n8n-cli

Scriptable, pipeable CLI for the n8n REST API. Zero external dependencies.

80+ commands. Auto-updating node catalog (543+ nodes). Multi-instance profiles. Works with n8n Cloud and self-hosted. Ships with 40 Claude Code skills.

$ n8n-cli workflows list --active
ID                   Active   Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0NGypLmiqvKIpwrz     Yes      Gmail: Untrash Email (Multi-Account)
11zReJylAUZeh2ev     Yes      Update Event - Team
1Et6fk45FStEU5qc     Yes      Gmail: Remove Label (Multi-Account)

$ n8n-cli nodes search slack
Node                           Display Name              Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
slack                          Slack                     Consume Slack API
slackTrigger                   Slack Trigger             Handle Slack events via webhooks

$ n8n-cli --json executions list --status error --limit 3 | jq '.[].id'
"7322"
"7316"
"7310"

Built by AI Build Lab -- teaching context engineering for agentic systems.

Install

# From PyPI
pip install n8n-toolkit

# From GitHub
pip install git+https://github.com/8Dvibes/n8n-cli.git

# From source
git clone https://github.com/8Dvibes/n8n-cli.git
cd n8n-cli
pip install .

Quick Start

# Configure your n8n instance
n8n-cli config set-profile cloud --url "https://your-instance.app.n8n.cloud/api/v1" --key "your-api-key" --default

# Or use environment variables
export N8N_API_URL="https://your-instance.app.n8n.cloud/api/v1"
export N8N_API_KEY="your-api-key"

# Check connection
n8n-cli health

# List workflows
n8n-cli workflows list
n8n-cli workflows list --active
n8n-cli wf ls --tag "production"

# Get workflow details
n8n-cli workflows get <id>

# Export / Import
n8n-cli workflows export <id> -o workflow.json
n8n-cli workflows import workflow.json --activate

Claude Code Skills

n8n-cli ships with 40 Claude Code skills -- pre-built slash commands that teach Claude Code how to drive n8n-cli for common workflows. Once installed, you can type /n8n-cli-status, /n8n-cli-debug, /n8n-cli-create etc. inside any Claude Code session and Claude will execute the right n8n-cli commands for you.

# See what's bundled and what's already installed
n8n-cli skills list

# Install all 40 into ~/.claude/skills/
n8n-cli skills install

# Install just one
n8n-cli skills install n8n-cli-status

# Overwrite existing
n8n-cli skills install --force

# Print the install target
n8n-cli skills path

After installing, restart Claude Code (or open a new session) and the slash commands appear in your skill picker.

Core (the 11 originals)

Skill	What it does
/n8n-cli-status	Health check, active workflows, recent errors -- one-shot dashboard
/n8n-cli-debug	Pull failed executions, analyze error patterns, suggest fixes
/n8n-cli-create	Describe a workflow in English, Claude builds it and imports it
/n8n-cli-import	Import a workflow JSON with guided credential mapping
/n8n-cli-export	Export workflows to JSON for git, backup, or migration
/n8n-cli-monitor	Watch the execution stream and alert on failures
/n8n-cli-migrate	Move workflows between cloud and self-hosted (with credential remapping)
/n8n-cli-backup	Full instance backup to a git-tracked directory
/n8n-cli-diff	Compare workflows between instances or against local JSON
/n8n-cli-webhook-test	Send test payloads to webhook workflows
/n8n-cli-creds	Credential gap analysis -- find what's missing for a workflow

Hygiene & governance

Skill	What it does
/n8n-cli-cleanup	Find dead workflows, orphaned credentials, untagged junk -- triage list with safe-to-delete recommendations
/n8n-cli-cost	Execution cost analysis: top consumers, hourly distribution, suspected spammers
/n8n-cli-schedule-audit	Audit Schedule Triggers across all workflows, find collisions, suggest a rebalanced schedule
/n8n-cli-tag-governance	Find untagged workflows, propose tags based on content, bulk-apply

