mcp-n8n

Operate and build n8n from Cursor or Claude— administration of your instance (users, projects, executions, audit)anda full builder loop: a catalog of560 nodes with real parameter schemasextracted from the official n8n packages, validation before saving, automatic repair, snapshots with rollback and diff, per-node execution debugging, health reports, and full-instance backup.

Two env vars. Runs on your machine (stdio) or as a remote HTTP server. No hosted account.

This server is optimized to minimize token consumption, addressing one of the biggest issues with MCP servers - excessive API token usage.

- 90% reductionin tokens for workflow listing with newn8n_list_workflows_summaryendpoint
- Field filtering- request only the data you need
- Smart defaults- reduced from 100 to 10-20 results per query
- Intelligent warnings- alerts when operations will consume significant tokens

SeeTOKEN_OPTIMIZATION.mdfor detailed usage guide.

{ "mcpServers": { "n8n": { "command": "mcp-n8n", "env": { "N8N_BASE_URL": "https://your-n8n-instance.com", "N8N_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here", "N8N_TOOLSETS": "all" } } } }

N8N_BASE_URL=https://your-n8n-instance.com \ N8N_API_KEY=your-api-key \ N8N_MCP_HTTP_PORT=3000 \ N8N_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN=some-strong-secret \ mcp-n8n

{ "mcpServers": { "n8n": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-n8n"], "env": { "N8N_BASE_URL": "https://your-n8n-instance.com", "N8N_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" } } } }

Add to Cursor MCP settings (Settings → Extensions → MCP):

Recommended - Using npx (always uses latest version):

{ "mcpServers": { "n8n": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-n8n"], "env": { "N8N_BASE_URL": "https://your-n8n-instance.com", "N8N_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" } } } }

Note: Cursor requires usingnpxfor MCP servers. The-yflag automatically installs/updates the package without prompting.

{ "mcpServers": { "n8n": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "N8N_BASE_URL", "-e", "N8N_API_KEY", "-v", "mcp-n8n-data:/data", "mcp-n8n" ], "env": { "N8N_BASE_URL": "https://your-n8n-instance.com", "N8N_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" } } } }

The/datavolume persists workflow snapshots between runs.

Once configured, interact with n8n using natural language:

"Create a workflow that monitors my Gmail inbox and sends Slack notifications for important emails"

"Build a daily report workflow that pulls data from my database, generates charts, and emails them to my team"

"I need a WhatsApp chatbot with AI for customer support" → Automatically creates workflow from "WhatsApp AI Response Bot" template

"Create an automated stock analysis workflow" → Uses "Automated Stock Analysis with GPT-4" template

"Show me all active workflows in the production project" → Uses n8n_list_workflows_summary for efficient token usage

"Show me the details of workflow abc123" → Uses n8n_get_workflow to fetch complete details only when needed

"Deactivate the 'Daily Backup' workflow"

"What went wrong with execution abc123?"

"Show me the last 10 failed executions"

"Retry all failed executions from workflow xyz456"

"Delete all successful executions older than 30 days"

- n8n_create_workflow- Create new workflows (validate first)
- n8n_list_workflows_summary- Token-efficient listing
- n8n_list_workflows- Full details with optional field filtering
- n8n_get_workflow- Full workflow JSON
- n8n_update_workflow- Replace fields (omitted fields keep current values)
- n8n_update_workflow_partial- Surgical edits: add/remove nodes and connections
- n8n_delete_workflow- Remove workflows permanently
- n8n_activate_workflow/n8n_deactivate_workflow
- n8n_transfer_workflow/ tags tools

- n8n_list_workflow_snapshots- Local history of every change made through this server
- n8n_rollback_workflow- Restore a previous version, or recreate a deleted workflow
- n8n_diff_workflow_snapshot- Compare a snapshot against the current state before rolling back
- n8n_trigger_webhook- Call a webhook workflow and get the real response
- n8n_export_all_workflows/n8n_import_workflows- Full-instance backup and restore

