Glob Patterns

A glob is a small pattern language for matching file paths, **/*.pdf matches every PDF anywhere in a folder tree, for example. Several of Lamatic’s file-sync integrations use globs to control which files get pulled in and indexed, instead of syncing everything.

This page is the single reference for that syntax so you don’t have to guess or search elsewhere.

⚠️

These integrations are built on Airbyte’s file-based source connectors, which use Python’s wcmatch.glob. There is no working exclusion syntax. A pattern that starts with ! (e.g. !**/draft/**) is matched literally and won’t match anything, this is a common mistake since !prefix negation works in other glob dialects (.gitignore, VS Code, shells), but not here. Use a positive pattern instead, see Including only what you want below.

Where globs are used in Lamatic

Integration	Config field
Google Drive	Globs (Path Patterns)
AWS S3	Globs (Path Patterns)
OneDrive	Globs (Path Patterns)
SharePoint	Globs (Path Patterns)

The field is optional on all four. If you leave it empty, the default is **, every file.

Syntax

Pattern	Meaning
`*`	Matches any characters within a single path segment (does not cross a `/`).
`**`	Matches any characters, including across folder boundaries. Used to mean “any depth” or, on its own, “everything.”
`\|`	Separates alternatives within a single pattern (`a\|b` matches `a` or `b`).

You can supply a single pattern as a string, or a list of patterns. A file matches if it satisfies any pattern in the list. Patterns are purely additive, there is no way to exclude or subtract.

Common patterns

Pattern	Matches
`**`	Every file, at any depth.
`*/.pdf`	Every `.pdf` file, at any depth.
`myFolder/*/.csv`	Every `.csv` file anywhere under `myFolder`.
`/*`	Everything at least one folder deep (excludes files in the root).
`///*`	Everything at least three folders deep.
`x//y/`	Files directly inside `x/<any single folder>/y/`.
`*/prefix.csv`	`.csv` files whose name starts with `prefix`.
`*/file.\|**/file`	Any file named `file`, with or without an extension.

Multiple patterns

# Everything under two specific folders
globs:
  - "HR/**/*"
  - "Legal/**/*"

Including only what you want

There is no exclusion syntax that reliably works end to end (through Studio testing and into a deployed sync). If you want everything except a subfolder or file type, don’t try to subtract it, list what you do want instead:

# Instead of trying to exclude "draft", include the folders you actually want
globs:
  - "HR/**/*"
  - "Legal/**/*"
  - "Finance/**/*"

Scoping to supported file types

Each file-sync integration only parses a specific set of extensions (.pdf, .txt, .docx, .pptx, .md as of this writing, check the integration’s own page for the current list). Scoping your glob to those extensions avoids sync errors from unsupported files:

globs:
  - "**/*.pdf"
  - "**/*.txt"
  - "**/*.docx"
  - "**/*.pptx"
  - "**/*.md"

Tips

Start narrow. Test a glob against a small folder before pointing it at your whole drive, an overly broad ** on a large source can mean a very large first sync.
Extension filters (**/*.pdf) are the most common and least error-prone pattern. Folder-scoped patterns (HR/**/*) are useful when only part of a source is relevant.
If files aren’t syncing that you expect to, check the glob first, it’s the most common cause, ahead of credentials or permissions issues.
If you need something not covered here, Airbyte’s S3 connector docs document the same wcmatch.glob-based syntax these integrations run on.