Authoring & refactoring

Skill	What it does
/n8n-cli-document	Generate human-readable markdown docs from a workflow JSON
/n8n-cli-template	Convert a workflow into a reusable template, or instantiate a new workflow from one
/n8n-cli-refactor	Analyze a workflow for simplification opportunities and propose a refactor
/n8n-cli-review	PR-style code review of workflow changes with risk badges

Dependency mapping

Skill	What it does
/n8n-cli-deps	Build a dependency graph: workflow → sub-workflow → credential → webhook. Output as tree, mermaid, or JSON
/n8n-cli-impact	"If I delete X, what breaks?" -- reverse blast-radius analysis
/n8n-cli-node-usage	Search across all workflows for usage of a specific node, credential, or pattern

Production ops

Skill	What it does
/n8n-cli-meta-monitor	Generate a meta-workflow inside n8n that monitors all your other workflows and alerts on failures
/n8n-cli-upgrade-preflight	Pre-flight check before upgrading n8n: deprecated nodes, breaking changes, package compatibility
/n8n-cli-bulk	Safe bulk ops with mandatory dry-run: activate by tag, archive by age, swap credentials, etc.

Testing

Skill	What it does
/n8n-cli-test-fixtures	Generate realistic test payloads for webhook workflows (happy path + edge + error + security)
/n8n-cli-replay	Pull a real failed execution, capture its input, replay it deliberately for debugging
/n8n-cli-smoke	Define and run a smoke-test suite that verifies critical workflows respond correctly

Bridge to other tools

Skill	What it does
/n8n-cli-from-mcp	Convert an MCP server or Claude Code skill into the equivalent n8n workflow
/n8n-cli-to-mcp	Wrap an n8n workflow as an agent-callable tool (MCP, OpenAI function, Anthropic tool, or HTTP)
/n8n-cli-from-cron	Read a crontab and generate equivalent n8n workflows for each entry
/n8n-cli-from-launchd	macOS-specific: read launchd plists and generate equivalent n8n workflows
/n8n-cli-from-zapier	Migrate a Zapier zap to an equivalent n8n workflow

Expert reference

In-session reference libraries for n8n internals. No CLI commands -- Claude consults these as context when writing code or configuring nodes.

Skill	What it does
/n8n-code-javascript	JavaScript Code node syntax: $input/$json/$node, $helpers, DateTime, run-once vs run-for-each
/n8n-code-python	Python Code node syntax (beta): _input/_json/_node, stdlib-only constraints
/n8n-expression-syntax	Expression {{ }} syntax: $json, $node, $vars, common mistakes and fixes
/n8n-mcp-tools-expert	Guide for using n8n-mcp MCP server tools: tool selection, parameter formatting, validation
/n8n-node-configuration	Operation-aware node property guidance: required fields, property dependencies, common patterns
/n8n-validation-expert	Fix workflow validation errors: error codes, false positives, credential vs config issues
/n8n-workflow-patterns	Proven architecture patterns: webhooks, HTTP API integration, AI agents, scheduled tasks, database ops

The skills install to ~/.claude/skills/ by default. Override with CLAUDE_SKILLS_DIR=/some/path n8n-cli skills install.

Commands

Workflows (workflows / wf)

list [--active] [--inactive] [--tag TAG] [--name NAME] [--project-id ID] [--limit N]
get <id>
create <file.json>
update <id> <file.json>
delete <id>
activate <id>
deactivate <id>
export <id> [-o file.json]
import <file.json> [--activate]
archive <id>
unarchive <id>
transfer <id> <project-id>
tags <id>
set-tags <id> <tag-id> [tag-id...]
clear-tags <id>

Executions (executions / exec)

list [--workflow-id ID] [--status error|success|waiting|running|new] [--limit N]
get <id>
retry <id>
delete <id>
stop <id>

Credentials (credentials / creds)

list [--type TYPE] [--limit N]
get <id>
schema <type-name>
create <file.json>
delete <id>
transfer <id> <project-id>

