PushFTP

Watched Folders

Trigger automations when new files appear on your server.

How it works

Set up a watched folder on any connection. PushFTP checks the folder at your chosen interval (every 1–1440 minutes) and fires a webhook whenever a new file appears.

This is perfect for triggering Zapier, Make, or n8n workflows when a partner drops a file on your SFTP server — no polling logic needed on your end.

Setup

1

Go to your connection detail page in the PushFTP dashboard.
2

Scroll to Watched Folders and click + Add.
3

Enter the folder path to watch (e.g. /incoming).
4

Paste your webhook URL (Zapier Catch Hook, Make Custom Webhook, n8n Webhook, or any HTTP endpoint).
5

Set the check interval in minutes (default: 5).
6

Click Start Watching.

Webhook payload

When a new file is detected, PushFTP POSTs this JSON to your webhook URL:

{
  "event": "new_file",
  "connection": {
    "id": "k6J2ilVY...",
    "name": "Production SFTP",
    "type": "sftp"
  },
  "file": {
    "name": "report-march.csv",
    "path": "/incoming/report-march.csv",
    "size": 45678,
    "modifiedAt": "2026-03-31T14:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "watchedFolder": {
    "id": "wf_abc123",
    "path": "/incoming"
  },
  "timestamp": "2026-03-31T14:01:00.000Z"
}

How detection works

  • • PushFTP connects to your server at each check interval and lists the folder contents.
  • • It compares the current file list to the previous check and identifies new files.
  • • Only files trigger webhooks — subdirectories are ignored.
  • • Each new file fires a separate webhook call, so you can process them individually.
  • • Webhooks are retried up to 3 times with exponential backoff (1s, 2s, 4s) if your endpoint is temporarily down.

Use with Zapier

If you're using our Zapier integration, you can also use the "New File in SFTP/FTP Folder" trigger instead of webhooks. It polls PushFTP's API for detected files — no webhook URL needed.

Either approach works. Webhooks are instant (fires the moment a file is detected). The Zapier trigger polls every 2–15 minutes depending on your Zapier plan.

Tips

  • • Check interval: 5 minutes is a good default. Set to 1 for near-real-time detection.
  • • Large folders: If a folder has hundreds of files, only new files since the last check trigger webhooks.
  • • Multiple folders: You can watch multiple folders on the same connection — just add more watched folders.
  • • Combine with download: Use the webhook to trigger a Zap that calls the PushFTP Download API to fetch the new file's content.