n8n Workflow Patterns

Build robust workflow automations with n8n - the open-source workflow automation tool.

Overview

n8n is a self-hostable workflow automation platform that connects apps and services. Key features:

• Visual workflow builder with 400+ integrations
• Self-hosted or cloud deployment
• Code nodes for custom logic (JavaScript/Python)
• Webhook triggers for real-time automation
• Sub-workflows for modular design

Core Concepts

Workflow Structure

┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│   Trigger   │───▶│    Node     │───▶│   Output    │
│  (Start)    │    │  (Process)  │    │  (Action)   │
└─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘

Node Types

Type	Purpose	Examples
Trigger	Start workflow	Webhook, Schedule, App trigger
Action	Perform operations	HTTP Request, Database, Email
Transform	Modify data	Set, Code, IF, Switch
Flow	Control execution	Merge, Split, Wait, Loop

Trigger Patterns

Webhook Trigger

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Webhook",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.webhook",
      "parameters": {
        "httpMethod": "POST",
        "path": "my-webhook",
        "responseMode": "responseNode",
        "options": {
          "rawBody": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Best Practices:

• Use responseNode for custom responses
• Enable rawBody for signature verification
• Add authentication (Header Auth, Basic Auth)

Schedule Trigger

{
  "name": "Schedule Trigger",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.scheduleTrigger",
  "parameters": {
    "rule": {
      "interval": [
        {
          "field": "cronExpression",
          "expression": "0 9 * * 1-5"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Common Schedules:

• 0 * * * * - Every hour
• 0 9 * * 1-5 - Weekdays at 9 AM
• 0 0 * * 0 - Weekly on Sunday midnight
• */15 * * * * - Every 15 minutes

App Trigger (Polling)

{
  "name": "GitHub Trigger",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.githubTrigger",
  "parameters": {
    "owner": "{{$env.GITHUB_OWNER}}",
    "repository": "{{$env.GITHUB_REPO}}",
    "events": ["issues", "pull_request"]
  }
}

Data Transformation Patterns

Set Node (Transform Data)

{
  "name": "Transform Data",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.set",
  "parameters": {
    "mode": "manual",
    "duplicateItem": false,
    "assignments": {
      "assignments": [
        {
          "name": "fullName",
          "value": "={{ $json.firstName }} {{ $json.lastName }}",
          "type": "string"
        },
        {
          "name": "timestamp",
          "value": "={{ DateTime.now().toISO() }}",
          "type": "string"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Code Node (JavaScript)

// Process items with custom logic
const results = [];

for (const item of $input.all()) {
  const data = item.json;

  // Transform data
  results.push({
    json: {
      id: data.id,
      processed: true,
      score: calculateScore(data),
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
    }
  });
}

function calculateScore(data) {
  return data.value * 0.8 + data.bonus * 0.2;
}

return results;

Code Node (Python)

# Enable Python in n8n settings
import json
from datetime import datetime

results = []

for item in _input.all():
    data = item.json

    # Transform data
    results.append({
        "json": {
            "id": data.get("id"),
            "processed": True,
            "timestamp": datetime.now().isoformat()
        }
    })

return results

Control Flow Patterns

IF Node (Conditional)

{
  "name": "Check Status",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.if",
  "parameters": {
    "conditions": {
      "options": {
        "caseSensitive": true,
        "leftValue": "",
        "typeValidation": "strict"
      },
      "conditions": [
        {
          "leftValue": "={{ $json.status }}",
          "rightValue": "active",
          "operator": {
            "type": "string",
            "operation": "equals"
          }
        }
      ],
      "combinator": "and"
    }
  }
}

Switch Node (Multi-branch)

{
  "name": "Route by Type",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.switch",
  "parameters": {
    "mode": "rules",
    "rules": {
      "values": [
        {
          "outputKey": "order",
          "conditions": {
            "conditions": [
              {
                "leftValue": "={{ $json.type }}",
                "rightValue": "order",
                "operator": { "type": "string", "operation": "equals" }
              }
            ]
          }
        },
        {
          "outputKey": "refund",
          "conditions": {
            "conditions": [
              {
                "leftValue": "={{ $json.type }}",
                "rightValue": "refund",
                "operator": { "type": "string", "operation": "equals" }
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    "fallbackOutput": "extra"
  }
}

