Watched folders
Make a folder in Files, give people its email address, and let a trail run on everything that lands there.
By Operelio team
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What a folder is
A folder is a place in Files where files arrive. Drop one in yourself, send one from your Library, email one to the folder's own address, or upload one through the API. Whatever lands there is a normal file in your Library, kept for your plan's retention period, and it stays in the folder until you take it out.
A folder does not have to do anything on its own. What makes it useful is a trail: point one at the folder and every file that arrives is picked up automatically, cleaned, verified and pushed into your CRM. A folder with no trail still receives files; they wait, and the first trail to watch the folder picks up whatever is already there.
Folders are on Starter and above. Each plan includes a set number of them: 25 on Starter, 75 on Pro and 200 on Agency.
Make a folder
Folders live in Files, on their own tab.
Open Files, then the Folders tab
Every folder in the workspace is here as a tile: how many files it holds, which trail is watching it, and when the last file arrived.
Click New folder and give it a name
The name is what the folder is called everywhere in Operelio, including on the trail that watches it, so name it for what arrives: Webinar sign-ups, Monday partner file, Apollo exports.
Open the folder
A folder has two tabs. Files lists what is in it, with rows, size and when it was last updated, and a search box. Settings holds the name, the email address, who can send to it, who hears about arrivals, and Delete this folder.
Four ways a file gets in
| Way in | How |
|---|---|
| Add from this computer | On the folder's Files tab, click Add files and pick a file from your computer. It uploads straight into the folder. |
| Send from your Library | On any file in Files, use Send to a folder and pick the folder. The same menu has Take out of folder. A file can be in one folder at a time. |
| Email it in | Every folder has its own address, in-…@folders.operelio.com. Email a file to it from a sender you have allowed and the CSV or Excel attachments land in the folder. More in the next section. |
| Upload through the API | POST /api/v1/uploads with a folderId field. The file arrives exactly as a drop would and the trail picks it up. Details in the API endpoints guide. |
There is no job to create for any of these. The folder is the front door; the trail watching it does the work, and the file appears in Files either way.
Email-in: the address and who can send
Each folder has an address of its own, shown under Email in on the Settings tab. The address is the credential: it is long and random, a typo bounces into nothing, and nobody can reach your folder by guessing. Send a file to it and the CSV, .xlsx or .xls attachments arrive in the folder as new files. Anything else on the email is ignored, and an email with no usable attachment is recorded as received with nothing added. If Email in reads Not switched on for this workspace yet, the address is shown but will not receive anything; the other three ways in still work.
Who can send is a safety net for honest mistakes, not a lock. The From line on an email can be forged, so the address is what protects the folder; this list catches a file sent from the wrong account. Leave it empty and the address alone decides what gets in. Add an address to allow one sender, or a domain such as acme.com to allow everyone at a company. An email from anyone else is recorded as rejected and nothing lands.
Get a new address retires the current one on the spot. Anyone still sending to the old address gets nothing, so use it when the address has gone somewhere it should not have, and hand the new one out again.
Who hears about it lists the people who get one email when a file lands in the folder. It is the folder's own message and does not depend on a trail, so it still arrives when nothing is watching.
The trail that watches it
A trail watches one folder, and which one is set on the trail, not on the folder. The folder's Settings tab shows Watched by with the trail's name and a link to open it, or No trail watching it. Files can still arrive in a folder nobody is watching; they wait, and the trail picks them up on its first pass after it goes live.
When a file lands, the trail does not fire the same instant. Operelio waits a few quiet minutes first, so a file that is still uploading, or two files arriving together, are not run half-written. A new file is usually picked up within a few minutes, and every arrival and what happened to it is on the trail's history.
Trails run on Starter and above, and every paid plan can also run a trail on a schedule, as often as every 6 hours, for the folder that fills up gradually.
Deleting a folder
A folder cannot be deleted while a trail is watching it: pause or delete the trail first. Deleting the folder does not delete the files in it. They stay in your Library and simply stop belonging to a folder. What goes is the folder's email address and its record of what arrived.
Frequently asked questions
Can a file be in two folders?
No. A file belongs to one folder at a time. Send to a folder moves it; Take out of folder returns it to the Library on its own.
Do I need a trail to use a folder?
No. A folder is a useful place to collect files on its own, and the email address works whether or not a trail is watching. A trail is what makes the folder run automatically.
What happens to an email from someone not on the list?
It is recorded as rejected and nothing lands in the folder. The address itself was right, so if you see rejected arrivals from a sender you do not recognize, get a new address and hand it out again.
Which attachments count?
CSV, .xlsx and .xls. Everything else on the email is ignored. An email with several spreadsheet attachments adds each one as its own file.
Can I upload to a folder from a script?
Yes. POST /api/v1/uploads with a folderId field, on a plan with API access. The file lands in the folder and the trail runs on it; there is no job to create.
How many folders can I have?
25 on Starter, 75 on Pro and 200 on Agency. Folders are not available on Free.
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