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What to Check Before Ingesting from SFTP ​

May 2026

SFTP ingestion is mostly about verifying the server access model and the exact remote path you expect Skippr to read.

Short Answer ​

Before ingesting from SFTP, confirm the host, optional port, username, whether authentication will use a password or private_key_path, and the exact remote_path or glob that should be read. The docs recommend private-key auth for long-lived pipelines, which is a useful design decision to settle before the first run rather than after a password-based test already works.

For example, remote_path: "/data/*.json" only helps if the SSH user can list /data and read the matching files. If the real exports are written under /data/nightly/ or the shell account lands in a chroot with a different visible path, the connector can report no files even though login succeeds.

Why Teams Struggle with This ​

SFTP first runs often fail because connectivity and file visibility are not the same thing. A user can authenticate successfully and still lack permission to list the directory or read the files that the pipeline expects.

  • SSH authentication method should be decided early because password auth and key-based auth have different operational footprints.
  • The remote_path must match the server’s visible filesystem from that user account, not just an internal storage path someone mentioned in chat.
  • Port changes matter when the server is not on the default SSH port 22.
  • The runner needs outbound network access to the SFTP host and port from the environment where Skippr will execute.

How Skippr Handles It ​

Skippr keeps SFTP ingestion focused on the same variables operators already think about: one host, one user, one auth method, and one remote path. That is a good fit for first-ingestion reviews because it surfaces the exact assumptions that usually break in file-transfer workflows.

The docs also keep secret handling clean by steering password-based setups toward environment variable interpolation. Even when a team starts with password auth, it can still keep credentials out of committed config.

  • SFTP source support with host, port, username, password, or SSH private key configuration.
  • Remote path and glob support so the first ingestion can target a narrow export set.
  • Environment-variable-friendly password handling for cleaner secret hygiene.
  • A straightforward file-oriented contract that is easy to validate before moving to scheduled pipelines.

What the First Useful Version Looks Like ​

The first useful SFTP pipeline usually targets one known directory or one file pattern that the source team can verify live.

If the account can log in but cannot list the intended directory, fix that before you broaden the pipeline because the rest of the setup is unlikely to be the real blocker.