Loop Over Items

{
  "name": "Loop Over Items",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.splitInBatches",
  "parameters": {
    "batchSize": 10,
    "options": {
      "reset": false
    }
  }
}

Merge Node (Combine Data)

{
  "name": "Merge Results",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.merge",
  "parameters": {
    "mode": "combine",
    "mergeByFields": {
      "values": [
        {
          "field1": "id",
          "field2": "userId"
        }
      ]
    },
    "options": {}
  }
}

Error Handling Patterns

Try/Catch with Error Trigger

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Error Trigger",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.errorTrigger",
      "parameters": {}
    },
    {
      "name": "Send Alert",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.slack",
      "parameters": {
        "channel": "#alerts",
        "text": "Workflow failed: {{ $json.workflow.name }}\nError: {{ $json.execution.error.message }}"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Retry on Failure

{
  "name": "HTTP Request",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
  "parameters": {
    "url": "https://api.example.com/data",
    "options": {}
  },
  "retryOnFail": true,
  "maxTries": 3,
  "waitBetweenTries": 1000
}

Stop and Error Node

{
  "name": "Validation Failed",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.stopAndError",
  "parameters": {
    "errorMessage": "Invalid input: {{ $json.error }}"
  }
}

Sub-Workflow Pattern

Execute Workflow Node

{
  "name": "Process Order",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.executeWorkflow",
  "parameters": {
    "source": "database",
    "workflowId": "order-processing-workflow-id",
    "mode": "each",
    "options": {
      "waitForSubWorkflow": true
    }
  }
}

Best Practices:

• Use sub-workflows for reusable logic
• Pass minimal data between workflows
• Set waitForSubWorkflow based on needs
• Use workflow tags for organization

HTTP Request Patterns

REST API Call

{
  "name": "API Request",
  "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
  "parameters": {
    "method": "POST",
    "url": "https://api.example.com/v1/resource",
    "authentication": "predefinedCredentialType",
    "nodeCredentialType": "httpHeaderAuth",
    "sendHeaders": true,
    "headerParameters": {
      "parameters": [
        {
          "name": "Content-Type",
          "value": "application/json"
        }
      ]
    },
    "sendBody": true,
    "bodyParameters": {
      "parameters": [
        {
          "name": "data",
          "value": "={{ JSON.stringify($json) }}"
        }
      ]
    },
    "options": {
      "timeout": 30000,
      "response": {
        "response": {
          "fullResponse": false,
          "responseFormat": "json"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Pagination Pattern

// Code node for API pagination
const allResults = [];
let page = 1;
let hasMore = true;

while (hasMore) {
  const response = await this.helpers.httpRequest({
    method: 'GET',
    url: `https://api.example.com/items?page=${page}&limit=100`,
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${$env.API_TOKEN}`
    }
  });

  allResults.push(...response.data);
  hasMore = response.hasNextPage;
  page++;

  // Rate limiting
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 100));
}

return allResults.map(item => ({ json: item }));

Credential Management

Environment Variables

// Access in expressions
{{ $env.API_KEY }}
{{ $env.DATABASE_URL }}

// Access in Code node
const apiKey = $env.API_KEY;

Credential Types

Type	Use Case
httpBasicAuth	Basic authentication
httpHeaderAuth	API key in header
oAuth2Api	OAuth 2.0 flows
httpQueryAuth	API key in query string

Self-Hosting Patterns

Docker Compose

version: '3.8'

services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=${N8N_USER}
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=${N8N_PASSWORD}
      - N8N_HOST=${N8N_HOST}
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${N8N_HOST}/
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=UTC
      - N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=${N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY}
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE=168
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      - postgres

  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - POSTGRES_DB=n8n
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  n8n_data:
  postgres_data:

Environment Variables (.env)

# n8n Configuration
N8N_HOST=n8n.example.com
N8N_USER=admin
N8N_PASSWORD=secure-password-here
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

# Database
POSTGRES_USER=n8n
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secure-db-password

# Optional: Queue mode for scaling
EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=redis

Queue Mode (Scaling)

