n8n Builder

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name: n8n-builder description: Expert n8n workflow builder that creates, deploys, and manages n8n workflows programmatically via the n8n REST API. Use when asked to create n8n workflows, automate n8n tasks, build automations, design workflow pipelines, connect services via n8n, or manage existing n8n workflows. Handles webhook flows, scheduled tasks, AI agents, database syncs, conditional logic, error handling, and any n8n node configuration.

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n8n Workflow Builder

Setup

Requires two environment variables:

N8N_URL — n8n instance URL (e.g. https://your-n8n.example.com)

N8N_API_KEY — n8n API key (Settings → API → Create API Key)

Workflow

1. Understand the automation — Clarify trigger (webhook/schedule/manual), data sources, processing logic, outputs, and error handling needs.

2. Design the workflow JSON — Build valid n8n workflow JSON following the schema in references/workflow-schema.md. Use patterns from references/workflow-patterns.md as templates.

3. Deploy via API — Use scripts/n8n-api.sh create or pipe JSON to scripts/n8n-api.sh create-stdin.

4. Activate — Use scripts/n8n-api.sh activate for trigger-based workflows.

5. Verify — List workflows to confirm deployment: scripts/n8n-api.sh list.

API Script Reference

# List all workflows
scripts/n8n-api.sh list
Create workflow from JSON file
scripts/n8n-api.sh create /tmp/workflow.json
Create from stdin
echo '{"name":"Test",...}' | scripts/n8n-api.sh create-stdin
Get, activate, deactivate, delete, execute
scripts/n8n-api.sh get 
scripts/n8n-api.sh activate 
scripts/n8n-api.sh deactivate 
scripts/n8n-api.sh delete 
scripts/n8n-api.sh execute 
List credentials and tags
scripts/n8n-api.sh credentials
scripts/n8n-api.sh tags

Building Workflow JSON

Every workflow needs: name, nodes[], connections{}, settings{}.

Every node needs: id, name, type, typeVersion, position, parameters.

Connections use source node display name as key, mapping outputs to target nodes.

For full schema, node types, and expression syntax → read references/workflow-schema.md For complete workflow examples (webhook, schedule, AI agent, DB sync, error handling) → read references/workflow-patterns.md

Key Rules

Always set "executionOrder": "v1" in settings

Node names must be unique within a workflow

Node IDs must be unique — use descriptive slugs like webhook1, code1

Position nodes starting at [250, 300], spacing ~200px horizontally

IF nodes have two outputs: index 0 = true, index 1 = false

Webhook workflows need respondToWebhook node if responseMode is responseNode

Credentials must exist in n8n before activation — check with scripts/n8n-api.sh credentials

Test before activating — use scripts/n8n-api.sh execute for manual trigger workflows

Use continueOnFail: true on risky HTTP/API nodes, then check for errors downstream

Common Real Estate Workflows

Lead intake: Webhook → validate → dedupe → insert DB → notify Slack/SMS

Call follow-up: Schedule → query DB for completed calls → send SMS/email based on outcome

Drip campaign: Schedule → query leads by stage → send stage-appropriate email/SMS

CRM sync: Webhook → transform → update HubSpot/Salesforce + internal DB

Property alerts: Schedule → scrape/API listings → filter new → notify leads

AI qualification: Webhook → AI Agent (classify lead intent) → route to appropriate pipeline

Requires two environment variables:

N8N_URL — n8n instance URL (e.g. https://your-n8n.example.com)

N8N_API_KEY — n8n API key (Settings → API → Create API Key)