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  1. OPERATORS
  2. MODIFIERS

File In

v1.0.1updated

The File In operator loads conversation data from DAT, JSON, CSV, TSV, and TXT files into its output DAT. It provides multiple modes for locating the right file — direct path, latest from a folder, date-based subfolder lookup, or agent name matching — making it useful for restoring saved conversations or importing external data into a LOPs network.

Input/Output

Section titled “Input/Output”

Inputs

Section titled “Inputs”

None. File paths are configured via parameters.

Outputs

Section titled “Outputs”
  • Output 1 (DAT): A table containing the loaded conversation data, ready to wire into downstream operators.

Usage Examples

Section titled “Usage Examples”

Loading the Most Recent Conversation Log

Section titled “Loading the Most Recent Conversation Log”
  1. Set Load Folder to the directory where your conversation logs are saved (e.g., the same folder used by a File Out operator).
  2. Set Load File Mode to Latest from Folder.
  3. Pulse Load Now. The operator finds the newest file across the folder and all subfolders, then loads its contents into the output DAT.

Loading a Specific Day’s Log

Section titled “Loading a Specific Day’s Log”
  1. Set Load Folder to the base directory containing date-named subfolders (e.g., a folder with 2025-12-01/, 2025-12-02/, etc.).
  2. Set Load File Mode to By Date.
  3. To load today’s log, toggle Today on. To load from a past date, turn Today off and enter the date in YYYY-MM-DD format into Load Date.
  4. Pulse Load Now. The operator loads the latest file found inside the matching date subfolder.

Loading a Specific File

Section titled “Loading a Specific File”
  1. Set Load File Mode to Specific File.
  2. Use the Specific File parameter to browse to or paste the path of the file you want to load.
  3. Pulse Load Now.

Restoring an Agent’s Last Session

Section titled “Restoring an Agent’s Last Session”
  1. Set Load Folder to the directory where agent conversations are saved.
  2. Set Load File Mode to By Agent.
  3. Enter the agent’s name in the Agent Name field. The search is case-insensitive.
  4. Pulse Load Now. The operator searches all subfolders for .dat files containing the agent name, and loads the most recent match.

Auto-Loading on Project Start

Section titled “Auto-Loading on Project Start”

Toggle Auto Load on Startup on to automatically load the configured file whenever the TouchDesigner project opens. This is useful for restoring agent memory or seeding a conversation on launch.

Technical Notes

Section titled “Technical Notes”
  • The operator parses files based on their extension. Ensure file contents match the expected format for the extension.
  • JSON files should contain a list of dictionaries, where each dictionary represents a row and its keys become column headers.
  • TXT files are parsed as tab-separated values.
  • DAT and CSV/TSV files are loaded natively through TouchDesigner’s built-in file handling.
  • The Last Load Time and Output Display read-only parameters show the timestamp of the last successful load and its status or any error messages.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
  • “No file found to load”: Verify that Load Folder points to a valid directory and that it contains files matching the selected mode. For By Date mode, ensure a subfolder exists with the exact date string. For By Agent mode, ensure .dat files containing the agent name exist in the folder tree.
  • “Unsupported file type”: The operator only supports .dat, .json, .csv, .tsv, and .txt extensions. Rename or convert your file if needed.
  • “Invalid JSON format”: The JSON file must be a list of dictionaries (e.g., [{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}]). A single dictionary or other structure will not parse correctly.

Parameters

Section titled “Parameters”

File Input

Section titled “File Input”
Load Now (Loadpulse) op('file_in').par.Loadpulse Pulse
Default:
False
Load File Mode (Loadfilemode) op('file_in').par.Loadfilemode Menu
Default:
File
Options:
File, Latest, Date, Agent
Specific File (Specificfile) op('file_in').par.Specificfile File
Default:
"" (Empty String)
Load Folder (Loadfolder) op('file_in').par.Loadfolder Folder
Default:
"" (Empty String)
Today (Today) op('file_in').par.Today Toggle
Default:
False
Load Date (YYYY-MM-DD) (Loaddate) op('file_in').par.Loaddate Str
Default:
"" (Empty String)
Agent Name (Agentname) op('file_in').par.Agentname Str
Default:
"" (Empty String)
Last Load Time (Lastload) op('file_in').par.Lastload Str
Default:
"" (Empty String)
Output Display (Outputdisplay) op('file_in').par.Outputdisplay Str
Default:
"" (Empty String)
Auto Load on Startup (Autoload) op('file_in').par.Autoload Toggle
Default:
False

Changelog

Section titled “Changelog”
v1.0.12026-04-15
  • Fix: distributed TOX was a Chat operator clone instead of file_in (wrong operator saved during previous dist build)
  • Re-exported correct master COMP as TOX (34KB Chat clone -> 9.7KB correct file_in)
  • Add compose.json for agent composition support
v1.0.02024-11-06

Initial release

Section titled “Related Operators”