A workflow’s own writes never start its own File Added to Folder trigger, even in the folder it watches. Another workflow’s writes, or a coworker’s, do.
What if hundreds of files arrive at once?
What if hundreds of files arrive at once?
With One run with all of them, a burst of files starts one run, up to 500 files each by default; a larger burst starts more runs. With One run per file, each file starts its own. Past the hourly limit, files wait and start later. None are dropped.
Where do files from a workflow show up?
Where do files from a workflow show up?
In Workspace files, wherever the step put them, with the workflow’s name as the author. Everyone who can see the folder sees them, coworkers included.
Can a workflow overwrite my changes?
Can a workflow overwrite my changes?
Its save becomes a new version, and your version stays in the file’s history for up to 30 days. A workflow’s write never pushes out a version a person made. A code step that finds you saved the file while it ran saves its result beside yours as a copy instead.
Next steps
File Added to Folder
Every setting of the trigger.
Workspace Files
Every operation of the step.
Use a SQLite database
A database your workflow updates from code.
Workspace files
The shared folder itself.
