n8n

Use REST API to create/update/activate workflows. Use MCP to list and run enabled workflows.

When to use

• Authoring (no UI): REST API
• Running/triggering workflows: MCP
• Use n8nctl (uv script) for REST without curl/jq

Auth/config check policy: do not stop at echo $N8N_BASE_URL or echo $N8N_API_KEY in the parent shell. If credentials may live in the skill-local .env, prefer uv run scripts/n8nctl.py ...; that entrypoint auto-loads the env file using the lookup order below. Only report missing credentials after the real command path fails.

Preconditions

• n8n instance URL (cloud, self-hosted, or local)
• REST API key (X-N8N-API-KEY)
• MCP URL + access token (instance-level MCP)
• Workflows marked availableInMCP