Configure a custom workflow templates library

n8n provides a library of workflow templates. When self-hosting n8n, you can:

• Continue to use n8n's workflow templates library (this is the default behavior)

• Disable workflow templates

• Create your own workflow templates library

Disable workflow templates

In your environment variables, set N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED to false.

Use your own workflow templates library

In your environment variables, set N8N_TEMPLATES_HOST to the base URL of your API.

Endpoints

Your API must provide the same endpoints and data structure as n8n's.

The endpoints are:

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	/templates/workflows/<id>	Fetch template metadata for preview/browsing
GET	/workflows/templates/<id>	Fetch workflow data to import onto canvas
GET	/templates/search	Search for workflow templates
GET	/templates/collections/<id>	Get a specific template collection
GET	/templates/collections	List all template collections
GET	/templates/categories	List all template categories
GET	/health	Health check endpoint

Critical: Two different response formats required

The two workflow endpoints require different response formats:

• /templates/workflows/{id}: Returns the template itself, which includes the workflow in the workflow key

• /workflows/templates/{id}: Returns the workflow the template contains

See Schemas below for details.

Query parameters

The /templates/search endpoint accepts the following query parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
page	integer	The page of results to return
rows	integer	The maximum number of results to return per page
category	comma-separated list of strings (categories)	The categories to search within
search	string	The search query

The /templates/collections endpoint accepts the following query parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
category	comma-separated list of strings (categories)	The categories to search within
search	string	The search query

Schemas

The key difference between the two workflow endpoints:

// GET /templates/workflows/{id} returns (wrapped):
{
  "workflow": {
    "id": 123,
    "name": "...",
    "totalViews": 1000,
    // ... see full workflow item schema below
    "workflow": {    // actual workflow definition
      "nodes": [...],
      "connections": {}
    }
  }
}

// GET /workflows/templates/{id} returns (flat):
{
  "id": 123,
  "name": "...",
  "workflow": {      // actual workflow definition
    "nodes": [...],
    "connections": {}
  }
}

Detailed schemas for response objects:

Show workflow item data schema

Used by /templates/workflows/{id} endpoint (wrapped in a workflow key).

This schema describes the template metadata used for displaying templates in search/browse UI. It includes a nested workflow property that contains the actual importable workflow definition.

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "title": "Generated schema for Root",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "number"
    },
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "totalViews": {
      "type": "number"
    },
    "price": {},
    "purchaseUrl": {},
    "recentViews": {
      "type": "number"
    },
    "createdAt": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "user": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "username": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "verified": {
          "type": "boolean"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "username",
        "verified"
      ]
    },
    "nodes": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "number"
          },
          "icon": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "name": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "codex": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "data": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                  "details": {
                    "type": "string"
                  },
                  "resources": {
                    "type": "object",
                    "properties": {
                      "generic": {
                        "type": "array",
                        "items": {
                          "type": "object",
                          "properties": {
                            "url": {
                              "type": "string"
                            },
                            "icon": {
                              "type": "string"
                            },
                            "label": {
                              "type": "string"
                            }
                          },
                          "required": [
                            "url",
                            "label"
                          ]
                        }
                      },
                      "primaryDocumentation": {
                        "type": "array",
                        "items": {
                          "type": "object",
                          "properties": {
                            "url": {
                              "type": "string"
                            }
                          },
                          "required": [
                            "url"
                          ]
                        }
                      }
                    },
                    "required": [
                      "primaryDocumentation"
                    ]
                  },
                  "categories": {
                    "type": "array",
                    "items": {
                      "type": "string"
                    }
                  },
                  "nodeVersion": {
                    "type": "string"
                  },
                  "codexVersion": {
                    "type": "string"
                  }
                },
                "required": [
                  "categories"
                ]
              }
            }
          },
          "group": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "defaults": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "name": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "color": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "name"
            ]
          },
          "iconData": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "icon": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "type": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "fileBuffer": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "type"
            ]
          },
          "displayName": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "typeVersion": {
            "type": "number"
          },
          "nodeCategories": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "object",
              "properties": {
                "id": {
                  "type": "number"
                },
                "name": {
                  "type": "string"
                }
              },
              "required": [
                "id",
                "name"
              ]
            }
          }
        },
        "required": [
          "id",
          "icon",
          "name",
          "codex",
          "group",
          "defaults",
          "iconData",
          "displayName",
          "typeVersion"
        ]
      }
    },
    "description": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "image": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "number"
          },
          "url": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "categories": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "number"
          },
          "name": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "workflowInfo": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "nodeCount": {
          "type": "number"
        },
        "nodeTypes": {
          "type": "object"
        }
      }
    },
    "workflow": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "nodes": {
          "type": "array"
        },
        "connections": {
          "type": "object"
        },
        "settings": {
          "type": "object"
        },
        "pinData": {
          "type": "object"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "nodes",
        "connections"
      ]
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "id",
    "name",
    "totalViews",
    "createdAt",
    "user",
    "nodes",
    "workflow"
  ]
}

Show category item data schema

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "number"
    },
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "id",
    "name"
  ]
}

Show collection item data schema

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "number"
    },
    "rank": {
      "type": "number"
    },
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "totalViews": {},
    "createdAt": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "workflows": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "number"
          }
        },
        "required": [
          "id"
        ]
      }
    },
    "nodes": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {}
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "id",
    "rank",
    "name",
    "totalViews",
    "createdAt",
    "workflows",
    "nodes"
  ]
}

You can also interactively explore n8n's API endpoints:

https://api.n8n.io/templates/categories https://api.n8n.io/templates/collections https://api.n8n.io/templates/search https://api.n8n.io/health

You can contact us for more support.

Add your workflows to the n8n library

You can submit your workflows to n8n's template library.

n8n is working on a creator program, and developing a marketplace of templates. This is an ongoing project, and details are likely to change.

Refer to n8n Creator hub for information on how to submit templates and become a creator.

Related resources

• Configuration examples