Google Drive - Trigger on Changes involving a specific folder not working

Questions
1

Context:
I’ve set up a ‘Trigger on Changes involving a specific folder’ in Google Drive node, and tried ‘Watch for File Created’ and ‘Watch for File Updated’. The polling time is set to ‘every minute’. The workflow is active.

Actions:
I add a file (tried pdf and google doc) to the selected folder and wait 1 minute, nothing happens. There is no error, is just doesnt trigger the workflow.

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I’ve read through all the other similar questions which didnt help.

Please help! Without this functionality there is no point using n8n for a RAG set up. Many thanks!

Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version: latest
  • Database (default: SQLite): Postgres
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): self hosted railway.app
  • Operating system: windows
2

Hi @Strider

Thar setup should work indeed. Can you try recreating the credentials and setting a larger pool like 10 minutes?

Does this same issue happen on our cloud? Mind trying there as well please?

Also, still on railway, do any other GDrive trigger work at all? I’m wondering if this is something to do with the credentials all together.

Thanks!

3

I face the same and know other people facing the same, the fileCreated is simply unreliable, from 5 files created in the same folder with 5-10minutes apart from each other, only two files resulted in a trigger being executed. there was absolutely nothing different in the creation process of each file.

1 Like
4

I am also encountering the same challenge. In my test environment when I manually trigger the node it works just fine, but when I switch the workflow to “active” and move a file into the Google Drive folder nothing happens - same as OP - no error either - just doesn’t trigger altogether. It’s also concerning hearing about @Simpl8’s issue with multiple file uploads as I plan on requiring the same capacity for back-to-back file uploads. @gualter any further insights on the challenges with this node?

To answer some of the same questions that were asked of OP, I am running on n8n cloud, and my authentication is working for Google Drive because I the test trigger works and because I have many other steps downstream in my workflow that are working with Google Drive.

2 Likes
5

Hi , Has anyone found a solution to this issue, or do the polling nodes just not work? I’ve tried every suggested change, and none have worked. The nodes work fine if tested manually, but with workflow active, I haven’t had a single file recognized.

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1 Like
6

Same here, it’s not picked up

7

im having the same issue with a Gmail trigger - message received.

When triggered manually, works just fine, but doesnt work on its on even tho its active. The settings says it should be working, but isnt

8

if anybody’s interested… i solved it by changing the gmail trigger to the schedule trigger and it works perfectly!

of course its easier to find unread emails than an updated file in gdrive

9

Same issue here, the workflow works fine with the test event button but it never triggers when I add files to the folder.

I added a schedule trigger node to work around the issue:

1 Like
10

Same problem here.
A schedule trigger is used as a workaround in other threads about this issue too:

It would be great if the devs could fix this problem.

11

Definitely agree!
@gualter is this issue coming from n8n or Google ?
Is it already well known ?

1 Like
12

Any Solution for this problem?

13

Same problem in differents workflows. Anyone found a solution ?. Definitely Schedule trigger node is not a robust solution for a RAG system

1 Like
14

After much trial and error, I’ve found a pattern that works for me.

It always failed when I copied or moved a file to the Drive folder from within Google Drive itself.

I downloaded all the files to my local device, created a new folder in Google Drive, and uploaded the files again, and it seems to work when I put it into production.

In summary, if I now upload any file from my local device to the Google Drive folder, it works.

But if I copy or move it from another Google Drive folder, it doesn’t trigger the action.

15

That doesn’t work for me unfortunately.

Any way to get feedback from someone from the team on this topic ?

1 Like