n8n Automation Master Skill

Unified skill that orchestrates 8 specialized n8n skills to build production-ready workflows.

🔧 Sub-Skills Included

Skill	Purpose	When Activated
n8n-template-search	Template discovery	Finding workflow templates, examples
n8n-mcp-tools-expert	MCP tool usage	Searching nodes, templates, validating
n8n-workflow-patterns	Architectural patterns	Creating new workflows
n8n-expression-syntax	Expression syntax	$json, $node references
n8n-validation-expert	Error handling	Validation failures, debugging
n8n-node-configuration	Node parameters	Configuring complex nodes
n8n-code-javascript	JavaScript code	Code node JS scripting
n8n-code-python	Python code	Code node Python scripting

🎯 Quick Reference

Template Search (ALWAYS START HERE!)

MCP Template Library (2,709+ templates):

•search_templates - Find by keyword, nodes, task, metadata
•get_template - Get template JSON for deployment

Web Template Discovery (for recent/community templates):

•Load n8n-template-search skill for comprehensive web search
•Combines n8n.io, GitHub, forum sources

MCP Tools Available

Always Available (no n8n API needed):

•search_nodes - Find nodes among 1,084+ available
•get_node - Get node documentation and config
•validate_node - Check node configuration
•validate_workflow - Validate complete workflow
•search_templates - Search 2,709 templates
•get_template - Get workflow template JSON

Requires n8n API Key:

•n8n_create_workflow - Deploy workflow
•n8n_update_partial_workflow - Update workflow
•n8n_validate_workflow - Validate by ID
•n8n_deploy_template - Deploy template directly

nodeType Format (CRITICAL!)

javascript

// For search/validate tools: SHORT prefix
"nodes-base.slack"
"nodes-base.httpRequest"
"nodes-langchain.agent"

// For workflow tools: FULL prefix  
"n8n-nodes-base.slack"
"n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest"
"@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent"

📋 Workflow Creation Process

Step 0: Template Discovery (ALWAYS FIRST!) 🔍

CRITICAL: Before building anything, search for existing templates!

javascript

// Quick keyword search (MCP - fastest)
search_templates({query: "slack notification"})

// Search by specific nodes
search_templates({
  searchMode: "by_nodes",
  nodeTypes: ["n8n-nodes-base.webhook", "n8n-nodes-base.slack"]
})

// Search by workflow pattern
search_templates({searchMode: "by_task", task: "webhook_processing"})

// Search by complexity/time
search_templates({
  searchMode: "by_metadata",
  complexity: "simple",
  maxSetupMinutes: 15
})

// If MCP insufficient: Web search (load n8n-template-search skill)
WebFetch({
  url: "https://n8n.io/workflows/?search=slack",
  prompt: "Find Slack notification templates with descriptions"
})

Found suitable template?

•✅ YES → Deploy with n8n_deploy_template({templateId: XXX, autoFix: true})
•❌ NO → Continue to Step 1 (Node Discovery)

Step 1: Node Discovery (if no template fits)

javascript

// Search for nodes
search_nodes({query: "slack", includeExamples: true})

// Get node details
get_node({nodeType: "nodes-base.slack", detail: "standard"})

Step 3: Configuration & Validation

javascript

// Quick validation
validate_node({nodeType: "nodes-base.slack", config: {...}, mode: "minimal"})

// Full validation
validate_node({nodeType: "nodes-base.slack", config: {...}, profile: "runtime"})

Step 4: Build & Deploy

javascript

// Create workflow
n8n_create_workflow({name: "...", nodes: [...], connections: {...}})

// Or deploy template directly
n8n_deploy_template({templateId: 2947, autoFix: true})

Step 5: Validate Complete Workflow

javascript

validate_workflow(workflowJson)
n8n_validate_workflow({id: "workflow-id"})

⚠️ Critical Warnings

Never Trust Defaults

javascript

// ❌ FAILS at runtime - missing required params
{resource: "message", operation: "post", text: "Hello"}

// ✅ WORKS - all parameters explicit
{resource: "message", operation: "post", select: "channel", channelId: "C123", text: "Hello"}

IF Node Multi-Output Routing

javascript

// Use branch parameter for IF nodes
{
  type: "addConnection",
  source: "If Node",
  target: "True Handler",
  sourcePort: "main",
  targetPort: "main",
  branch: "true"  // ← CRITICAL!
}

addConnection Syntax

javascript

// ❌ WRONG - object format
{type: "addConnection", connection: {source: {...}}}

// ✅ CORRECT - four separate strings
{
  type: "addConnection",
  source: "node-id",
  target: "target-id", 
  sourcePort: "main",
  targetPort: "main"
}

🔗 Expression Syntax Quick Reference

javascript

// Access current item data
{{ $json.fieldName }}

// Access previous node
{{ $node["NodeName"].json.field }}

// Webhook data (CRITICAL: under .body)
{{ $json.body.fieldName }}

// Built-in variables
{{ $now }}      // Current datetime
{{ $env.KEY }}  // Environment variable
{{ $runIndex }} // Current run index

📊 Popular Nodes Reference

Node	Type	Purpose
Webhook	`n8n-nodes-base.webhook`	HTTP trigger
HTTP Request	`n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest`	API calls
Code	`n8n-nodes-base.code`	JS/Python scripts
IF	`n8n-nodes-base.if`	Conditional routing
Set	`n8n-nodes-base.set`	Data transformation
Slack	`n8n-nodes-base.slack`	Slack messaging
Gmail	`n8n-nodes-base.gmail`	Email automation
Google Sheets	`n8n-nodes-base.googleSheets`	Spreadsheet ops
AI Agent	`@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent`	AI automation
OpenAI Chat	`@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmChatOpenAi`	ChatGPT calls

🔍 When to Load Sub-Skills

Read the specific sub-skill when:

Situation	Load
Finding workflow templates/examples	n8n-template-search
Writing expressions with `$json`	n8n-expression-syntax
Using MCP tools	n8n-mcp-tools-expert
Designing workflow architecture	n8n-workflow-patterns
Validation errors	n8n-validation-expert
Configuring complex nodes	n8n-node-configuration
Writing JavaScript in Code node	n8n-code-javascript
Writing Python in Code node	n8n-code-python

✅ Validation Checklist

Before deploying any workflow:

• All nodes have unique IDs
• All required parameters configured
• Connections properly mapped
• Expressions use correct syntax
• Error handling implemented
• validate_workflow passed
• Tested in development first