---
title: "n8n"
linkTitle: "n8n"
category: "Development and automation"
tagline: "Connect your apps and automate repetitive work with visual workflows."
replaces: ["Zapier", "Make", "Microsoft Power Automate", "IFTTT"]
address: "n8n.example.com"
website: "https://n8n.io/"
upstreamDocs: "https://docs.n8n.io/"
links:
  - name: "n8n documentation"
    url: "https://docs.n8n.io/"
  - name: "Integrations (nodes) directory"
    url: "https://n8n.io/integrations/"
  - name: "Workflow templates"
    url: "https://n8n.io/workflows/"
  - name: "Expressions"
    url: "https://docs.n8n.io/code/expressions/"
  - name: "n8n community forum"
    url: "https://community.n8n.io/"
---

## Overview

n8n is a workflow automation tool. You connect **nodes** on a canvas: a **trigger** that starts the workflow (a schedule, a webhook, a new email, a new form entry) followed by steps that fetch, transform, and send data between services.

Main capabilities:

- Hundreds of built-in **integrations**, plus a generic **HTTP Request** node for any API.
- **Triggers**: schedules, webhooks, app events, form submissions, and manual runs.
- **Logic**: IF, Switch, Merge, Loop, Wait, and error handling.
- **Data transformation** with expressions, and **Code** nodes for JavaScript or Python.
- **AI nodes** for working with language models, if you provide an API key.
- **Executions log** to inspect every run, step by step.
- **Credentials** stored encrypted and reused across workflows.
- **Templates** to start from common automations.

### What it replaces

n8n replaces Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), Microsoft Power Automate, and IFTTT, without per-task pricing.

## Signing in

Open your n8n address and sign in with the account created for you. The first account on a new instance becomes the **owner**.

## Build your first workflow

Example: post a message in [Element](/apps/element/) whenever someone submits a [Baserow](/apps/baserow/) form.

1. Choose **Create workflow**.
2. Add a **trigger**: search for the app (or use **Webhook** or **Schedule Trigger**).

   {{< screenshot src="n8n/add-trigger.png" alt="The n8n trigger picker listing manual, app event, schedule, webhook, and form triggers" caption="Choosing a trigger for a new workflow." >}}

3. Select **+** after the trigger to add the next step, and choose an action node.

   {{< screenshot src="n8n/add-action.png" alt="Adding a step after a Schedule Trigger in n8n, with HTTP Request in the search results" caption="Adding the next step after the trigger." >}}

4. In each node, create or pick **credentials** for the service.

   {{< screenshot src="n8n/trigger-settings.png" alt="The settings panel of an n8n Schedule Trigger node" caption="A node's settings, here for the Schedule Trigger." >}}

5. Use **expressions** to map data from earlier steps. Drag a field from the input panel into a parameter, or type `{{ $json.fieldName }}`.
6. Choose **Test workflow** (or **Execute step**) to run it with sample data and check each node's output.

   {{< screenshot src="n8n/canvas.png" alt="An n8n workflow canvas with an Execute workflow button and a Publish button" caption="Run the workflow with **Execute workflow**. Turn it on with **Publish** at the top right." >}}

7. Save, then switch the workflow to **Active** so it runs on its own.

## Webhooks

The **Webhook** node gives you two URLs:

- A **test URL**, which works only while you're listening in the editor.
- A **production URL**, which works once the workflow is active.

Use the production URL in other services, such as [DocuSeal](/apps/docuseal/), [Gitea](/apps/gitea/), or [Cal.com](/apps/calcom/) webhooks.

## Monitor and fix workflows

- **Executions** lists every run with its status. Open one to see the data at each step.
- Create an **error workflow** (with the **Error Trigger** node) that notifies you when another workflow fails, and select it in each workflow's **Settings**.
- Pin data on a node during development to avoid calling external services repeatedly.

## Credentials

Credentials (API keys, passwords, OAuth connections) are stored encrypted on your server. Share a credential with colleagues from its **Sharing** tab rather than copying secrets around. Use dedicated service accounts or API tokens with the minimum permissions needed.

## Administer n8n

The owner and admins can open **Settings**:

- **Users**: invite colleagues and set roles.
- **Community nodes**: install extra nodes published by the community, if enabled on your instance.
- **Variables** and **external secrets** are part of n8n's paid features and may not be available.

## Superpanel settings

{{< review "confirm Superpanel option names for n8n and whether community nodes are allowed." >}}

- **Access**: choose which groups are given the n8n address.
- **Owner account**: Federated Computer sets up the initial owner account; contact support to transfer ownership.

{{< warning title="Workflows run with real access" >}}
A workflow can read and change data in every service it has credentials for. Review workflows before activating them, and limit who can edit them.
{{< /warning >}}