Resources · Make integration

FTP Make integrationAutomate FTP with Make.

Your FTP server can tidy itself up. In Make you build a scenario, a chain of bricks called modules, and the FTP Make integration brings 9 of them: one watches a folder, 8 act on files. This page covers the connection first, then a first scenario to copy.

Try the FTP integration on MakeSee the 9 modules

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What you can automate

What can the FTP Make integration actually do?

It is the bridge between Make and a server you already own. You link that server once with a connection, your FTP account tied to Make, and every FTP module can then read and write on it. Make takes care of the timing and the order of the steps. Nothing gets installed on the server, and no code gets written.

Three jobs come back on every server. First, incoming files that route themselves: Watch files spots what lands in a drop folder, Get a file pulls the content into the scenario, and Move a file or folder puts it where it belongs once it is handled.

Second, a server that stays readable. List of files/folders in a folder reads what a directory holds, Delete a file clears what has been processed, Delete a folder removes empty shells, and Create a folder opens a space when a new client needs one.

Third, delivery. Upload a file writes a document produced earlier in the scenario onto the server, and Change permissions sets who is allowed to read it. A support team drops an export where a partner picks it up, and nobody opens an FTP client.

The FTP app has no Make an API Call module, so these 9 modules are the whole surface and anything beyond them goes through another app. One ceiling comes from Make rather than from your server: the Free plan moves files up to 5 MB, with 512 MB of transfer. The same building block exists on the other side of the fence, with the FTP n8n integration, and the n8n vs Make page sets out the criteria. To learn the editor before building anything, there is the Make training.

Connect

How do you connect your FTP server to Make?

  1. 01

    Open the connection from a module

    You need an FTP server or FTP hosting of your own, Make does not provide one. Add any FTP module to your scenario, click Create a connection, and give it a name in Connection name if you run several servers.

  2. 02

    Fill in the server details

    Enter the Host of your server, something like myftp123.server.com, then the Port it listens on, 21 for example. The User name and Password are the ones your FTP client already uses.

  3. 03

    Choose the encryption, then save

    Use a secure connection (TLS) offers three answers: no encryption at all, explicit encryption or implicit encryption. The last two open an FTPS link secured by SSL. Pick what your host supports, click Save, and confirm access if Make asks for it.

First scenario

Your first scenario, step by step

GoalWhen a new file lands in the folder you watch, Make fetches it and files it somewhere else on the same server.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    From the Scenarios page, start a new scenario and click the + to place the first module. Search FTP by name and pick Watch files, which becomes the trigger, the module that decides when the scenario runs.

  2. 02

    Attach your server

    The module asks for a connection, so click Create a connection and fill the server fields. Once the account is linked, every other FTP module reuses it without asking again.

  3. 03

    Point it at a folder

    Choose the folder where your files land. No need to know the path by heart, Make reads your server through the connection and offers the folders it can see.

  4. 04

    Fetch the file

    Click the + on the right of the trigger and add Get a file. Map the file coming from the module before it, so the scenario carries the content and not just a name.

  5. 05

    Move it out of the way

    Add Move a file or folder behind it and give it the destination folder. The drop folder empties as files go through, which keeps the trigger on new arrivals only.

  6. 06

    Test it, then switch it on

    Click Run once and read the bundles each module received, one bundle being one file here. Then set Scheduling on the first module, every 15 minutes by default, and turn the scenario on.

Triggers

What sets your scenario off

1 module starts a scenario when something happens in FTP. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by FTP as soon as it happens.

FTP1Watch files

Watch files

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new file is added to a folder being watched.”

This trigger keeps an eye on one folder of your server and starts the scenario when a file it has not seen before shows up there. Each new file arrives as one bundle, ready for whatever module comes next.

How it fires
on a schedule. Make checks the app at the rhythm set on the scenario, so the server never calls Make, Make comes looking.
When to use it
a drop folder where a partner or a scanner leaves files somebody has to process.
Watch out
nothing here is instant. On the Free plan the shortest gap between two checks is 15 minutes, so a file can sit in the folder that long before the scenario notices it.
Modules

What FTP can do once it is connected

FTP gives you 8 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

FTP1

Change permissions

Action

In Make“Changes permission settings of a file or a folder.”

Rights on a server are rarely the ones you want. This module rewrites the permission settings of a file or a folder you point it at, so a document becomes readable by the right people, or stops being readable.

When to use it
just after an upload, when a partner has to open the file but nobody should be able to replace it.
Watch out
it acts on the item you name and nothing else, so a folder full of files needs those files handled too.
FTP2

Create a folder

Action

In Make“Creates a new folder”

Every file needs somewhere to go, and sometimes that place does not exist yet. This module creates a folder at the path you give it, which is how a scenario keeps a structure per client, per project or per document type.

