n8n 3.0 binary data filesystem mode: keep the Sume result URL

In n8n 3.0, N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE=default (in memory) is no longer valid and n8n switches to filesystem, with the folder renamed from ~/.n8n/binaryData to ~/.n8n/storage (n8n 3.0 breaking changes, read 2026-10-02). For a Sume video job, you rarely need the file in n8n at all: the webhook delivers a URL, and you can pass that URL along.

The relevant changes

Files that used to sit in memory now go to disk, so a workflow that downloads many videos fills the storage folder.

What Sume gives you instead

A completed job webhook carries payload.artifacts[], each with an id, a url on media.sume.com, a type and a content_type (webhook docs). A Format run's webhook adds primary_output_url. You can hand those URLs to the next system, such as a CMS, without pulling the bytes through n8n.

When to download anyway

• The destination only accepts an upload, not a URL.
• You need to transform the file, for example trim or re-encode it, inside n8n.
• You must keep a copy under your own retention rules. The Sume docs do not promise how long a result URL stays reachable, so check before treating it as an archive.

If you do download

Download after the job is terminal, one file per execution, and delete what you no longer need from the storage folder. Make sure the disk behind the container has space for the largest batch, and mount ~/.n8n/storage as a volume so a container restart does not drop in-flight binary data.

Do not run a download inside a Code node with a long loop: the 3.0 task runner timeout default is 60 seconds.