Tags

list [--limit N]
create <name>
get <id>
update <id> <name>
delete <id>

Variables (variables / vars)

list [--limit N]
create <key> <value>
get <id>
update <id> [--key KEY] [--value VALUE]
delete <id>

Projects

list [--limit N]
get <id>
create <name>
update <id> <name>
delete <id>
users <id>

Users

list [--limit N]
get <id-or-email>
delete <id>
change-role <id> <role>

Community Packages (packages / pkg)

list
install <npm-package-name>
get <name>
update <name>
uninstall <name>

Nodes (local catalog, auto-updating)

search <query>                        Search 543+ nodes by keyword
get <name> [--full]                   Get node details (--full for complete property schema)
list [--group G] [--category C] [--credential C] [--ai-tools] [--limit N]
update                                Force-refresh catalog from npm
info                                  Show cached catalog version

The node catalog downloads from official n8n npm packages and auto-checks for updates on every use. No n8n instance connection needed.

Webhooks (webhooks / wh)

list                                  List all webhook URLs from active workflows
test <workflow-id> [--data '{}'] [--method POST]

Skills (Claude Code)

list                                  List bundled skills + install status
install [name...] [--force]           Install skills into ~/.claude/skills/
uninstall <name> [name...]            Remove installed skills
path                                  Print install target directory
doctor                                Validate every bundled SKILL.md against the live CLI surface

Other

health              Check n8n instance connectivity
audit               Generate security audit [--categories credentials,database,filesystem,instance,nodes]
source-control pull Source control pull [--force]
discover            Show API capabilities
config show         Show current profile
config set-profile  Create/update a profile
config list-profiles
config use <name>   Switch default profile
config delete-profile <name>

Multi-Instance Support

# Set up profiles
n8n-cli config set-profile cloud --url "https://instance.app.n8n.cloud/api/v1" --key "key1" --default
n8n-cli config set-profile selfhosted --url "https://n8n.myserver.com/api/v1" --key "key2"

# Switch between them
n8n-cli --profile selfhosted workflows list
n8n-cli --profile cloud health

# Or set default
n8n-cli config use selfhosted

JSON Output

Add --json to any command for machine-readable output:

n8n-cli --json workflows list --active | jq '.[].name'
n8n-cli --json executions list --status error | jq length

Config

Config stored at ~/.n8n-cli.json (mode 600). Environment variables take priority:

Variable	Description
N8N_API_URL	n8n API base URL
N8N_API_KEY	API key
N8N_PROFILE	Profile name to use

Why n8n-cli?

	n8n-cli	MCP Servers	n8n UI
Works from any terminal	Yes	No (needs MCP client)	No
Pipeable / scriptable	Yes	No	No
Multi-instance switching	Yes (--profile)	Manual config swap	One at a time
Node catalog with search	Yes (543+ nodes, auto-updating)	Depends on server	Built-in
Works with any AI agent	Yes (Bash)	Claude Code only	Manual
Dependencies	Zero	Node.js + npm	Browser

Example Prompts for AI Agents

Don't want to memorize commands? Just tell your AI agent what you need:

"Check my n8n instance for any failed executions today and tell me what went wrong"

"Export all my active workflows to a folder for git version control"

"Build me a workflow that checks a Google Sheet every morning and posts a summary to Slack"

"Run a security audit and tell me which credentials aren't being used"

See EXAMPLES.md for 13 more copy-paste prompts you can hand to Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or any AI agent.

Requirements

• Python 3.9+
• No external dependencies (stdlib only)
• Works with n8n Cloud and self-hosted instances

Support the Project

If this is useful to you, here's how you can help:

• Star the repo (it helps with discoverability)
• Fork it and try it out
• Share it with your n8n community
• Sponsor if you want to support continued development
• File issues or PRs for features you'd like to see

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. This project uses zero external dependencies by design -- please keep it that way.

License

MIT -- see LICENSE

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Built by AI Build Lab | Tyler Fisk | @tyfisk