Files

The files mechanism allows automation builders to create, edit and use files which are persisted between executions of steps in an automation.

The lifespan of such files is aligned with the lifespan of the execution of the automation - when the execution is finished, the files are deleted.

File object

Each file object contains 3 fields:

• identifier, which is the unique identifier of the file. This field is used in various actions (e.g. upload file and send file via Slack).

• size, which is the size of the file in bytes.

• path, which is the absolute path to the file. This field can be used in Bash/Python steps when you want to perform some action on the file (e.g. if you want to print the file in Bash, you can run the cat command and use the file path as the argument).

Expression language and variable picker support

When creating the automation, the file objects are available in the variable picker under the files section.

The expression language supports accessing the file objects using the get_file function, which accepts a single argument - the file identifier. It returns an object containing the 3 fields described above.

Limitations

Each execution may create up to 100 files with a total size of 1500 MB.

The maximum size for each file is 50 MB.

Example use cases

• Download a file and send it via Slack.

• Create a file using Bash/Python and upload it to a remote server.

• Generate a Steampipe Report as a file and send it as an attachment in an email.