Each Celigo-hosted SFTP file server account has four permissions — Read, Create, Modify, and Delete — that control what the account-holder can do inside their home folder. Use them to give a trading partner a write-only drop box, a read-only pickup folder, or anything in between, instead of full access to the folder. This article defines each permission, explains the defaults and how existing accounts behave, and describes what an account-holder sees when an operation isn't permitted. To set permissions on an account, see Create and manage file server accounts.
Note
Permissions are set by whoever administers the account — an account owner or administrator, or a user with Manage access to the integration whose system folder holds the account's home folder (see Create and manage file server accounts).
Permission reference
The account form lists the permissions in this order, each with a short description; the table expands on what each one covers.
| Permission | What the account-holder can do | Default for new accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Read | List the contents of the home folder and its subfolders, and download files. | On |
| Create | Upload new files and create folders. Also rename and overwrite files that this account uploaded, so clients that upload to a temporary name and then rename work without Modify. | On |
| Modify | Overwrite existing files and rename files that were created by anyone else — a flow, a user in integrator.io, or another file server account. Also rename any folder, even one this account created, and rename or overwrite files uploaded before permissions were introduced. | Off |
| Delete | Delete files and folders. Deleted items go to the recycle bin and count toward your storage allowance until purged. | Off |
Each permission works independently. Turning one on never implies another — an account with only Create can upload a file but can't list the folder to confirm it arrived, and an account with only Delete can remove files it can't see. Combine permissions to match what the account-holder needs to do.
Common permission sets
| Use case | Permissions | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Drop box (inbound) | Create only | The account-holder can upload files and create folders but can't see, download, or delete anything, and can't overwrite or rename files they didn't upload. Re-uploading to the name of a file it uploaded itself overwrites that file. |
| Pickup folder (outbound) | Read only | The account-holder can list and download the files your flows stage in the folder, and can't change anything. |
| Drop box with visibility | Read + Create (the default) | The account-holder can upload and can see what's in the folder, but can't overwrite or delete files they didn't upload. |
| Full access | All four | The account-holder can list, download, upload, create folders, rename, overwrite, and delete. |
For step-by-step setup of the first two, see Set up a drop box or pickup folder for a trading partner.
How Create and Modify interact
The difference between Create and Modify is who created the file. Create covers files the account itself uploaded; Modify covers everything else, including every folder.
Many SFTP clients, including WinSCP, upload a file under a temporary name and then rename it to the final name once the transfer completes. Because Create includes renaming the account's own uploads, this pattern works in a Create-only drop box. The same account can't rename or overwrite a file that a flow staged or that a different account uploaded unless it also has Modify.
Uploading to a file name that already exists overwrites the file. Create is enough when the account-holder uploaded the original; Modify is required when someone else did. Two more cases always require Modify: renaming a folder, even one the account created, and renaming or overwriting a file that was uploaded before permissions were introduced, because those files have no recorded uploader.
Note
WinSCP's option to overwrite by uploading a temporary file, deleting the original, and renaming fails in a Create-only account at the delete step, leaving both the original and the temporary file in place. For account-holders who use that option, grant Modify and Delete as well.
Existing accounts keep full access
Accounts created before permissions were introduced keep full access — all four operations — with no change to the account-holder's experience. The first time anyone edits such an account, the account form shows all four permissions turned on, and whatever you save becomes the account's explicit permission set. Nothing changes for the account-holder until you save an edit.
When permission changes take effect
Permission changes apply immediately, including to an account-holder who is already connected. A permission you turn off is enforced from the account-holder's next operation; a transfer that is already in progress completes.
What a denied operation looks like
When an account-holder attempts an operation their permissions don't allow, the server returns a standard SFTP permission-denied error, and their client shows its usual permission-denied message. This is different from the operation not supported error, which means the account-holder tried something the server doesn't implement, such as resuming an interrupted upload (see Troubleshoot file server connections).
Permission changes are recorded in the platform audit log, attributed to the user who made them (see Celigo-hosted file server overview).