- n8n_search_nodes/n8n_get_node- Full catalog: 560 nodes with real parameter schemas
- n8n_validate_workflow- Check JSON against real schemas before save/activate
- n8n_autofix_workflow- Mechanical repairs: typeVersion, positions, duplicates, dangling connections, expression prefixes
- n8n_search_public_templates/n8n_import_public_template- Official n8n.io library
- n8n_list_workflow_templates/n8n_get_workflow_template/n8n_create_workflow_from_template- Bundled templates

100 Included Templates across 13 categories:

- E-commerce: Shopify automation, WooCommerce support agents
- Social Media: Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter automation
- AI/Chat: Chatbots, AI agents, voice assistants
- Communication: WhatsApp, Telegram, Email automation
- Content: Blog automation, video generation, SEO optimization
- HR/Recruitment: Resume screening, candidate sourcing
- Sales/CRM: Lead generation, cold calling pipelines
- Finance: Stock analysis, invoice extraction
- Data Scraping: Google Maps, LinkedIn, Amazon, TikTok
- Monitoring: Website uptime, competitor tracking
- Productivity: Calendar, Notion, scheduling automation

- n8n_list_executions- Filter by status, workflow, project
- n8n_get_execution- Detailed execution data
- n8n_delete_execution- Remove execution records
- n8n_retry_execution- Retry failed executions
- n8n_debug_last_error- Failing node + message from the last error
- n8n_get_node_execution_data- Data that flowed through one specific node
- n8n_workflow_health- Success rate, failures and duration per workflow

- n8n_create_credential- Add new credentials
- n8n_delete_credential- Remove credentials (owner only)
- n8n_get_credential_schema- Discover required fields
- n8n_transfer_credential- Move between projects

Tags: Create, list, get, update, deleteVariables: Create, list, update, deleteUsers: List, create, get, delete, change roleProjects: Create, list, update, delete, manage users

- n8n_generate_audit- Security audit reports
- n8n_pull_source_control- Version control integration

61 toolsby default (N8N_TOOLSETS=all).core,builderexposes 28. Plus 2 MCP prompts (build-workflow,fix-workflow).

- Quick Start Guide- Get up and running in 5 minutes
- Examples & Use Cases- Real-world automation examples
- Node Reference- Detailed tool documentation
- Changelog- Version history and updates

mcp-n8n/ ├── src/ │ ├── index.ts # MCP server implementation │ ├── n8n-client.ts # n8n API client │ └── types.ts # TypeScript definitions ├── examples/ │ ├── templates-metadata.json │ └── *.json # Pre-built workflow templates ├── dist/ # Compiled output ├── QUICKSTART.md # Quick start guide ├── EXAMPLES.md # Usage examples ├── NODE_REFERENCE.md # API documentation └── package.json

# Clone repository git clone https://github.com/leonardosepulvedat/mcp-n8n.git cd mcp-n8n # Install dependencies npm install # Build npm run build # Development with auto-rebuild npm run watch

{ "mcpServers": { "n8n": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-n8n/dist/index.js"], "env": { "N8N_BASE_URL": "https://your-n8n-instance.com", "N8N_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" } } } }

{ "mcpServers": { "n8n": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-n8n/dist/index.js"], "env": { "N8N_BASE_URL": "https://your-n8n-instance.com", "N8N_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" } } } }

Important: Replace/absolute/path/to/mcp-n8n/with the actual absolute path to your cloned repository (e.g.,/Users/yourname/projects/mcp-n8n/).

# Set environment variables cp .env.example .env # Edit .env with your credentials # Build and test npm run build node dist/index.js

- Node.js: 20 or higher
- n8n Instance: Self-hosted or n8n Cloud (paid plan)
- n8n API Key: Required for authentication
- AI IDE: Claude Desktop or Cursor with MCP support

- Self-hosted: Full API access ✅
- n8n Cloud: Requires paid plan for API access
- Version: Compatible with n8n v1.0.0+

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
- Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
- Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
- Open a Pull Request

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see theLICENSEfile for details.

- n8n- The workflow automation platform
- Anthropic- Claude and Model Context Protocol
- Cursor- AI-powered code editor

- n8n API Documentation
- Model Context Protocol
- n8n Community
- MCP Servers Registry

- Issues:GitHub Issues
- Discussions:GitHub Discussions
- n8n Community:community.n8n.io

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