When to use it
at the start of an onboarding, so every new customer gets a space of their own on the server.
FTP3

Delete a file

Action

In Make“Permanently removes a file from a selected folder.”

Once a file has been processed, it rarely needs to stay. This module wipes it from the folder for good, with no bin to fish it back out of.

When to use it
at the end of a chain, when the file has already been copied somewhere safe.
Watch out
test the path with Run once on a file you can afford to lose, because this one does not come back.
FTP4

Delete a folder

Action

In Make“Deletes a folder.”

The same gesture one level up: the folder itself goes off the server. Handy when a structure built by a scenario has to be cleaned as neatly as it was created.

When to use it
closing a project whose directory has been archived elsewhere.
Watch out
what happens to the files inside is not documented, so clear them with Delete a file first and you stay on known ground.
FTP5

Get a file

Action

Here is the module that brings a file into Make. It reads the file at the path you give it and hands the content to the next module, which can then send it by email, drop it on a drive or feed it to another app.

When to use it
right behind Watch files, to pull whatever the trigger just spotted.
Watch out
the Free plan carries files up to 5 MB, so heavy archives need a paid plan.
FTP6

List of files/folders in a folder

Action

In Make“Gets a list of files/folders in a folder.”

Sometimes the scenario just needs to know what is in there. This module reads a directory and returns what it holds, files and folders alike, so the rest of the scenario can work through them or simply check that something arrived.

When to use it
an inventory before a clean-up, or a check that a partner really dropped the files they promised.
FTP7

Move a file or folder

Action

In Make“Moves a file or folder to a different location.”

A file that has been processed should not stay where the new ones land. This module takes a file or a folder and puts it at another location on the server.

When to use it
the closing step of a chain, to file the document in the folder of the client it belongs to.
Watch out
pair it with Create a folder when the destination depends on the client, so the scenario never aims at a folder nobody created.
FTP8

Upload a file

Action

In Make“Uploads a file to a selected folder.”

This is the writing hand of the integration. It puts a file into the folder you choose, and the content can come from anywhere earlier in the scenario: a document generated by another app, an export, a file pulled from a drive.

When to use it
publishing a catalogue or a price list that a partner reads straight from the server.
Watch out
test with Run once and check the result on the server before switching the scenario on, especially when the file name never changes.
Need help

Need help automating FTP with Make?

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FAQ

Questions that come up next

01Is the FTP Make integration free?
Yes, FTP is a standard app in Make, so it works from the Free plan. What the Free plan limits is the scale around it: 2 active scenarios at a time, a check every 15 minutes at the fastest, 5 minutes of run time per execution, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of transfer. For a folder that receives a handful of documents, that is enough. Paid plans lift the interval to 1 minute, the run time to 40 minutes and the cap on active scenarios. Make counts usage in operations, one operation being one module that processes one item.
02What do you need to connect FTP to Make?
An FTP server or FTP hosting of your own, first of all. Make connects to a server, it does not host one. Then the details your FTP client already uses: the host address, the port, the user name and the password of the account. One more choice waits in the connection window, the one about encryption, where no encryption, explicit encryption and implicit encryption sit side by side, the last two giving an FTPS link. If the server carries a self-signed certificate, upload it in the field made for it instead of disabling the certificate check.
03Does the FTP trigger react in real time?
No. Watch files is a scheduled trigger, which means Make comes and checks the folder at the rhythm you set on the scenario, rather than the server calling Make when something happens. A brand new scenario starts out checking every 15 minutes, and the Free plan keeps that quarter of an hour as its floor. Paid plans go down to 1 minute. In practice, a file dropped just after a check waits for the next one, so build that delay into what you promise your team. Nothing in the FTP app sends a webhook, the call an app makes to Make the moment something happens, so there is no instant version of this trigger.
04What if an FTP module is missing?
Then you work around it, because the FTP app has no Make an API Call module to fall back on. The 9 modules listed on this page are the full set: one watch, and 8 actions on files and folders. When the gesture you need is not among them, two routes stay open. Either the file moves to an app that does have the module, a cloud drive for instance, and the scenario carries on there. Or that step happens outside Make altogether.
05Make or n8n for an FTP server?
It depends, and mostly on who keeps the scenario alive afterwards. Both tools have an FTP building block, so this is not a feature contest. Make draws the flow as a chain of modules you follow with your eyes, and the connection you set up once gets reused by every module of the app. The useful questions are elsewhere: who maintains the automation in six months, how many people need to read it without asking you, and what the rest of your tools already plug into. The comparison page goes through those criteria, and the n8n page for this same app is one click away.
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