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I think I figured it out:
```        from(files(task).asFileTree.filter {
            it.path.endsWith("dir1/dir2/file")
        })```


This took the better part of an hour :disappointed:

`FileTree` is clearly powerful but I don't really understand how it works, particularly when derived from some other file collection, e.g. by filtering, merging, calling `asFileTree`...

Does this help?

&gt; To convert a file tree to a flat collection, use the `FileTree.getFiles()` property.
<https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/working_with_files.html#sec:file_trees>

That performs eager evaluation. So I can't use it

I need to copy a file _that a task produces_ in a subdirectory, so evaluation of the `FileTree` has to wait until execution time

Alarmingly, I noticed that calling something like `getFiles()` on a `Buildable` with build dependencies just silently returns an empty file set, instead of throwing an exception

usually it’s best to try and use a TaskProvider, so you could do

```val files: Provider&lt;Collection&lt;File&gt;&gt; = 
   task.map { it.outputFiles.myCustomFlattenFilteringOperation() }
from(files)```
Gradle will know that it needs to run `task` in order to compute `files`

but if you can’t, you can try and do

```providers.provider { task.files... }```

to make a custom provider (but then Gradle doesn’t realise there’s a task dependency)

and I think with file collections you can even just pass in a lambda and it’ll be lazily evaluated

```from({ task.files... })```

I don't see `task.outputFiles` but I do see `task.outputs.files`

I know there was a deprecated property like `task.outputDirectory` which I think was removed in Gradle 8

yeah sorry, `.outputFiles` is psuedo-code :)