FTP

Transfer files via FTP or SFTP

Overview

The FTP tool transfers files between workflow items and remote FTP/SFTP servers. It supports five operations: download (fetch file from remote server into binary data), upload (send binary data or text content to remote server), list (enumerate directory contents with optional recursion), delete (remove files or folders), and rename/move (relocate files or folders). Supports both FTP and SFTP protocols with password or private key authentication.

Category: Development
Tool Name: ftp
Version: 1

Appearance: Icon: lucide-FolderSync | Color: #303050

Node Type

Action (Binary) — handles file/binary data operations

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	Input
Output	Output, Error

Credentials

This tool requires FTP / SFTP credentials. See the Credentials Guide for setup instructions.

Operations

Operation	Value	Description
Delete	delete	Delete a file or folder
Download	download	Download a file
List	list	List folder content
Rename	rename	Rename/move a file or folder
Upload	upload	Upload a file

Parameters

Delete (delete)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Path	string	Yes	—	The file path of the file to delete. Has to contain the full path. Supports expressions like {{ $json.path }}.
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional options for the delete operation.
— Folder	boolean	No	false	Whether folders can be deleted.
— Recursive	boolean	No	false	Whether to remove all files and directories in target directory. (shown when Folder is true)
— Timeout	number	No	10000	Connection timeout in milliseconds.

Download (download)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Path	string	Yes	—	The file path of the file to download. Has to contain the full path. Supports expressions like {{ $json.path }}.
Put Output File in Field (binaryPropertyName)	string	Yes	data	The name of the output binary field to put the file in. Names are case-sensitive — see the upstream node’s Binary Data panel for the exact names to use.
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional options for the download operation.
— Timeout	number	No	10000	Connection timeout in milliseconds.

List (list)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Path	string	Yes	/	Path of directory to list contents of. Supports expressions.
Recursive	boolean	Yes	false	Whether to recursively list all directories and files found within the directory.
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional options for the list operation.
— Timeout	number	No	10000	Connection timeout in milliseconds.

Rename (rename)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Old Path	string	Yes	—	The current path of the file or folder to rename or move. Supports expressions like {{ $json.oldPath }}.
New Path	string	Yes	—	The new path for the file or folder. Supports expressions.
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional options for the rename operation.
— Create Directories	boolean	No	false	Whether to recursively create destination directory when renaming an existing file or folder.
— Timeout	number	No	10000	Connection timeout in milliseconds.

Upload (upload)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Path	string	Yes	—	The file path of the file to upload. Has to contain the full path. Supports expressions like {{ $json.path }}.
Binary File	boolean	No	true	Whether to upload from binary data (true) or text content (false).
Input Binary Field (binaryPropertyName)	string	Yes	data	The name of the input binary field containing the file to be uploaded. Names are case-sensitive — see the upstream node’s Binary Data panel for the exact names to use. (shown when Binary File is true)
File Content	string	No	—	The text content of the file to upload. Supports expressions like {{ $json.body }}. (shown when Binary File is false)
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional options for the upload operation.
— Timeout	number	No	10000	Connection timeout in milliseconds.

All Operations

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Protocol	options	No	ftp	File transfer protocol to use.
				Options: ftp, sftp
Max Concurrency	number	No	5	Maximum number of items to process concurrently. Note: FTP/SFTP use a single connection, so items are processed sequentially over that connection regardless of this setting.

Output Data

Each operation shapes the output item differently — three of the five discard the input item’s JSON, which is the most common surprise when building a pipeline around this node.

Operation	Output
download	One item. The item JSON passes through unchanged; the downloaded file is added as a binary property under the name you chose, alongside any binary the item already carried. The binary’s file name is taken from the remote path, and its MIME type is detected from that name.
upload	One item. Both the JSON and the binary pass through unchanged — nothing is added, so a successful upload looks exactly like its input.
list	Fans out — one output item per directory entry, and each item’s JSON replaces the input JSON with that entry’s own fields. Binary is not forwarded on those items. An empty directory instead produces a single item whose JSON is the input JSON plus entries: [], with binary forwarded.
delete	One item whose JSON is replaced with { "success": true }. Binary is forwarded.
rename	One item whose JSON is replaced with { "success": true }. Binary is forwarded.

