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File Watch Trigger

The File Watch Trigger will trigger a workflow whenever the Edge Compute device sees file or directory changes on the configured path.

File Watch Trigger

Node Properties​

There are two configurable criteria for a File Watch Trigger...

  • File Path: (Required) The file system path to watch within the agent's Docker container. Usually this path is mounted into the container from the host system.
    • To watch all files under a directory and its subdirectories, enter a path for that directory. For example: /path/to/watch/.
    • To watch a specific file, enter the full path to that file, including the file extension. For example: /path/to/watch/file.txt.
    • To watch all files with a specific extension under a directory or its subdirectories, you can use a [glob pattern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glob_(programming). For example, to watch all .txt files in a directory and its subdirectories, you can use /path/to/watch/**/*.txt.
  • Trigger on...: (Required) The types of watch events to trigger on. You can choose to trigger on any combination of adding files, changing files, removing files, adding directories, or removing directories.

Payload​

The payload will include the following under the data object ...

  • event: The type of event that triggered the workflow. This will be one of the following:
    • fileAdded
    • fileChanged
    • fileRemoved
    • directoryAdded
    • directoryRemoved
  • fullPath: The full path of the file or directory that changed.
  • pathParts: An object containing the parts of the path:
    • dir: The directory portion of the path.
    • base: The base name of the file or directory.
    • ext: The file extension, if applicable.
    • name: The name of the file or directory without the extension.
  • stats: An object containing statistics about the file or directory. On deletion events, this will be an empty object. Properties include:
    • createdAt: A Date object representing when the file or directory was created.
    • modifiedAt: A Date object representing when the file or directory was last modified.
    • size: The size of the file in bytes.

The stats about the file or directory are only available for creation or modification, not deletion.

Given a change to a file at the path /a/file/path.txt, a File Watch workflow payload will look like the following:

  • ▶
    {} 17 keys
    • ▶
      {} 1 key
      • "1.31.0"
      • "555555555555eeeeeeeeeeee"
      • "My Great Application"
      • ▶
        {} 4 keys
        • "fileChanged"
        • "/a/file/path.txt"
        • ▶
          {} 4 keys
          • ▶
            {} 3 keys
          • ▶
            {} 8 keys
            • "222222222222bbbbbbbbbbbb"
            • "My Great Device"
            • ▶
              {} 2 keys
              • "333333333333cccccccccccc"
              • "My Great Workflow"
              • "myFlowVersion"
              • ▶
                {} 3 keys
                • true
                • Tue Aug 25 2026 20:34:16 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (Date object)
                • "<unique trigger ID>"
                • "fileWatch"

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