n8n Automation

Manage n8n workflows from OpenClaw via the n8n REST API. Use when the user asks about n8n workflows, automations, executions, or wants to trigger, list, create, activate, or debug n8n workflows. Supports both self-hosted n8n and n8n Cloud instances.

Control n8n workflow automation platform via REST API.

Setup

Set these environment variables (or store in .n8n-api-config):

export N8N_API_URL="https://your-instance.app.n8n.cloud/api/v1"  # or http://localhost:5678/api/v1
export N8N_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Generate API key: n8n Settings → n8n API → Create an API key.

Quick Reference

All calls use header X-N8N-API-KEY for auth.

List Workflows

curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/workflows" | jq '.data[] | {id, name, active}'

Get Workflow Details

curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/workflows/{id}"

Activate/Deactivate Workflow

# Activate
curl -s -X PATCH -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"active": true}' "$N8N_API_URL/workflows/{id}"

# Deactivate
curl -s -X PATCH -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"active": false}' "$N8N_API_URL/workflows/{id}"

Trigger Workflow (via webhook)

# Production webhook
curl -s -X POST "$N8N_API_URL/../webhook/{webhook-path}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"key": "value"}'

# Test webhook
curl -s -X POST "$N8N_API_URL/../webhook-test/{webhook-path}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"key": "value"}'

List Executions

# All recent executions
curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/executions?limit=10" | jq '.data[] | {id, workflowId, status, startedAt}'

# Failed executions only
curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/executions?status=error&limit=5"

# Executions for specific workflow
curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/executions?workflowId={id}&limit=10"

Get Execution Details

curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/executions/{id}"

Create Workflow (from JSON)

curl -s -X POST -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @workflow.json "$N8N_API_URL/workflows"

Delete Workflow

curl -s -X DELETE -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/workflows/{id}"

Common Patterns

Health Check (run periodically)

List active workflows, check recent executions for errors, report status:

# Count active workflows
ACTIVE=$(curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/workflows?active=true" | jq '.data | length')

# Count failed executions (last 24h)
FAILED=$(curl -s -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" "$N8N_API_URL/executions?status=error&limit=100" | jq '[.data[] | select(.startedAt > (now - 86400 | todate))] | length')

echo "Active workflows: $ACTIVE | Failed (24h): $FAILED"

Debug Failed Execution

1. List failed executions → get execution ID
2. Fetch execution details → find the failing node
3. Check node parameters and input data
4. Suggest fix based on error message

Workflow Summary

Parse workflow JSON to summarize: trigger type, node count, apps connected, schedule.

API Endpoints Reference

See references/api-endpoints.md for complete endpoint documentation.

Tips

• API key has full access on non-enterprise plans
• Rate limits vary by plan (cloud) or are unlimited (self-hosted)
• Webhook URLs are separate from API URLs (no auth header needed)
• Use ?active=true or ?active=false to filter workflow listings
• Execution data may be pruned based on n8n retention settings