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Conflict handling, retries, and timeouts

Production reliability controls: decide what happens when a file already exists, retry transient failures automatically, and bound how long a transfer may hang. Pro and above.

Last updated July 17, 2026

#Availability

These reliability controls are available on Pro plans and above. They turn a basic transfer into a dependable production job.

#Conflict handling

Choose what happens when a file already exists at the destination:

SettingBehavior
Fail the fileSurfaces the conflict instead of overwriting silently. This is the default.
SkipLeaves the existing file in place and moves on.
OverwriteReplaces the existing file.
RenameWrites the new file under a different name.
VersionKeeps both by versioning the new file.
“Skip” quietly leaves same-named files in place — if files seem “missing” at the destination, check for a partial-success run and review what was skipped.

#Retries

Enable retries to automatically reattempt transient failures — a dropped SFTP connection, a momentarily busy share — before marking a run failed.

For partner SFTP endpoints, enable retries with a modest delay. Most “failures” at 2 AM are momentary network blips that a retry absorbs silently.

#Timeouts

Set a job timeout to bound how long a connection or transfer may hang before FileAgent gives up and retries or fails cleanly. Raise it for jobs that move very large files over slow links; keep it tighter for quick local jobs so a stuck run doesn't block the schedule.