Set up a drop box or pickup folder for a trading partner

A drop box is a file server account that can only upload, and a pickup folder is one that can only download. Both use the permissions on a Celigo-hosted SFTP file server account to give a trading partner exactly the access their role in the exchange requires: a partner sending you orders can't see or alter other files, and a partner collecting invoices can't change what your flows staged. This article walks through both setups end to end, from the storage folder to the flow that processes the files. It's for anyone who administers file server accounts.

If one partner both sends and receives files, create two accounts — one drop box and one pickup folder, each with its own home folder — rather than one account with broader permissions. Separate accounts keep inbound and outbound files apart and let you revoke one direction without the other.

Set up a write-only drop box

A drop box account has only the Create permission. The partner can upload files and create folders but can't list the folder, download, overwrite, or delete.

1. In Celigo Storage, create the folder that will receive the partner's files, for example acme-inbound (see Create folders and upload files in integrator.io). If the partner's files belong to a specific integration, create it inside that integration's system folder so users with Manage access to the integration can administer the account.
2. Create a file server account for the partner (see Create and manage file server accounts), with these values:
   • Home folder — the folder from step 1.
   • Permissions — select Create only; clear Read, Modify, and Delete.
3. Send the partner their connection details and tell them they can only overwrite files they uploaded themselves — uploading to the name of a file created by anyone else requires Modify and is denied. Clients that upload to a temporary name and then rename work without any change; WinSCP's overwrite-by-temporary-file option doesn't, because it deletes the original (see How Create and Modify interact).
4. Build a flow that exports from the folder using the Celigo APIs connector, so each uploaded file is processed as it arrives (see Set up a connection to Celigo APIs).

To confirm the setup, have the partner upload a test file and check that it appears in the folder on the File storage page. If the partner also tries to list the folder, their client shows a permission-denied error — that's the expected behavior for a drop box.

Set up a read-only pickup folder

A pickup account has only the Read permission. The partner can list the folder and download files but can't upload, change, or delete anything.

1. In Celigo Storage, create the folder your flows will stage files in, for example acme-outbound. If the files come from a specific integration, create the folder inside that integration's system folder.
2. Create a file server account for the partner (see Create and manage file server accounts), with these values:
   • Home folder — the folder from step 1.
   • Permissions — select Read only; clear Create, Modify, and Delete.
3. Build a flow that imports files into the folder using the Celigo APIs connector (see Set up a connection to Celigo APIs).
4. Send the partner their connection details.

Because the partner can't delete, files stay in the folder after pickup. Decide how to clear them: have the staging flow write each file to a dated subfolder, or add a flow step that moves or deletes files on a schedule (see Manage Celigo Storage files with the Celigo APIs connector). If the partner needs to delete files after downloading them, select Delete as well.