Workflows

Automate every file that lands, without a single script

Move, rename, copy to your bucket, clean up and notify, on upload, on a schedule or on demand. Built into your SFTP server.

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One workflow, built in the editor in about a minute.

Files arrive. Then what? Sound familiar?

  • A cron job polls the upload folder every few minutes, moves what it finds and silently breaks when a partner renames a file mid-upload.

  • A VM runs inotify and a pile of shell scripts that only one person understands, and nobody notices when it stops.

  • Managed file transfer platforms can do it, but automations start at $199 a month and come with a sales call.

How workflows work, in three steps.

  1. Step 1

    Pick a trigger

    Run on every upload or rename, on a cron schedule, or on demand from the dashboard or the API.

    on upload path starts with /incoming
  2. Step 2

    Add steps and conditions

    Branch on name, folder, size or user, then move, copy, delete, copy to your bucket or notify.

    if ext = csv → move /processed/{yyyy}/{mm}/
  3. Step 3

    Watch every run

    Each run shows the branch it took and what every step did. Failed steps retry, and you can resume a run after fixing it.

    ✓ condition ✓ move ✓ copy to bucket 1.2 s

Start a workflow whenever it suits you.

  • On file events

    After an upload, first upload, rename or download, filtered by path or username.

  • On a schedule

    Cron in your time zone. Each run scans a folder and hands every file to your steps. On Pro and Business.

  • On demand

    From the file manager, from the editor on any file, or with one POST to the REST API.

Six steps, chained and branched however you need.

  • Condition

    Branch on path, file name, extension, folder, user, size or age, with all or any rules and glob patterns like /in/**/*.csv.

  • Move or rename

    Send the file to a new path built from variables, such as /archive/{yyyy}/{mm}/{basename}-{timestamp}.{ext}.

  • Copy

    Keep the original where it is and put a copy in another folder, for another user or a shared folder.

  • Copy to your bucket

    Push the file to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, Azure Blob or any S3-compatible bucket you connected. On Pro and Business.

  • Delete

    Remove files once they're processed, or clean out a folder on a schedule.

  • Notify

    An HMAC-signed webhook with a fresh download link, an email, or a Slack, Discord or Teams message.

Workflows people build first, each one a template in the dashboard.

  • Sort uploads by date

    Partners drop files in their home folder and find them filed by month.

    1. On upload
    2. Move to /sorted/{yyyy}/{mm}/{name}

  • Route CSV files to your data lake

    Feeds from ERPs and CRMs land in your bucket, ready for the warehouse to load.

    1. On upload, path starts with /exports
    2. If extension is csv
    3. Copy to s3://lake/raw/{user}/{yyyy}-{mm}-{dd}/{name}
    4. Move to /done/{name}

  • Nightly cleanup

    Keep scan-to-FTP and camera folders from growing forever.

    1. Every night at 02:00
    2. If age is more than 30 days
    3. Delete

  • Flag files that don't belong

    Your team hears about a wrong file before anyone has to go looking for it.

    1. On upload
    2. If name matches INV-*.pdf, move to /invoices/
    3. Otherwise post to Slack #ops

Runs you can trust, so you can stop checking.

  • Retries built in

    A step that fails for a temporary reason, like a webhook that times out, retries on its own with backoff.

  • Resume, don't repeat

    Fix the problem and retry a failed run. It picks up at the failed step and never repeats the steps that already worked.

  • No loops

    Changes a workflow makes are logged and seen by listeners, but never start another workflow.

  • Same rules as SFTP

    Steps run as the file's SFTP user, so they respect that user's folder, shared folders and quota.

  • Full API

    Create, update and run workflows and read their runs over the REST API, with an OpenAPI 3.1 spec.

  • Variables everywhere

    {name}, {basename}, {ext}, {dir}, {user}, {yyyy}, {mm}, {dd}, {timestamp} and more, with a live preview in the editor.

Included in every plan, no per-run fees.

Solo €9Starter €19Pro €59Business €179
Workflows per server1325100
Event and manual triggers✓✓✓✓
Scheduled workflows––✓✓
Copy to your bucket––✓✓

Prices a month, excl. VAT. Compare plans

Questions about workflows.

What is SFTP automation?

It's handling files that arrive over SFTP without a person or a script doing it. In CloudFile you build a workflow: a trigger such as a new upload, optional conditions, and steps that move, copy, delete or send the file on. It runs inside the service, so there is no server or cron job of your own to keep alive.

Do I need to write code?

No. You build workflows in a visual editor and fill in paths with variables like {yyyy} and {name}. If you want to, you can still create and run them with the REST API or send each file to your own code with a signed webhook.

Can a workflow copy files to Amazon S3 or another bucket?

Yes. Connect any S3-compatible bucket or Azure Blob container once under Storage, then add a Copy to bucket step with a key such as {user}/{yyyy}/{mm}/{name}. Copy to bucket is available on Pro and Business, for files up to 5 GB.

What happens if a step fails?

Temporary failures retry on their own. Problems that retrying can't fix, like a file already at the destination, fail the run straight away. Every run is listed for 30 days with the error, and after fixing the cause you can retry it from the failed step.

How many workflows can I create?

Per server: Solo 1, Starter 3, Pro 25, Business 100. A workflow can have up to 30 steps. Scheduled workflows is available on the Pro and Business plans.

How is this different from webhooks?

A webhook tells your code that a file arrived, and your code does the work. A workflow does the work itself: it moves, copies, deletes or forwards the file inside CloudFile. Workflows can also send webhooks, so you can mix both.

Can I encrypt, compress or parse files in a workflow?

Not yet. Workflows move, copy, delete and forward files without changing their contents. If you need PGP, zip or CSV parsing, send a webhook to your own code from a Notify step.

More: Workflows docs · Webhooks · Your own bucket · vs Files.com · vs Couchdrop

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