Read File

Reads file content from a configured path or input path. contentType "auto" infers from the extension; routeNotFound emits a notFound port when missing.

Finding it in the library

Search the builder's node library for Read File (it lives under Storage). A single click opens the in-editor docs panel shown here — description, ports, and every property, without leaving the canvas. Double-click (or drag) to add it to the workflow.

Library capture pending — regenerate with npm run shots:nodes.

Wired up in the builder

Read File in a real, runnable flow — captured live from the Studio editor, exactly as it looks on your canvas. This is the same workflow used for the example input & output below.

Canvas capture pending — regenerate with npm run shots:nodes.

How it’s configured

The node’s settings as the builder shows them — every field laid out with real values. In the Studio these are edited on the node: click the chevron on the divider under its ports to open them.

Config capture pending — regenerate with npm run shots:nodes. See the full property reference below.

Ports

Ports are the node’s contract with its neighbours. In the editor a port label renders bold when wired and italic when optional; ◈ ports accept attachment carriers rather than data wires.

Gains a second `notFound` handle when `routeNotFound` is enabled.

How data flows through it

Read File consumes the content of the incoming envelope — when it is fed directly by a trigger, the trigger’s wrapper is unwrapped at the node boundary so the node sees the actual data, not the metadata shell. Its output becomes the payload for the next node, while the envelope (trace ids, correlation, binary refs) rides along untouched. In the Runs view you always see the whole envelope for both sides of this node.

Expressions in the config

String-typed properties accept {{ }} expressions evaluated against the incoming item at run time — e.g. {{ $json.customer.email }}. On this node that’s path, contentType. JSON- and code-typed fields never interpolate — they are passed through literally.

Build it with AI

Every node in this reference is reachable through Flowdrome’s AI Copilot and the MCP tools — say what you want, and the graph surgery happens server-side. Node types resolve fuzzily, so the catalog label (Read File) works as well as the exact type id (storage.read-file).

In the Copilot panel (or any connected AI):

add a read file node after the trigger

As a step in a create_chain_workflow call:

{"type":"Read File","config":{}}

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:4800/mcp -H "content-type: application/json" -d '{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "1", "method": "tools/call", "params": { "name": "add_node", "arguments": { "workflowId": "<id>", "type": "Read File" } } }'

Example input & output

Captured from a real test run of the workflow above — this is what the Runs view shows after pressing Test workflow.

{
  "kind": "json",
  "contentType": "application/json",
  "payload": {},
  "body": {}
}

{
  "path": "C:\\Users\\johnh\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\flowdrome-site-shots\\read\\hello.txt",
  "contentType": "text/plain",
  "encoding": "utf8",
  "text": "hello from the docs example"
}

Property reference

Every setting, with its type and default — the same fields shown configured above.

Related nodes

The rest of the Storage group — the same folder you’d scan in the editor’s library.

• Global Key / Value Reads, writes, deletes, and atomically increments shared JSON-compatible runtime values
• Memory Read/write durable cross-run memory (append/recall/get/set/clear) via the state engine
• Write File Writes workflow data to a file — pretty JSON, raw text, or decoded base64 bytes — with optional append and par
• SQL Query Runs a SQL query against PostgreSQL or MySQL with real server-side positional parameters ($1…$n / ?) — no stri
• S3 Storage Reads and writes objects in S3-compatible storage (AWS S3, MinIO, R2) with Signature V4: put, get, delete, lis
• Redis Talks to a Redis server over the dependency-free RESP2 wire client: get/set/del/incr/expire, list push/pop, ha
• FTP Lists, downloads, uploads, deletes, or creates directories on an FTP server (optional explicit FTPS via AUTH T
• MongoDB Runs one MongoDB operation over the dependency-free OP_MSG wire client: find, insert many, update many, delete

This page is generated from the node registry by gen-node-docs.mjs on every site build — ports, properties, defaults and visibility rules cannot drift from the code. The screenshots and example data are captured from a live Flowdrome by npm run shots:nodes and npm run gen:examples.