MCP Server n8n API Workflow Platform 100+ Templates

Overview

The MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for n8n is a lightweight service that exposes n8n workflow management and execution capabilities through an AI-driven conversational interface and a simple REST API. It acts as an orchestration layer that lets applications and chat-based agents interact with n8n: list and run workflows, manage credentials, monitor executions, and create or apply workflow templates. The server was designed to accelerate automation adoption by combining programmatic control with conversational intent parsing.

For developers, the MCP server is useful when you need to embed n8n automation into larger products, build conversational assistants that operate on automation primitives, or provide centralized monitoring and templating for many workflows. It supports a library of 100+ workflow templates and integrations with 41 third-party tools, so teams can rapidly prototype and deploy automation use cases while retaining control over credentials, execution visibility, and audit logs.

Features

• Conversational API for managing n8n tasks and templates
• Run, pause, and inspect workflow executions programmatically
• Create, list, and rotate n8n credentials securely
• Library of 100+ workflow templates for common use cases
• Integrations with 41 external tools (representative list below)
• Execution monitoring and simple alerting hooks
• REST API and optional WebSocket events for real-time updates
• Configurable via environment variables and Docker
• Open source — source code and templates on GitHub

Installation / Configuration

Clone repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/gomakers-ai/mcp-n8n.git
cd mcp-n8n
npm install

Create a .env file (example):

PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=production

# n8n connection
N8N_BASE_URL=https://your-n8n.example.com
N8N_API_KEY=your_n8n_api_key

# Optional: model or AI provider credentials for conversational features
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxxx

# Database (optional, for state/templates)
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/mcp

Run the server locally:

npm run build
npm start

Docker Compose example:

version: '3.8'
services:
  mcp:
    image: gomakersai/mcp-n8n:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - PORT=3000
      - N8N_BASE_URL=https://n8n.internal
      - N8N_API_KEY=your_n8n_api_key
      - OPENAI_API_KEY=${OPENAI_API_KEY}
    volumes:
      - ./templates:/app/templates

Example: run a workflow via REST API

curl -X POST https://mcp.example.com/api/workflows/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_MCP_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"workflowId":"abc123","input":{"email":"[email protected]"}}'

Available Tools / Resources

The project integrates 41 tools across common categories. Below is a representative subset; see the repository for the full list.

Full source, templates, and the complete integrations list are available on GitHub: https://github.com/gomakers-ai/mcp-n8n

Use Cases

• Lead routing and enrichment

  • Ingest contact forms or inbound emails, enrich with third-party APIs (e.g., Clearbit), then create leads in a CRM. The MCP server can be asked via chat to “create a lead workflow for new inbound emails” and apply an appropriate template or run a configured workflow.

• Execution monitoring and alerting

  • Continuously watch workflow executions and surface failures via Slack or email. Use the MCP API to query recent runs, get failure traces, and trigger retry flows or escalate to on-call engineers.

• Template-driven onboarding

  • Teams can pick from 100+ templates (e.g., onboarding, reporting, invoice processing) and instantiate them into their n8n instance with a few prompts. The MCP server automates credential wiring and initial test runs so non-experts can deploy automations safely.

• Conversational automation management

  • Build a chat assistant (internal Slack bot or web chat) that accepts natural language instructions like “synchronize new Shopify orders to Airtable every hour” and returns a recommended template or kicks off a deployment flow, handling credential binding and a dry-run.

Getting Help and Contributing

• Repository and issues: https://github.com/gomakers-ai/mcp-n8n
• Open an issue for bugs, feature requests, or template contributions.
• To contribute templates or integrations, follow the CONTRIBUTING.md in the repo and add tests/examples for the new template.

This MCP server is intended for developers building integrations or embedding automation into products. It focuses on predictable APIs, secure credential handling, and a growing library of templates to speed development.