Not receiving binary data for the Extract from PDF node

Questions
1

HEy,

I’m trying to load PDF to supabase but the extract from PDF node says that it doesn’t receive binary data.

I’ve tried a lot of different things but it doesn’t work.

Help apprecciated!

2

I’ve got a similar issue in the past an I solved putting the “Extract from File” node earlier in the workflow. I don’t really know why but it worked.

3

Hi @augustin

The Extract from PDF node only works if the incoming item contains binary data (for example binary.data). The error happens because the workflow is passing a URL, metadata, or text, not the actual PDF file.

Correct approach:

  1. Download the PDF in the same workflow:
  • Google Drive → Download
  • or HTTP Request → Response Format: File
  1. Make sure the previous node outputs:
binary.data (application/pdf)
  1. In Extract from PDF, set:
  • Binary Property: data

:warning: URLs, Supabase storage paths, or “List/Search” nodes do not work without downloading the file first.
:warning: Set nodes can remove binary data if Keep Binary Data is not enabled.

If binary.data does not exist in the previous node, Extract from PDF will always fail.

4

Hi @augustin, welcome!

You can use expressions to reference binary:

{{ $('Download file').item.binary.data}}

image
image437×317 13.6 KB

give it a try!