When an external caller executes the workflow with this node via an HTTP call to the KNIME Server's REST API, the HTTP body, headers, and query parameters are captured and exposed as tables. The body is outputted in binary, whereas the header and parameter tables are outputted as data tables.
Other container input nodes rely on body data to be provided in a JSON format. However, this "Raw HTTP Input Container" node can deal with arbitrary data, which is provided to the workflow as-is in a binary format. Therefore, the user is able to also input non-standard data, like for example an Excel spreadsheet (*.xlsx files). Furthermore, because of the removed format constraint, this input container allows for an extended compatibility with external tools.
Important: There can only be one "Container Input (Raw HTTP)" node in a workflow, as it captures the raw request. Additionally, this input node is only compatible with the "Container Output (Raw HTTP)" node. This means, no other container output node will be supported with this raw HTTP input container.