Export folder scanning (#5544)

# Description of Changes

<!--
Please provide a summary of the changes, including:

- What was changed
- Why the change was made
- Any challenges encountered

Closes #(issue_number)
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---

## Checklist

### General

- [ ] I have read the [Contribution
Guidelines](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)
- [ ] I have read the [Stirling-PDF Developer
Guide](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/blob/main/devGuide/DeveloperGuide.md)
(if applicable)
- [ ] I have read the [How to add new languages to
Stirling-PDF](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/blob/main/devGuide/HowToAddNewLanguage.md)
(if applicable)
- [ ] I have performed a self-review of my own code
- [ ] My changes generate no new warnings

### Documentation

- [ ] I have updated relevant docs on [Stirling-PDF's doc
repo](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-Tools.github.io/blob/main/docs/)
(if functionality has heavily changed)
- [ ] I have read the section [Add New Translation
Tags](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/blob/main/devGuide/HowToAddNewLanguage.md#add-new-translation-tags)
(for new translation tags only)

### Translations (if applicable)

- [ ] I ran
[`scripts/counter_translation.py`](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/blob/main/docs/counter_translation.md)

### UI Changes (if applicable)

- [ ] Screenshots or videos demonstrating the UI changes are attached
(e.g., as comments or direct attachments in the PR)

### Testing (if applicable)

- [ ] I have tested my changes locally. Refer to the [Testing
Guide](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/blob/main/devGuide/DeveloperGuide.md#6-testing)
for more details.

build.gradle

@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ springBoot {
 
 allprojects {
     group = 'stirling.software'
-    version = '2.3.1'
+    version = '2.4.0'
 
     configurations.configureEach {
         exclude group: 'commons-logging', module: 'commons-logging'

frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml

@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ selectOperation = "Select Operation"
 addOperationButton = "Add operation"
 pipelineHeader = "Pipeline:"
 saveButton = "Download"
+saveForFolderScanning = "Save for Folder Scanning"
 validateButton = "Validate"
 
 [enterpriseEdition]
@@ -5465,6 +5466,7 @@ desc = "Build multi-step workflows by chaining together PDF actions. Ideal for r
 invalidStep = "Invalid step"
 reviewTitle = "Automation Results"
 copyToSaved = "Copy to Saved"
+exportForFolderScanning = "Export for Folder Scanning"
 
 [automate.files]
 placeholder = "Select files to process with this automation"
@@ -5486,6 +5488,7 @@ createTitle = "Create Automation"
 editTitle = "Edit Automation"
 intro = "Automations run tools sequentially. To get started, add tools in the order you want them to run."
 save = "Save Automation"
+exportForFolderScanning = "Export for Folder Scanning"
 
 [automate.creation.name]
 label = "Automation Name"

frontend/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "$schema": "../node_modules/@tauri-apps/cli/config.schema.json",
     "productName": "Stirling-PDF",
-    "version": "2.3.1",
+    "version": "2.4.0",
     "identifier": "stirling.pdf.dev",
     "build": {
         "frontendDist": "../dist",

frontend/src/core/components/tools/automate/AutomationCreation.tsx

@@ -12,12 +12,14 @@ import {
 } from '@mantine/core';
 import { Z_INDEX_AUTOMATE_MODAL } from '@app/styles/zIndex';
 import CheckIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Check';
+import DownloadIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Download';
 import { ToolRegistry } from '@app/data/toolsTaxonomy';
 import ToolConfigurationModal from '@app/components/tools/automate/ToolConfigurationModal';
 import ToolList from '@app/components/tools/automate/ToolList';
 import IconSelector from '@app/components/tools/automate/IconSelector';
 import { AutomationConfig, AutomationMode, AutomationTool } from '@app/types/automation';
 import { useAutomationForm } from '@app/hooks/tools/automate/useAutomationForm';
+import { downloadFolderScanningConfig } from '@app/utils/automationConverter';
 
 
 interface AutomationCreationProps {
@@ -194,15 +196,42 @@ export default function AutomationCreation({ mode, existingAutomation, onBack, o
 
         <Divider />
 
-        {/* Save Button */}
+        {/* Action Buttons */}
-        <Button
+        <Stack gap="sm">
-          leftSection={<CheckIcon />}
+          <Button
-          onClick={saveAutomation}
+            leftSection={<CheckIcon />}
-          disabled={!canSaveAutomation()}
+            onClick={saveAutomation}
-          fullWidth
+            disabled={!canSaveAutomation()}
-        >
+            fullWidth
-          {t('automate.creation.save', 'Save Automation')}
+          >
-        </Button>
+            {t('automate.creation.save', 'Save Automation')}
+          </Button>
+
+          <Button
+            leftSection={<DownloadIcon />}
+            onClick={() => {
+              // Create a temporary automation config from current state
+              const tempAutomation: AutomationConfig = {
+                id: existingAutomation?.id || 'temp',
+                name: automationName.trim(),
+                description: automationDescription.trim(),
+                icon: automationIcon,
+                operations: selectedTools.map(tool => ({
+                  operation: tool.operation,
+                  parameters: tool.parameters || {}
+                })),
+                createdAt: existingAutomation?.createdAt || new Date().toISOString(),
+                updatedAt: new Date().toISOString()
+              };
+              downloadFolderScanningConfig(tempAutomation);
+            }}
+            disabled={!canSaveAutomation()}
+            variant="light"
+            fullWidth
+          >
+            {t('automate.creation.exportForFolderScanning', 'Export for Folder Scanning')}
+          </Button>
+        </Stack>
       </Stack>
 
