Terminology and naming

Use the same term for the same concept on every page, and prefer the official product term over a plausible synonym. Consistent terminology helps readers, and it directly improves how AI tools (search, the docs assistant, and coding agents) find and use the docs.

This page is the source of truth for product terminology. Vale checks some pairs automatically. The rest rely on author and reviewer judgement.

Casing

• In prose, use sentence case: "Add a trigger node", "create a sub-workflow".

• For a literal UI label or node name, use bold with the product's exact casing: "Select Add trigger", "the HTTP Request node". Match what the interface shows.

• Write the product name as n8n, always lowercase, even at the start of a sentence.

Core concepts

Do use	Don't use
workflow	flow, automation (as a noun for the whole thing), scenario, pipeline, zap
node	step, block, action, module
execution (one run of a workflow)	run (as a noun), job, invocation

Workflow lifecycle

Do use	Don't use
publish, unpublish a workflow; published workflow	activate, deactivate, enable, disable, turn on, go live, deploy
run, execute a workflow (verb)	kick off, fire
pin data; pinned data	mock data, freeze data, lock data, sample data

Nodes

Do use	Don't use
app node	integration node, service node
core node	system node
cluster node; root node; sub-node	parent node, child node, super node
community node (installable, community-published)	custom node, third-party node, plugin, add-on

Canvas and editor

Do use	Don't use
canvas	editor board, diagram, workspace, graph
sticky note	comment, annotation, label, memo
sub-workflow	subworkflow, sub workflow, subflow, child workflow, nested workflow

Platform and deployment

Do use	Don't use
self-hosted	self hosted, on-premise, on-premises, on-prem
n8n Cloud; Cloud	hosted version, SaaS, the cloud, managed n8n
instance	server, deployment, box
Enterprise (plan)	enterprise edition, premium, paid tier

Features

Do use	Don't use
project	workspace, team space
folder	directory (in the app), group
environment variable	env (as a noun), config var
data table	database table, datatable, the table feature

Product and brand names

Do use	Don't use
n8n (lowercase, always)	N8n, N8N, n8N
GitHub, npm, JavaScript, OAuth2	Github, NPM, Javascript, oAuth