Sitecore XM Cloud PowerShell Receive-File Returning "cancel"

Receive-File Stops Working in Sitecore PowerShell

I encountered an unexpected issue using Sitecore PowerShell Extensions (SPE) in XM Cloud.

$item = Receive-File -ParentItem (Get-Item "master:/sitecore/media library") -Overwrite
Write-Host $item

This used to return the uploaded media item.

Now it returns:

cancel

No item is created in the Media Library.

Initial Investigation

• The file dialog opens, and I can select a file.
• Manual upload of the same file via the Media Library UI works fine.
• No file is added to the media library

Found the Clue in Logs

By checking the CM logs in the XM Cloud Deploy App:

WARN [SPE] The 'myfile.pdf' file cannot be uploaded. File type isn’t allowed.

That was it — XM Cloud was rejecting the file upload silently due to new restrictions.

Sitecore Support Response

Sitecore confirmed a security enhancement had been rolled out:

This update introduced safeguards against unauthorized file uploads. It allows configuration of permitted file types and upload paths.

Configuration can be checked at:

https://<your-instance>/sitecore/admin/showconfig.aspx

Here’s the relevant default section:

<sitecore>
  <powershell>
    <uploadFile>
      <allowedFileTypes>
        <pattern>image/*</pattern>
      </allowedFileTypes>
      <allowedLocations>
        <path>temp</path>
      </allowedLocations>
    </uploadFile>
  </powershell>
</sitecore>

Fixing with a Config Patch

I needed to patch the config to include additional file types:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
  <sitecore>
    <powershell>
      <uploadFile>
        <allowedFileTypes>
          <pattern>
            <patch:delete />
          </pattern>
          <pdf>.pdf</pdf>
          <doc>.doc</doc>
          <docx>.docx</docx>
          <odt>.odt</odt>
          <rtf>.rtf</rtf>
          <txt>.txt</txt>
          <md>.md</md>
          <pptx>.pptx</pptx>
          <xlsx>.xlsx</xlsx>
          <csv>.csv</csv>
          <jpg>.jpg</jpg>
          <jpeg>.jpeg</jpeg>
          <png>.png</png>
          <gif>.gif</gif>
          <bmp>.bmp</bmp>
          <tif>.tif</tif>
          <tiff>.tiff</tiff>
          <webp>.webp</webp>
          <svg>.svg</svg>
          <ico>.ico</ico>
        </allowedFileTypes>
      </uploadFile>
    </powershell>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>

Notes:

• Each extension must be a separate XML node (not a comma-separated list).
• You can keep image/* in addition to other types.

Important Patch Deployment Tips

• Place your config file under /App_Config/Include/zzz.Spe/ and name it zzz.Spe.Custom.config to ensure it loads after the original.
• Double-check /sitecore/admin/showconfig.aspx to confirm the patch took effect.
• Do not overwrite original config files — always patch.

Final Thoughts

Thanks to Jeff and Ryan for helping unravel this. Hopefully, this saves someone else the debugging marathon.