Directory entries always carry name, type (d for a directory, - for a file), size, path (the full path, assembled for you) and modifyTime. SFTP adds accessTime, rights, owner, group and longname. The remaining fields depend on what the server reports.

Reference the results downstream by expression, e.g. {{ $json.name }} after a list, or {{ $json.success }} after a delete.

Usage Examples

• Download a file from an SFTP server
• Upload a PDF to an FTP server
• List files in a remote directory
• Delete an old backup from SFTP
• Move a file to a different folder on the FTP server

Example Configuration

Download a file over SFTP into a named binary field:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "operation": "download",
    "path": "/remote/path/file.txt",
    "binaryPropertyName": "downloadedFile",
    "options": {
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

Upload a binary file from an upstream node:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "ftp",
    "operation": "upload",
    "path": "/remote/path/uploaded-file.pdf",
    "binaryData": true,
    "binaryPropertyName": "fileToUpload",
    "options": {
      "timeout": 60000
    }
  }
}

Upload text built from the item instead of a file:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "operation": "upload",
    "path": "/remote/path/{{ $json.slug }}.txt",
    "binaryData": false,
    "fileContent": "{{ $json.body }}",
    "options": {
      "timeout": 15000
    }
  }
}

Delete a single file:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "ftp",
    "operation": "delete",
    "path": "/remote/path/file-to-delete.txt",
    "options": {
      "folder": false,
      "timeout": 10000
    }
  }
}

Delete a folder and everything inside it:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "operation": "delete",
    "path": "/remote/path/folder-to-delete",
    "options": {
      "folder": true,
      "recursive": true,
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

Rename a file in place:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "ftp",
    "operation": "rename",
    "oldPath": "/remote/path/old-filename.txt",
    "newPath": "/remote/path/new-filename.txt",
    "options": {
      "createDirectories": true,
      "timeout": 10000
    }
  }
}

List one directory:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "operation": "list",
    "path": "/remote/directory",
    "recursive": false,
    "options": {
      "timeout": 20000
    }
  }
}

Walk a directory tree:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "ftp",
    "operation": "list",
    "path": "/remote/directory",
    "recursive": true,
    "options": {
      "timeout": 60000
    }
  }
}

Use SFTP for an encrypted transfer:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "operation": "download",
    "path": "/secure/path/confidential.txt",
    "binaryPropertyName": "secureFile"
  }
}

Give a large upload a longer timeout:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "ftp",
    "operation": "upload",
    "path": "/uploads/large-file.zip",
    "binaryData": true,
    "binaryPropertyName": "largeFile",
    "options": {
      "timeout": 300000
    }
  }
}

Move a file into a folder that may not exist yet:

{
  "type": "ftp",
  "parameters": {
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "operation": "rename",
    "oldPath": "/tmp/file.txt",
    "newPath": "/archive/2024/file.txt",
    "options": {
      "createDirectories": true,
      "timeout": 15000
    }
  }
}

Error Handling

Mode	Behavior
stop	Halts workflow on first error
continue	Skips failed items, passes successful ones through
errorPort	Routes failed items to Error output port

Tips

Transfer files between workflow items and remote FTP/SFTP servers — download, upload, list, delete, or rename files.

Behavior notes

• Protocol has to match the credential. FTP and SFTP are different services on different ports; pick the protocol the server actually speaks, and configure the matching credential fields.
• One connection per node run. The node opens a single connection, processes every item over it, and closes it at the end. Max Concurrency therefore does not make transfers overlap — leave it alone unless you have a reason.
• Paths must be absolute. Every path parameter expects the full remote path, not a path relative to the login directory.
• Uploading creates missing parent directories. Over SFTP they are created before the write; over FTP they are created after the server rejects the first attempt, then the upload is retried.
• Renaming only creates directories when you ask. Turn Create Directories on to have the destination folder created; leave it off and a move into a missing folder fails.
• Deleting a folder needs the Folder option. Set Folder on to target a directory, and add Recursive when the directory is not empty — without it, a non-empty directory fails to delete.
• list changes the item count. One input item becomes one output item per entry, so put a node that expects a single item before it, not after.
• Recursive listing skips . and .. and walks every subdirectory it finds, which can be slow on large trees — raise the Timeout accordingly.
• Upload succeeds silently. Because upload forwards its input untouched, check the Error output or the execution log rather than looking for a success flag on the item.