Extract From FIle "Move File to Base 64 String" returning no output

[Luar_AS]

Describe the problem/error/question

The Extract From FIle node set to Move File to Base 64 String is returning no output at all, I also tried specifying that I want a base64 string in the node settings.

What is the error message (if any)?

No output data returned
n8n stops executing the workflow when a node has no output data. You can change this default behaviour via Settings > “Always Output Data”.

Please share your workflow

Share the output returned by the last node

No output

Information on your n8n setup

• n8n version: 1.85.4
• Database: Supabase
• **n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):**I am not sure where to get that info.
• **Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app):**Cloud
• Operating system: Windows11

[mohamed3nan]

Hi @Luar_AS,

The node settings look fine to me.

I suspect the ElevenLabs output isn’t a valid file. Did you try testing that output file?

[jcuypers]

Hi, it works for me.

but it gave me issues with the voice id provided as non-existent… I took another one. I dont have an issue on my end

reg,
J.

[Luar_AS]

It is, I used it before via telegram send file node, but in order to send via whatsapp I gotta turn into base64

[Luar_AS]

That makes sense, the ID is a custom voice ID. Thanks for trying it out and letting me know.

I have no idea what the problem could be, should I open a ticket?

(update) I unpinned all data in the workflow and tested again from scratch, it worked.

Hopefully will stay like this

[jcuypers]

Hi, you could try another version of n8n. it might be me, but a lot of cases of “it worked before without problems” have popped up on here. so you might want to try 1.83.x or 1.84.x
Reg,
J.

[Olek]

@Luar_AS

I unpinned all data in the workflow and tested again from scratch, it worked.

That’s very likely because pinned data doesn’t contain binary (a documented peculiarity) and in testing mode the next node receives only what is pinned.

A tricky bug to catch.

[Luar_AS]

I often pin API calls not to waste my credits when testing haha

[Olek]

Yeah, ability to pin binary data would be very helpful. Not only to save on API calls (one very valid use case) but also to share data when debugging cases in the community.

I assume it is not there as cleaning up temporary files would be a nightmare.

There is a feature request for this

Allow Pinning of Binary Data

It is not currently possible to pin test execution data to a node if that execution contains binary data. If N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE is set to filesystem or s3, it should be possible to persist this binary data.

Not much traction to it tho.