About

Imported from terminalskills/skills (skills/n8n/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add terminalskills/skills --skill n8n. Copyright stays with the author (Apache-2.0).

n8n

Name: n8n
Author: terminalskills

Overview

n8n is an open-source workflow automation tool — self-hostable Zapier alternative. Visual editor with 400+ integrations, code nodes (JavaScript/Python), webhooks, cron triggers, and branching logic. Free when self-hosted.

Instructions

Step 1: Self-Host with Docker

# docker-compose.yml — n8n with PostgreSQL persistence
services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    ports: ["5678:5678"]
    environment:
      N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE: "true"
      N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER: admin
      N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD: changeme
      DB_TYPE: postgresdb
      DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST: postgres
      DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_USER: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD: n8n
      WEBHOOK_URL: https://n8n.example.com/
    volumes: [n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n]
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: n8n
      POSTGRES_USER: n8n
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: n8n
    volumes: [pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data]
volumes:
  n8n_data:
  pgdata:

Step 2: Webhook Trigger

// n8n receives webhooks and processes them through visual workflows
// Example: Webhook → Slack notification → Google Sheet log

// Trigger URL: https://n8n.example.com/webhook/order-received
// POST body: { "order_id": "123", "customer": "john@example.com", "total": 99.99 }

Step 3: Code Node (JavaScript)

// Inside n8n Code node — transform data between steps
const items = $input.all()
return items.map(item => ({
  json: {
    fullName: `${item.json.firstName} ${item.json.lastName}`,
    email: item.json.email.toLowerCase(),
    isVIP: item.json.totalOrders > 10,
  }
}))

Step 4: API Workflow

Build workflows visually that:

Webhook receives order data
IF node checks if order > $100
Slack sends notification to #sales
Google Sheets logs the order
SendGrid sends confirmation email
HTTP Request updates CRM

Guidelines

Self-hosted n8n is free and unlimited. Cloud starts at $20/month.
400+ built-in integrations (Slack, Gmail, Airtable, Stripe, Shopify, GitHub, etc.).
Use Code nodes for complex logic — full JavaScript/Python support.
Workflows can be triggered by webhooks, cron schedules, or other workflows.

Use it

Copy one of these into your project. Installing also returns the manifest and these snippets.

yaml

targets:
  - https://api.opensmartroute.ai/api/v1/registry/terminalskills-skills-n8n/manifest   # or paste the manifest below

Manifest

An Open Capability Manifest: the router reads it to know what this does, what it costs and when to pick it.

terminalskills-skills-n8n.ocm.jsonjson

{
  "ocm": "1",
  "id": "terminalskills-skills-n8n",
  "kind": "skill",
  "name": "n8n",
  "description": "Build workflow automations with n8n. Use when a user asks to automate business workflows, connect APIs visually, build integrations between apps, self-host a Zapier alternative, or create data pipelines with a visual editor.",
  "publisher": "terminalskills",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "capabilities": {
    "domains": [
      "general"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "skill-md",
      "n8n",
      "workflow",
      "automation",
      "integration",
      "low-code",
      "skills-sh"
    ],
    "languages": [
      "en"
    ]
  },
  "quality_prior": 0.6,
  "examples": [
    "Build workflow automations with n8n. Use when a user asks to automate business workflows, connect APIs visually, build integrations between apps, self-host a Zapier alternative, or create data pipelines with a visual editor."
  ],
  "primary": false,
  "metadata": {
    "source": {
      "provider": "skills.sh",
      "repository": "https://github.com/terminalskills/skills",
      "path": "skills/n8n/SKILL.md",
      "ref": "HEAD",
      "url": "https://github.com/terminalskills/skills/blob/HEAD/skills/n8n/SKILL.md",
      "key": "terminalskills/skills/skills/n8n/SKILL.md"
    },
    "compatibility": "Docker, Node.js (self-hosted or cloud)",
    "license": "Apache-2.0"
  },
  "instructions": "# n8n\n\n## Overview\n\nn8n is an open-source workflow automation tool — self-hostable Zapier alternative. Visual editor with 400+ integrations, code nodes (JavaScript/Python), webhooks, cron triggers, and branching logic. Free when self-hosted.\n\n## Instructions\n\n### Step 1: Self-Host with Docker\n\n```yaml\n# docker-compose.yml — n8n with PostgreSQL persistence\nservices:\n  n8n:\n    image: n8nio/n8n\n    ports: [\"5678:5678\"]\n    environment:\n      N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE: \"true\"\n      N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER: admin\n      N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD: changeme\n      DB_TYPE: postgresdb\n      DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST: p",
  "cost": {
    "context_tokens": 562
  }
}

Fetch it by URL: GET /api/v1/registry/terminalskills-skills-n8n/manifest?version=1.0.0

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