`read_file`

Read the contents of a file into the workflow context. Supports both text and binary files.

Parameters

pathstringrequired: Path to the file to read. Supports ${ctx.key} interpolation.
output_keystringdefault "file": Prefix used for the context keys written by this node.
encodingstringdefault "text": "text" reads the file as a UTF-8 string. "base64" reads raw bytes and encodes them as a base64 string.

Context Output

{output_key}_content — The file contents as a string (plain text or base64-encoded).
{output_key}_path — The resolved file path (after interpolation).
{output_key}_success — true when the file was read successfully.

Examples

Read a text file

local flow = Flow.new("read_demo")

flow:step("read", nodes.read_file({
    path = "/tmp/ironflow_test.txt",
    output_key = "result"
}))

flow:step("show", nodes.log({
    message = "File content: ${ctx.result_content}",
    level = "info"
})):depends_on("read")

return flow

Read a binary file (image, PDF, etc.)

local flow = Flow.new("read_binary")

flow:step("read_img", nodes.read_file({
    path = "/tmp/photo.png",
    output_key = "image",
    encoding = "base64"
}))

flow:step("show", nodes.log({
    message = "Base64 length: ${ctx.image_content}"
})):depends_on("read_img")

return flow