How can I use a Local File node instead of a Google Drive node in a RAG workflow?

Below is how you can achieve both tasks:

---

1. Mounting a New Directory in Docker

When starting your n8n container (or editing your Docker Compose file), you need to add a volume bind mount that maps a directory on your host machine to a directory inside the container. For example, if you want to use the directory /files inside the container, you can do one of the following:

Using Docker Run:

SHCopied
docker run -it --rm \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -v /path/to/your/local/directory:/files \
  docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

Replace /path/to/your/local/directory with the absolute path on your host machine where your files are stored. This command mounts that host directory to /files in the container.

Using Docker Compose:

In your docker-compose.yml file, add the volume mapping under the n8n service:

YAMLCopied
services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    volumes:
      - /path/to/your/local/directory:/files

If you're running n8n as a non-root user, you might want to mount to a user-specific directory such as:

YAMLCopied
- /home/<YOUR_USERNAME>/n8n-local-files:/files

---

2. Configuring the Local File Node

Inside n8n's workflow:

• In your Local File node, set the File Path parameter to point to the mounted directory.
• For example, if you mounted your host directory to /files and your target file is named example.txt, you would enter:
  /files/example.txt

This tells the node to retrieve files from the /files directory inside the container—which is directly mapped to your host’s directory.

---

Summary

• Mount the Directory: Use the -v flag in your docker run command or add a volume mapping in your Docker Compose file to bind your host directory (e.g., /path/to/your/local/directory) to a directory inside the container (for example, /files).
• Local File Node Setup: Configure the Local File node to use the internal container path (e.g., /files/example.txt), which gives it access to your host files.

With these steps, your workflow will be able to access the local files directly from your Docker container while keeping your data internal and secure.