       {/* Tool Configuration Modal */}

frontend/src/core/components/tools/automate/AutomationEntry.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import MoreVertIcon from '@mui/icons-material/MoreVert';
 import EditIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Edit';
 import DeleteIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Delete';
 import ContentCopyIcon from '@mui/icons-material/ContentCopy';
+import DownloadIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Download';
 import { Tooltip } from '@app/components/shared/Tooltip';
 import { ToolIcon } from '@app/components/shared/ToolIcon';
 import { ToolRegistry } from '@app/data/toolsTaxonomy';
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@ interface AutomationEntryProps {
   onDelete?: () => void;
   /** Copy handler (for suggested automations) */
   onCopy?: () => void;
+  /** Export handler (for folder scanning) */
+  onExport?: () => void;
   /** Tool registry to resolve operation names */
   toolRegistry?: Partial<ToolRegistry>;
 }
@@ -46,6 +49,7 @@ export default function AutomationEntry({
   onEdit,
   onDelete,
   onCopy,
+  onExport,
   toolRegistry
 }: AutomationEntryProps) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
@@ -225,6 +229,17 @@ export default function AutomationEntry({
                 {t('edit', 'Edit')}
               </Menu.Item>
             )}
+            {onExport && (
+              <Menu.Item
+                leftSection={<DownloadIcon style={{ fontSize: 16 }} />}
+                onClick={(e) => {
+                  e.stopPropagation();
+                  onExport();
+                }}
+              >
+                {t('automate.exportForFolderScanning', 'Export for Folder Scanning')}
+              </Menu.Item>
+            )}
             {onDelete && (
               <Menu.Item
                 leftSection={<DeleteIcon style={{ fontSize: 16 }} />}

frontend/src/core/components/tools/automate/AutomationSelection.tsx

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { useSuggestedAutomations } from "@app/hooks/tools/automate/useSuggestedA
 import { AutomationConfig, SuggestedAutomation } from "@app/types/automation";
 import { iconMap } from '@app/components/tools/automate/iconMap';
 import { ToolRegistry } from '@app/data/toolsTaxonomy';
+import { downloadFolderScanningConfig } from '@app/utils/automationConverter';
 
 interface AutomationSelectionProps {
   savedAutomations: AutomationConfig[];
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ export default function AutomationSelection({
             onClick={() => onRun(automation)}
             showMenu={true}
             onEdit={() => onEdit(automation)}
+            onExport={() => downloadFolderScanningConfig(automation)}
             onDelete={() => onDelete(automation)}
             toolRegistry={toolRegistry}
           />

frontend/src/core/testing/serverExperienceSimulations.ts

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ const FREE_LICENSE_INFO: LicenseInfo = {
 
 const BASE_NO_LOGIN_CONFIG: AppConfig = {
   enableAnalytics: true,
-  appVersion: '2.3.1',
+  appVersion: '2.4.0',
   serverCertificateEnabled: false,
   enableAlphaFunctionality: false,
   serverPort: 8080,

frontend/src/core/utils/automationConverter.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/**
+ * Utility functions for converting between automation formats
+ */
+
+import { AutomationConfig } from '@app/types/automation';
+
+/**
+ * Pipeline configuration format used by folder scanning
+ */
+interface FolderScanningPipeline {
+  name: string;
+  pipeline: Array<{
+    operation: string;
+    parameters: Record<string, any>;
+  }>;
+  _examples: {
+    outputDir: string;
+    outputFileName: string;
+  };
+  outputDir: string;
+  outputFileName: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Converts an AutomationConfig to a folder scanning pipeline configuration
+ * @param automation The automation configuration to convert
+ * @returns Folder scanning pipeline configuration
+ */
+export function convertToFolderScanningConfig(automation: AutomationConfig): FolderScanningPipeline {
+  return {
+    name: automation.name,
+    pipeline: automation.operations.map(op => ({
+      operation: op.operation,
+      parameters: {
+        ...op.parameters,
+        fileInput: "automated"
+      }
+    })),
+    _examples: {
+      outputDir: "{outputFolder}/{folderName}",
+      outputFileName: "{filename}-{pipelineName}-{date}-{time}"
+    },
+    outputDir: "{outputFolder}",
+    outputFileName: "{filename}"
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Downloads a folder scanning configuration as a JSON file
+ * @param automation The automation configuration to export
+ */
+export function downloadFolderScanningConfig(automation: AutomationConfig): void {
+  const config = convertToFolderScanningConfig(automation);
+  const json = JSON.stringify(config, null, 2);
+  const blob = new Blob([json], { type: 'application/json' });
+  const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+
+  const a = document.createElement('a');
+  a.href = url;
+  a.download = `${automation.name}.json`;
+  a.style.display = 'none';
+
+  document.body.appendChild(a);
+  a.click();
+  document.body.removeChild(a);
+
+  URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
+}

frontend/src/proprietary/testing/serverExperienceSimulations.ts

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ const FREE_LICENSE_INFO: LicenseInfo = {
 
 const BASE_NO_LOGIN_CONFIG: AppConfig = {
   enableAnalytics: true,
-  appVersion: '2.3.1',
+  appVersion: '2.4.0',
   serverCertificateEnabled: false,
   enableAlphaFunctionality: false,
   enableDesktopInstallSlide: true,