Zapier

Use the Files.com app in a Zap when file activity needs to start work in another application, or an application's output needs to be published as a file. Zapier coordinates the trigger and subsequent actions. Files.com supplies the file locations and access used by your staff, partners, and systems.

Getting Started with Zapier

Add the Files.com app to your Zap and connect with a Files.com API key. For file and folder actions, use a dedicated non-administrator user with the required folder permissions and a Files Only key. Share Link, user, and group management require a Full Access key and the corresponding account permissions.

The folder lists in a Zap show only the folders your API key can reach. After changing folders in your Files.com site, reload the Zap editor page to refresh the folder list. A listed folder is not necessarily writable; the selected action also needs its own permissions.

Working with Triggers

The New File Uploaded trigger periodically checks a folder listing rather than receiving an event for each upload. Only eligible files returned by that check can start a Zap, which is why the file-size and listing limits below can cause uploads to be missed.

Confirm that a file already exists in the folder where you are looking for uploads, even if the trigger is "upload". The test step in the Zap editor uses an existing file as its sample record, but it does not reliably preview what your Zap will receive once it is running. To see what your Zap receives, turn the Zap on and review the run in your Zap Runs history.

Zapier limits the New File Uploaded trigger to files smaller than 150 MB. Larger files do not start the Zap, and Zapier records no run and no error for them. To move files above that size, use a Sync.

If the folder being watched holds more than 10000 files, the New File Uploaded trigger sees only the first 10000 files in file name order. A new file whose name places it after those files does not start the Zap, and Zapier records no run and no error for it.

As an alternative to using the New File Uploaded and New File or Folder Created triggers to start your Zap, you can use Zapier's Catch Hook trigger and use the Files.com Webhooks feature to send a notification whenever a file or folder action occurs on Files.com.

A webhook is sent for the file action, so it does not depend on the file's position in a folder listing. For large files, select No file contents to send the event and use a Sync to transfer the file separately.

Specifying Target Folder and File Names

The Create Folder and Upload File actions accept literal names or fields supplied by earlier steps in the Zap. For example, include a source application's report ID in Reports/report_<ReportID>.csv to give each report a distinct path. Map the actual Zap field rather than entering the placeholder literally.

Choose names according to how the recipient identifies a delivery. A new path for every run can preserve separate outputs, while reusing a path can replace an existing file. A timestamp generated on every retry also creates a new name, so it does not by itself prevent duplicate processing. Use a stable source identifier when repeated attempts should refer to the same delivery.

Sending Files to Remote Servers, Snapshots, and Child Sites

Zaps can send files to a Remote Server, a Snapshot, or a Child Site. Dedicated actions cover uploading, copying, and moving files to each of these destinations.

Using Zapier for Download Notifications

Files.com email notifications report uploads to users. For a custom message about file reads, moves, or deletions, use a Files.com Webhook to start a Zap and pass activity details to an email or other application action.

A Read event can represent a download or a preview. It establishes file access, rather than confirming that the person saved or used the file. Name your notification accordingly.

Setting the Trigger

Add a Webhooks by Zapier trigger with Catch Hook and copy its URL. Follow Zapier's webhook setup instructions for the trigger's configuration.

In the Files.com folder settings, add a webhook with that address as its Primary URL. Limit it to the intended folder and select the Read action under Which file actions trigger this notification? Use No file contents: the notification needs activity details, not the file itself. Choose JSON body encoding and POST to send those details as a JSON message. See Webhook settings for scope and payload options.

Configuring the Action

Add your email application's send action and map the webhook's path, time, and username into the message where those details are present. Configure the intended recipients in the action. The connected email account sends the message; Files.com supplies the activity that starts the Zap.

Enable and Test Your Zap

Enable the Zap and perform an agreed sample read in the selected folder. A webhook delivery test validates the receiving endpoint, but does not establish that the Zap selected the right file event or sent the intended message.

Compare Files.com Webhook Logs, Zap Runs, and the email application's send result. These distinguish webhook receipt, action execution, and message submission. If inbox receipt matters, verify it with the intended recipient; a successful send action alone does not establish that result.

Troubleshooting Zapier Issues

When a Zap action that writes to Files.com fails, Zapier displays Failed to create a file in Files.com along with the error text that Files.com returned. The error identifies whether the target folder could not be found or could not be written to.

Target Folder Not Found

The error Not Found. This may be related to your permissions. means the target folder is not present, or the API key connected to the Zap has no permission for it. Files.com returns the same error for both cases.

Confirm the folder still exists under the same name. If it does, verify that the API key can write to that folder.

Write Permission Required for the Target Folder

The error You do not have write permission for the path. means the user attached to the API key can read the target folder but cannot write to it. The folder list offered in a Zap includes every folder that user can read, so a folder that appears in the list is not necessarily writable.

Grant the connected user the required folder permission within the intended scope, such as Write or Read/Write for uploads. Check replacement permissions as well if the action overwrites an existing file. The API key's path and Workspace scope can further restrict the account's access.

Verifying Completion

Use Zap Runs and Files.com API Logs to check the action that completed or failed. A trigger sample is not a complete workflow test. Before repeating a partial Zap, check whether its destination already received or processed the file. The iPaaS guidance explains file storage and completion boundaries, including buffered delivery to Remote Servers.

Older BrickFTP Zapier App

An older Zapier app called BrickFTP was published by Files.com years ago. Zapier no longer allows updates or fixes for applications built on their legacy platform, so the BrickFTP app is no longer supported or updated. Use the Files.com app on Zapier to receive updates.