# docker-compose.queue.yml
services:
  n8n:
    environment:
      - EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
      - QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=redis
      - QUEUE_HEALTH_CHECK_ACTIVE=true

  n8n-worker:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    command: worker
    environment:
      - EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
      - QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=redis
    deploy:
      replicas: 3

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data

Common Workflow Templates

Webhook to Database

{
  "name": "Webhook to Database",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Webhook",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.webhook",
      "parameters": {
        "httpMethod": "POST",
        "path": "ingest",
        "responseMode": "responseNode"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Validate",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.if",
      "parameters": {
        "conditions": {
          "conditions": [
            {
              "leftValue": "={{ $json.id }}",
              "rightValue": "",
              "operator": { "type": "string", "operation": "notEmpty" }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Insert",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.postgres",
      "parameters": {
        "operation": "insert",
        "table": "events",
        "columns": "id,type,data,created_at"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Success Response",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.respondToWebhook",
      "parameters": {
        "respondWith": "json",
        "responseBody": "={{ { \"success\": true, \"id\": $json.id } }}"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Scheduled Sync

{
  "name": "Daily Data Sync",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Schedule",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.scheduleTrigger",
      "parameters": {
        "rule": {
          "interval": [{ "field": "cronExpression", "expression": "0 2 * * *" }]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Fetch Source",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
      "parameters": {
        "url": "https://api.source.com/data",
        "authentication": "predefinedCredentialType"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Transform",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.code",
      "parameters": {
        "jsCode": "return $input.all().map(item => ({ json: { ...item.json, synced_at: new Date().toISOString() } }));"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Upsert Destination",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.postgres",
      "parameters": {
        "operation": "upsert",
        "table": "synced_data"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Event-Driven Notification

{
  "name": "Alert Pipeline",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Webhook",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.webhook",
      "parameters": { "path": "alert" }
    },
    {
      "name": "Route by Severity",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.switch",
      "parameters": {
        "rules": {
          "values": [
            { "outputKey": "critical", "conditions": { "conditions": [{ "leftValue": "={{ $json.severity }}", "rightValue": "critical" }] } },
            { "outputKey": "warning", "conditions": { "conditions": [{ "leftValue": "={{ $json.severity }}", "rightValue": "warning" }] } }
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Page On-Call",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.pagerDuty"
    },
    {
      "name": "Slack Alert",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.slack"
    }
  ]
}

Expression Cheat Sheet

Expression	Description
{{ $json.field }}	Access field from current item
{{ $json["field-name"] }}	Access field with special chars
{{ $('NodeName').item.json.field }}	Access data from specific node
{{ $input.first().json }}	First input item
{{ $input.all() }}	All input items
{{ $env.VAR_NAME }}	Environment variable
{{ $now }}	Current datetime
{{ $today }}	Current date
{{ $runIndex }}	Current execution run index
{{ $itemIndex }}	Current item index
{{ $workflow.id }}	Workflow ID
{{ $execution.id }}	Execution ID

Luxon DateTime Examples

// n8n uses Luxon for dates
{{ $now.toISO() }}                    // ISO format
{{ $now.toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd') }}     // Custom format
{{ $now.plus({ days: 7 }).toISO() }}  // Add 7 days
{{ $now.startOf('month').toISO() }}   // Start of month
{{ DateTime.fromISO($json.date) }}    // Parse ISO string

Best Practices

1. Naming: Use descriptive node names (verb + noun)
2. Error Handling: Always add error workflows
3. Credentials: Never hardcode secrets
4. Batching: Use splitInBatches for large datasets
5. Timeouts: Set appropriate timeouts on HTTP nodes
6. Logging: Use console.log in Code nodes for debugging
7. Testing: Use manual execution before activating
8. Version Control: Export workflows as JSON to git
9. Documentation: Add sticky notes for complex logic
10. Modular Design: Use sub-workflows for reusability

Debugging Tips

// In Code node - log to n8n console
console.log('Debug:', JSON.stringify($json, null, 2));

// Return debug info
return [{
  json: {
    debug: true,
    input: $json,
    env: $env.NODE_ENV,
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
  }
}];

Resources

• n8n Documentation
• n8n Community
• Workflow Templates
• Node Reference