Resources · Make integration

Nextcloud Make integrationAutomate Nextcloud with Make.

Nextcloud can file your documents while you do something else. The Nextcloud Make integration puts 9 modules in your hands: one folder watcher, seven actions, one search. If Make is new to you, start here: this page shows what each one does and how to build a first scenario.

Try the Nextcloud integration on MakeSee the 9 modules

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What you can automate

What does the Nextcloud Make integration actually do?

It links your Nextcloud account to Make once, then lets a scenario act on your files for you. A scenario is the automation you build in Make: a chain of modules, and a module is one brick of that chain, a trigger, an action or a search. With Nextcloud, those bricks watch a folder, create it, copy, move, upload, download or delete what sits in it.

Three jobs come up again and again, and each one leans on modules you can name. Tidy an intake folder: Watch Files spots the new file, and Move a File/Folder drops it where it belongs. Keep a shared copy: Copy a File/Folder leaves the original in place and puts a duplicate in the team folder. Open the space for a new case: Create a Folder makes the folder and Upload a File fills it.

What Make will not do here: the catalog stops at files and folders. No module touches user accounts or sharing links. When your case falls outside the eight listed modules, Make an API Call reaches any endpoint of the Nextcloud API with the same connection.

Nextcloud also has an n8n node, so the same file routine can be built there: the n8n vs Make comparison sets out the criteria, and the Nextcloud n8n integration page covers that side. If you would rather have someone walk you through your first scenarios, that is what the Make training is for. Either way, the folders end up in order without anyone dragging files by hand.

Connect

How do you connect your Nextcloud account to Make?

  1. 01

    Add a Nextcloud module and open the connection window

    Log in to Make, drop any Nextcloud module into a scenario, then click Create a connection. The window that opens is where your account gets linked once, and every other Nextcloud module in your scenarios reuses it afterwards.

  2. 02

    Collect your credentials in Nextcloud

    Nextcloud hands them over in its own interface. Open Settings from the user menu in the top right corner, pick Files in the sidebar, and copy the Domain URL shown in the WebDAV section. Your Username and Password complete the set.

  3. 03

    Paste them into Make and name the connection

    Back in Make, enter the credentials you just copied, or follow the instructions the window shows you. The Connection name field is optional, and worth filling when several Nextcloud servers end up in the same Make account. Save, and the module can read your folders.

First scenario

Your first scenario: a folder that empties itself

GoalWhen a file lands in your Nextcloud intake folder, Make files it in the right place.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    From the Scenarios page, start a new scenario and click the + to add the first module. Search Nextcloud by name and pick Watch Files.

  2. 02

    Link your account

    The module asks for a connection, your Nextcloud account tied to Make. Click Create a connection, paste the credentials, and the module can see your folders from then on.

  3. 03

    Point it at the folder to watch

    Choose the folder the module should keep an eye on, an intake folder your team already uses. Make lists what it can read, so there is no path to memorize.

  4. 04

    Add the action that files the document

    Click the + on the right of the trigger and add Move a File/Folder. Map the file coming out of Watch Files, then set the folder it should end up in.

  5. 05

    Test with Run once

    Drop a test file in the watched folder and click Run once. The scenario runs one time and shows the bundles each module received, a bundle being one item passed along the chain.

  6. 06

    Schedule it and switch it on

    Set the interval on the first module, 15 minutes by default, then turn the scenario on. From there it works without you, and each run picks up whatever is new in the folder.

Triggers

What starts a Nextcloud scenario

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

Nextcloud1Watch Files

Watch Files

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a file is created and updated.”

Watch Files keeps an eye on one Nextcloud folder and hands your scenario the files that turn up or change in it.

How it fires
on a schedule. Make checks the folder at the interval set on the first module, every 15 minutes by default, and 15 minutes is also the floor on the Free plan. A paid plan takes it down to one minute. Nothing here is instant.
When to use it
a drop folder where colleagues leave documents that someone then sorts by hand.
Watch out
the official description covers files created and files updated, so a document people keep editing can start the scenario again.
Modules

What Nextcloud can do inside a scenario

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

Nextcloud1

Copy a File/Folder

Action

In Make“Copies a file or folder.”

Copy a File/Folder puts a second version of a file or a whole folder somewhere else in Nextcloud, and the original does not move.

When to use it
a signed contract lands in the legal folder and the sales folder needs its own copy.
Watch out
two copies drift apart the moment someone edits one of them, so pick Move a File/Folder when only one version should survive.
Nextcloud2

Create a Folder

Action

In Make“Creates a new folder.”

