File Block

One block with five operations for working with files in your workflows. Read and Get Content take an existing file (by URL or upload) and hand the next block the file object or its extracted text; Fetch downloads and parses a file from an external URL; Write creates a new workspace file from text content; Append adds text to the end of an existing workspace file. PDFs, CSVs, Word/Excel, CAD (DWG/DXF/STEP), and images are parsed automatically.

Overview

When to Use

• Extract text from uploaded PDFs, CSVs, Word/Excel documents, or images for downstream AI processing
• Download and parse a file from a public or pre-signed URL without manual uploading
• Save AI-generated text as a named workspace file that other workflows can access
• Accumulate results across workflow runs by appending to a shared workspace file
• Pass the raw file object (files) or merged text (combinedContent) to subsequent blocks
• Parse CAD files (DWG, DXF, STEP, IGES) as part of engineering automation workflows

Configuration

Operation

Selects what the block does. All other fields are conditional on this value.

Default: read

Select Input Method

Visible for operations: Read, Get Content, Fetch.

Chooses how the file is supplied.

File URL (filePath)

Visible when Select Input Method is url and operation is Read, Get Content, or Fetch.

• Type: short-input
• Placeholder: Enter URL to a file (https://example.com/document.pdf)
• Accepts any publicly accessible URL or pre-signed URL pointing to a supported file type.

Upload Files (file)

Visible when Select Input Method is upload and operation is Read, Get Content, or Fetch.

• Type: file-upload
• Supports multiple files (up to 100 MB per upload)
• Accepted extensions: .pdf, .csv, .docx, .dwg, .dxf, .step, .stp, .iges, .igs, .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .tiff, .svg, .xlsx, .xls, .txt, .md

File Name (fileName)

Visible for operations: Write, Append.

• Type: short-input
• Placeholder: summary.md
• Required. The name (including extension) of the workspace file to create or append to. The extension determines the auto-detected content type.

Content (content)

Visible for operations: Write, Append.

• Type: long-input
• Placeholder: Text content to save (reference another block with {{block.content}})
• The text body to write into the file. Use {{blockName.field}} to reference output from another block.

Content Type (contentType)

Visible for operation: Write only. Advanced mode.

• Type: short-input
• Placeholder: text/markdown (auto-detected from extension if omitted)
• Optional MIME type override. If omitted the server infers the type from the file name extension.

Inputs & Outputs

Inputs

• operation (string) — Operation to execute: read, get_content, fetch, write, or append
• inputMethod (string) — Input method selection: url or upload
• filePath (string) — File URL path (used when inputMethod is url)
• fileType (string) — File type hint (auto-detected if omitted)
• file (json) — Uploaded file data (one object or array of objects with a path property)
• fileName (string) — Name of the file to write or append to
• content (string) — Content to write or append
• contentType (string) — MIME type for written files (Write operation only)

Outputs

• files (json) — Array of parsed file objects, each containing content, fileType, size, name, binary, and optional metadata (Read / Get Content / Fetch)
• combinedContent (string) — All file contents merged into a single text string separated by dividers (Read / Get Content / Fetch)
• id (string) — Workspace file ID assigned after creation (Write / Append)
• name (string) — Final saved file name, possibly de-duplicated (Write / Append)
• size (number) — File size in bytes (Write / Append)
• url (string) — URL to access the saved workspace file (Write / Append)

Tools

• File Parser (file_parser) — Parses one or more files supplied as a URL or uploaded path. Calls POST /api/files/parse, returns files (array of parsed results) and combinedContent (merged text). Used for the Read, Get Content, and Fetch operations.
• File Write (file_write) — Creates a new workspace file from text content. Calls POST /api/files/write, returns the new file's id, name, size, type, and url. Used for the Write operation.
• File Append (file_append) — Appends text to the end of an existing workspace file (creates it if absent). Calls POST /api/files/append, returns the updated file's id, name, size, type, and url. Used for the Append operation.

YAML Example

# Example 1 — Read a PDF from a URL and pass its text to the next block
file_1:
  type: file
  name: "File"
  inputs:
    operation: "read"
    inputMethod: "url"
    filePath: "https://example.com/report.pdf"
  connections:
    outgoing:
      - target: agent_1

# Example 2 — Write AI-generated text as a workspace file
file_2:
  type: file
  name: "File"
  inputs:
    operation: "write"
    fileName: "summary.md"
    content: "{{agent_1.combinedContent}}"
  connections:
    outgoing:
      - target: response_1

# Example 3 — Append a log entry to an existing workspace file
file_3:
  type: file
  name: "File"
  inputs:
    operation: "append"
    fileName: "run-log.txt"
    content: "{{agent_1.combinedContent}}"
  connections:
    outgoing:
      - target: response_1