nikolausm/n8n-mcp-server

n8n MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for n8n workflow automation. This server enables AI assistants like Claude to interact with n8n instances via the REST API.

Features

• 🔄 Workflow Management: List, create, update, and delete workflows
• ▶️ Execution Control: Execute workflows and monitor executions
• 🏷️ Tag Management: Organize workflows with tags
• 📊 Execution History: Access workflow execution history and results
• 🔑 Credential Management: List available credentials (read-only)
• 🌐 Webhook Management: Create and manage webhooks
• 🔍 Search: Search workflows by name or tags

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher
• n8n instance with API access enabled
• n8n API key

Installation

From npm (when published)

npm install -g n8n-mcp-server

From source

git clone https://github.com/nikolausm/n8n-mcp-server.git
cd n8n-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Configuration

Getting your n8n API Key

1. Log in to your n8n instance
2. Go to Settings → API
3. Generate an API key

Configure Claude Desktop

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "n8n": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/n8n-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "N8N_URL": "https://your-n8n-instance.com",
        "N8N_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

For n8n cloud instances, use:

• N8N_URL: https://your-subdomain.app.n8n.cloud

Available Tools

Workflow Management

• list_workflows - List all workflows with optional filtering
• get_workflow - Get detailed information about a specific workflow
• create_workflow - Create a new workflow from JSON
• update_workflow - Update an existing workflow
• delete_workflow - Delete a workflow
• activate_workflow - Activate a workflow
• deactivate_workflow - Deactivate a workflow

Execution

• execute_workflow - Execute a workflow with optional input data
• get_executions - Get execution history with filtering options
• get_execution - Get details of a specific execution
• delete_execution - Delete an execution
• retry_execution - Retry a failed execution

Tags

• get_tags - List all available tags
• create_tag - Create a new tag
• update_tag - Update a tag
• delete_tag - Delete a tag

Other

• get_credentials - List available credentials (names only)
• search_workflows - Search workflows by name or tags
• get_workflow_webhooks - Get webhook URLs for a workflow

Usage Examples

List all active workflows

Assistant: I'll list all your active n8n workflows.

[Uses list_workflows tool with active=true]

Execute a workflow

Assistant: I'll execute the workflow with the data you provided.

[Uses execute_workflow tool with workflowId and data]

Create a new workflow

Assistant: I'll create a new workflow for you.

[Uses create_workflow tool with workflow JSON]

Development

Setup

npm install

Build

npm run build

Test locally

N8N_URL=https://your-instance.com N8N_API_KEY=your-key npm start

Run tests

npm test

Security Notes

• Never commit your API keys
• Use environment variables for sensitive data
• The MCP server has the same permissions as your API key
• Consider using a restricted API key if possible

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT - see file

Support

• 🐛 Report bugs
• 💡 Request features
• 📖 n8n API Documentation
• 🤝 MCP Documentation

Author

Michael Nikolaus - GitHub