Create a Folder opens a new folder in Nextcloud, at the place you point it to.

When to use it
a new client signs, and the scenario opens the folder that will hold their paperwork before anything is dropped in it.
Watch out
build the name from data mapped out of the previous module, otherwise every run of the scenario aims at the same folder.
Nextcloud3

Delete a File/Folder

Action

In Make“Deletes a file or folder.”

Delete a File/Folder removes a file or a folder from Nextcloud for good.

When to use it
the last step of a scenario that has already filed the document elsewhere and leaves the intake folder empty.
Watch out
Make has no undo. Point it at a test folder and click Run once before you let it loose on anything you care about.
Nextcloud4

Download a File

Action

In Make“Downloads a file.”

Download a File pulls the file itself into the scenario, so the next module works on the content and not just on a name.

When to use it
a purchase order has to leave Nextcloud and reach a tool that expects the document, not a link.
Watch out
the file travels through Make, and the Free plan stops at 5 MB per file and 512 MB of transfer.
Nextcloud5

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Make an API Call is the way out when the eight other modules stop short: it sends your own request to the Nextcloud API through the connection you already made.

When to use it
something your Nextcloud server exposes has no module of its own in Make.
Watch out
this is the one module that asks you to read the Nextcloud API documentation before it does anything useful.
Nextcloud6

Move a File/Folder

Action

In Make“Moves a file or folder.”

Move a File/Folder takes a file or a folder out of one place in Nextcloud and puts it in another. Nothing stays behind.

When to use it
an intake folder that has to stay empty, with each document sent on to the right project folder.
Watch out
once the file is gone from the source folder, only the scenario knows where it went, so name your destination folders the way your team already names them.
Nextcloud7

Upload a File

Action

In Make“Uploads a file.”

Upload a File is the other direction: it takes a file the scenario is already holding and writes it into a Nextcloud folder.

When to use it
an invoice produced earlier in the scenario gets archived in the folder your accountant already works from.
Watch out
the file has to come from a module placed before it and mapped into the scenario; on the Free plan it also has to stay under 5 MB.
Nextcloud8

List Files/Folders

Search

In Make“Retrieves a list of files and folders.”

List Files/Folders reads a folder and hands back what is inside, one bundle per file or folder found.

When to use it
before filing anything, to see what the destination folder already holds.
Watch out
a search can come back with nothing, with one item or with many, and Make counts one operation per bundle, an operation being the unit your plan is measured in. Aim it at a narrow folder.
Need help

Need help automating Nextcloud with Make?

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FAQ

Questions people ask next

01Is the Nextcloud Make integration free?
Yes. Nextcloud is a standard app in Make, so it works from the Free plan, and nothing extra is charged for the connector itself. What the Free plan limits is the run: 2 active scenarios, 15 minutes at best between two scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of transfer. A paid plan takes the interval down to one minute, lifts the cap on active scenarios and gives 40 minutes of execution, with usage counted in credits, that is, in operations. What you pay for Nextcloud hosting is a separate matter.
02What do you need to connect Nextcloud to Make?
An active Nextcloud account with the right permissions on the folders you plan to touch, plus the credentials Nextcloud shows in Settings, then Files: the Domain URL from the WebDAV section, your username and your password. The documentation also mentions an app password, depending on how the account is set up. On the Make side, nothing is installed: you add a Nextcloud module to a scenario, click Create a connection, and the account is linked for every module of that app afterwards.
03Does Watch Files react in real time?
No, and it is worth knowing before you build. Watch Files is a scheduled trigger: Make goes and looks at the folder at the interval you set on the first module, rather than being told the moment a file appears. The default is every 15 minutes, which is also the fastest the Free plan allows, while paid plans go down to one minute. Nextcloud has no instant module in the Make catalog, so there is no version of this that reacts the second a document lands.
04What if a module is missing or a limit gets in the way?
Make an API Call is the answer for the missing module. It sends a request of your own to the Nextcloud API through the connection you already set up, so anything your server exposes stays reachable even when it has no module of its own. For plan limits the way out is different: a file above the Free plan ceiling, or a scenario that runs longer than the allowed window, needs a paid plan or a split into shorter runs. Nothing in the catalog gets around a plan limit.
05Make or n8n for Nextcloud?
It depends on what you want to maintain. Make is the shorter path here: the modules carry readable names, the editor draws the scenario as a chain of bricks, and the connection takes a few minutes. n8n covers the same app with a node and suits teams that host their own tools and do not mind writing a little code when a case gets specific. If you already run your own server, that argument carries weight. Both build the same file routines, and the choice comes down to habits rather than to what each one can do.
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