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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kombo.dev/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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What is SFTP?

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a standard, secure way for systems to exchange files. Most enterprise HR systems can be configured to upload exports to a remote SFTP server on a recurring schedule, including on-premise ones that don’t expose an API. Kombo runs an SFTP server that acts as the destination for these uploads. Your customer’s HR system pushes employee data (and optionally absences and timesheets) to Kombo on a fixed cadence, Kombo parses and maps the contents into the unified model, and your application reads that data through the same Kombo API you use for any other integration. This makes SFTP the right fallback whenever a customer’s HR system can’t be reached via API. Typical examples are on-premise SAP HCM, legacy bespoke tools, and systems where the customer is uncomfortable sharing API credentials.

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Overview

Your customer can set up a recurring schedule of exporting data from their system to a Kombo-hosted SFTP server, where we offer to set up a custom connection that maps your customers’ exports to the unified Kombo model. Each export that we receive will trigger a sync for the corresponding integration. That means all the functionality you’ve built around standard Kombo integrations will work the same way for SFTP integrations.
SFTP integrations are currently exclusively available to our scale and enterprise-tier customers. If you’re interested in establishing a connection, please get in touch with us for assistance in setting it up.

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Potential Benefits

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No API Credentials

An SFTP transfer eliminates the need for API credentials. To authenticate SFTP transfers, your customer will create a key pair and share the public key with Kombo. This way, we ensure that the data comes from the correct source. Not requiring API credentials can be helpful for customers who are uncomfortable with sharing them.

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Explicit Data Point Sharing

The first step in the connection flow will prompt you to select which data should be accessible in this integration. For SFTP exports, you are responsible for selecting which data is included in the file you transfer. In that first step, you’ll find an overview of the data points that need to be provided in your file export. You can toggle OFF optional data fields if you don’t want to include them. Please make sure all required data fields are included in your export file.

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Expanded Compatibility

SFTP transfers allow you to offer integrations for tools that Kombo does not yet support as API-based connections.