Compression consultants

Q: Can you decompress files received from SFTP or email before processing them?

Yes. A typical workflow receives a ZIP file from SFTP (or as an email attachment), the Compression node extracts the contents, and downstream nodes process each file — parsing CSVs, extracting data from PDFs, or importing records into a database. This is common for businesses that receive data feeds from suppliers or partners in compressed format.

Q: Can compressed files be uploaded to cloud storage automatically?

Yes. After the Compression node creates the archive, the workflow can upload it to any cloud storage platform — AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob, Dropbox, or Google Drive. This is useful for automated backup and archival workflows where you want to compress files before storing them to save on storage costs.

Q: How do you handle password-protected ZIP files?

The standard n8n Compression node does not support password-protected archives natively. For workflows that require encrypted ZIP files (e.g., sending sensitive data to clients), we use a Code node to call a system-level ZIP utility with password encryption. This adds a secure password to the archive before it is emailed or uploaded, meeting common data security requirements.

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About Compression

The Compression node in n8n compresses and decompresses files within a workflow. It supports ZIP and GZIP formats, allowing you to bundle multiple files into a single archive or extract files from an incoming compressed archive. The node operates on binary data that flows through the workflow — files read from disk, downloaded from APIs, received as email attachments, or generated by other workflow nodes.

This node is essential in file processing pipelines where you need to package files for delivery (e.g., zipping a batch of reports before emailing them to a client), reduce file sizes before uploading to storage or transferring over slow connections, or unpack compressed files received from external systems before processing their contents. It pairs naturally with the Read Binary Files node, the HTTP Request node, and email or SFTP nodes.

At Osher, we use the Compression node as part of automated file handling workflows in n8n. Common builds include compressing daily report exports into a single ZIP before emailing them to stakeholders, decompressing data files received from suppliers or partners before parsing and importing the contents, and archiving processed files by compressing them before moving to long-term storage. If your team manually zips, unzips, or manages compressed file transfers, our automated data processing services can build an n8n pipeline that handles it without manual effort.

Compression FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about how Compression consultants can help with integration and implementation

What compression formats does the n8n Compression node support?

The node supports ZIP (for bundling multiple files into a single archive with directory structure) and GZIP (for compressing a single file). ZIP is the most commonly used format for business file transfers, while GZIP is standard for compressing data files, API payloads, and log files. If you need other formats like RAR or 7z, we can handle the conversion using a Code node or external utility.

Can you automate zipping reports and emailing them on a schedule?

Yes, this is a straightforward n8n build. A scheduled trigger runs the workflow daily (or weekly, monthly — whatever your reporting cycle is), the workflow generates or fetches the report files, the Compression node packages them into a single ZIP archive, and the email node sends the ZIP to the defined recipient list. Your team gets the reports in their inbox without anyone having to run, export, zip, or send them manually.

Can the Compression node handle large files without timing out?

For most business file sizes (up to a few hundred MB), the Compression node works well. For very large files, we increase n8n’s memory allocation and execution timeout, and may split the workload across multiple workflow executions to avoid memory pressure. If you regularly process multi-gigabyte archives, we would recommend handling the compression at the system level (using a Code node to call a system utility) for better memory management.

Can you decompress files received from SFTP or email before processing them?

Can compressed files be uploaded to cloud storage automatically?

How do you handle password-protected ZIP files?

How it works

We work hand-in-hand with you to implement Compression

As Compression consultants we work with you hand in hand build more efficient and effective operations. Here’s how we will work with you to automate your business and integrate Compression with integrate and automate 800+ tools.

Step 1

Identify Your File Compression and Archival Needs

We document where your team currently compresses or decompresses files, why they do it (for email, storage, data transfer, archival), what formats are involved, and how often it happens. This tells us which workflows to build and what file handling logic is needed.

Step 2

Design the File Processing Pipeline

Based on your needs, we design the n8n workflow: what triggers it (schedule, webhook, file arrival), where the source files come from (disk, SFTP, API, email), whether the workflow compresses or decompresses, and where the output goes (email, cloud storage, another API, local archive folder).

Step 3

Build the Workflow with Compression Logic

We build the n8n workflow with the Compression node at the right point in the pipeline. For compression workflows, files are collected first, then compressed into a single archive. For decompression workflows, the archive is received first, then extracted, and each file is routed to the appropriate processing step.

Step 4

Add Error Handling and File Validation

We add checks for corrupt archives, empty files, unsupported formats, and files that exceed size limits. If a file fails validation, the workflow logs the error, notifies your team, and skips the bad file without stopping the rest of the pipeline.

Step 5

Test with Real Files

We test the workflow with your actual files — varying sizes, formats, and volumes — to confirm that compression and decompression work correctly, output files are intact, and delivery to the target (email, storage, API) succeeds. Edge cases like empty archives and files with special characters in their names are tested too.

Step 6

Deploy and Hand Over

We activate the workflow on your production n8n instance, verify the first few scheduled runs (or triggered runs) complete successfully, and hand over documentation covering the pipeline architecture, file handling logic, and instructions for adjusting parameters like the compression format, recipient list, or schedule.

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