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Selecting Files

A run starts with the files its trigger selects, and the trigger's folder path and file patterns determine which files those are. The Scheduled, Manual, and Webhook triggers take all five settings on this page, the File Action trigger takes all but File Limit, and the Incoming Email trigger applies the pattern settings and the limit to the attachments it receives. Every node after the trigger processes the files the trigger selected.

Folder Path

Folder Path names the folder the trigger reads or monitors, and it refers only to folders, because the file pattern selects the files within them. The path can point to a folder that does not exist yet, so you can create the Automation before the partner folder it will process exists.

A folder path can be a glob, a path with wildcards, so one trigger covers many folders:

  • * matches any folder name at one level. path/to/* matches path/to/folder1 and path/to/folder2, and not path/to/folder1/subfolder.
  • ** matches folders at any depth. path/to/** matches every folder under path/to, including nested subfolders.
  • ? matches exactly one character. 202?_Audit matches 2025_Audit and 2026_Audit, and not 202_Audit or 20265_Audit.
  • [] matches one character from a set or range. Project_[A-Z] matches Project_A through Project_Z.
  • {} matches any of the alternatives inside it, separated by commas. {Mon,Tue,Wed,Thu,Fri} matches the weekday abbreviations, and alternatives can nest, so 202{3-{0[7-9],1?},4-0[1-6]}-* matches dates from 2023-07-01 through 2024-06-30.

Wildcards combine in one path. 202?_[A-C]*_Report matches 2025_Audit_Report and 2026_ClientSummary_Report, and not 2027_Detail_Report.

To match one of these characters literally, put it inside square brackets with a backslash. Legal[\*]Disclosures matches the folder Legal*Disclosures, Audit[\?] matches Audit?, and [\[]Archive[\]] matches [Archive].

Incoming File Pattern

Incoming File Pattern limits the run to files whose names match. With no pattern, every file in the folder path is selected.

A pattern uses the same wildcards as a folder path. *.pdf selects the PDF files, and *paid* selects files whose names contain paid. A pattern that starts with **/ applies at every folder depth under the folder path, so **/*.docx selects the .docx files in the folder and all of its subfolders.

Date and time tokens can be used inside a pattern and are resolved when the run starts. %Y%m%d*.* selects the files whose names start with today's date in YYYYMMDD form.

Exclude Pattern

Exclude Pattern removes files from the selection by their path relative to the folder path. When a file matches both the incoming file pattern and the exclude pattern, it is excluded.

**/*2026*.pdf excludes any PDF whose name contains 2026 anywhere under the folder path. **/*temp* excludes files with temp in the name, **/*temp*/* excludes the files directly inside folders with temp in the name, and **/*temp*/** excludes every file under them at any depth. **/report_20??.* excludes files whose names start with report_20 followed by any two characters, **/[0-9]*.txt excludes text files whose names start with a digit, and **/{temp,backup,old}*.* excludes files whose names start with any of the three words.

File Limit and Path Time Zone

File Limit caps the number of files a run starts with. Use it to keep the first run over a large backlog to a size you can review before the Automation runs unattended.

Path Time Zone sets the time zone for the date and time tokens in the folder path and file pattern, and for the same tokens in the destination paths of the nodes that follow.