Add attachment when new list item is created using flow

[Blarue]

Hi,

I would like to be able to auto attach an excel workbook or worksheet to a SharePoint list time when it is created. I have tried the "get file content" approach but it only attaches a blank document and i have to download it to open 

[DAllen365]

@Blarue I did a quick POC for this and got it working, I don't know what is tripping you up but I am guessing its the file identifier in the get file content.  I added a trigger condition to only run on files that contain xlsx in their filename.  Here's my flow:

• Trigger - when file is created (properties only)
• Get file content (with Identifier property)
• Get item (I just manually chose an ID manually, but this would need to be more dynamic based on your requirements)
• Add attachment - use filenamewithextension from trigger, and file content from get file content and ID from the get item

The trigger condition is this expression:

@contains(triggerBody()?['{FilenameWithExtension}'],'.xlsx')

In my test, it fired the flow for XLS, and didn't start when I uploaded a PDF.  That is much better than adding a condition to check the filename after having the Flow start.  Here is the attachment and it works if I just click it from the item:

Hope that addresses your problem!

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[Blarue]

Thank you for your reply, but will this work if the trigger is when a SharePoint list Item is created? I am trying see if there is a way to automatically attach an excel file from another SharePoint document library as an attachment to each new SharePoint list item when they are created. 

could you break down the steps for me for something like this:

1. Trigger : When a SharePoint list item is created

2. Get file content (from a SharePoint document library) 

3. Add attachment 

[kswindfarmer]

Blarue, did you figure this out? i want the exact same setup you explained, but cant seem to find YouTube nor help files on it. Most folks want file being updated as the trigger, but i want SharePoint list item. Thanks 

[ArT1 · Accepted solution]

I'm not sure whether you've been able to resolve the issue but I'm just going to post how I managed to do this because I was facing the same issue but I couldn't find any other discussions with the same problem that was resolved/worked for me. 

The file content pathway is not only limited to SharePoint. I originally tried the pathway from my one drive before switching to SharePoint. I read that the "Get file content" is used to retrieve files that has already been attached to the newly created item thats why I was facing errors saying that the file item did not exist.

Also remember that when you're testing out your flow it has to be done manually as opposed to automatically because you are trying to get it to work on newly created items. Not existing ones. Might be obvious to you but it took me half a day to figure out why I was facing flow errors when I was trying to automatically test out my flow. Because it kept executing the flow and creating a file that already existed within the SharePoint record I had already created from previous tests. 

@kswindfarmer 

[Blarue]

@ArT1 thank you for posting this!  I will give it a try and mark this Resolved if I am able to re-create your solution. Sorry its been a minute since I've responded, I have been pulled away on other projects but now I'm back on this one 😉 

[Blarue · Accepted solution]

@ArT1  That worked!! thank you soooo much!! 

[Mar92]

Hello, 

I'm looking to do this, and while the flow works - it doesn't work right away.  I need to create a new list item, save it and then wait a bit and 'edit' it to see the excel document appear in the Attachments part.  Is there a way to have the Excel spreadsheet I need automatically populate whenever a new List item is created?