Use the command line

The Server CLI is a built-in command-line interface that runs on the same machine as your n8n installation. It provides direct database access for administrative tasks and can execute most commands even when n8n isn't running.

n8n CLI

Looking to interact with n8n programmatically from a remote machine or integrate with AI agents? Check out the n8n CLI.

When to use Server CLI vs n8n CLI

Feature	Server CLI	n8n CLI
Where it runs	Same machine as n8n	Any machine with network access
Authentication	Direct database access	API key
Requires running n8n	No (most commands)	Yes
Best for	Instance operators, backups, migrations	Programmers, AI agents, remote management
Security model	Bypasses access controls	Respects user permissions and API key scope
Use case examples	Backup/restore, license management, emergency password resets	Workflow automation, credentials management through code

Running CLI commands

You can use CLI commands with self-hosted n8n. Depending on how you choose to install n8n, there are differences in how to run the commands:

• npm: the n8n command is directly available. The documentation uses this in the examples below.

• Docker: the n8n command is available within your Docker container:

  docker exec -u node -it <n8n-container-name> <n8n-cli-command>

Start a workflow

You can start workflows directly using the CLI.

Execute a saved workflow by its ID:

n8n execute --id <ID>

Publish or unpublish a workflow

You can publish or unpublish a workflow using the CLI. In n8n 2.0, the previous active/inactive toggle was replaced by a publish/unpublish model. Use publish:workflow and unpublish:workflow to change a workflow's published state from the CLI.

Restart required

These commands operate on your n8n database. If you execute them while n8n is running, the changes don't take effect until you restart n8n.

Publish a workflow

Use publish:workflow to publish a workflow by its ID. You can optionally publish a specific historical version by passing its versionId.

Command flags:

Flag	Description
--help	Help prompt.
--id	The ID of the workflow to publish. Required.
--versionId	Optional version ID to publish. If omitted, the current draft is published.

No --all flag

Unlike the deprecated update:workflow command, publish:workflow doesn't support --all. This is intentional: it prevents accidental bulk publishing of workflows in production environments. Publish workflows individually by ID.

Publish the current draft of a workflow by ID:

n8n publish:workflow --id=<ID>

Publish a specific historical version of a workflow:

n8n publish:workflow --id=<ID> --versionId=<VERSION_ID>

Unpublish a workflow

Use unpublish:workflow to unpublish a workflow by its ID, or all workflows at once.

Command flags:

Flag	Description
--help	Help prompt.
--id	The ID of the workflow to unpublish. Can't be used with --all.
--all	Unpublish all workflows. Can't be used with --id.

Unpublish a workflow by its ID:

n8n unpublish:workflow --id=<ID>

Unpublish all workflows:

n8n unpublish:workflow --all

update:workflow (deprecated)

Deprecated in n8n 2.0

The update:workflow command is deprecated and will be removed. Use publish:workflow and unpublish:workflow instead. See the n8n v2.0 breaking changes for details.

Set the active status of a workflow by its ID to false:

n8n update:workflow --id=<ID> --active=false

Set the active status of a workflow by its ID to true:

n8n update:workflow --id=<ID> --active=true

Set the active status to false for all the workflows:

n8n update:workflow --all --active=false

Set the active status to true for all the workflows:

n8n update:workflow --all --active=true

Export entities

You can export your database entities from n8n using the CLI. This tooling allows you to export all entity types from one database type, such as SQLite, and import them into another database type, such as Postgres.

Command flags:

Flag	Description
--help	Help prompt.
--outputDir	Output directory path
--includeExecutionHistoryDataTables	Include execution history data tables, these are excluded by default as they can be very large

n8n export:entities --outputDir=./outputs --includeExecutionHistoryDataTables=true

Export workflows and credentials

You can export your workflows and credentials from n8n using the CLI.

Command flags:

Flag	Description
--help	Help prompt.
--all	Exports all workflows/credentials.
--backup	Sets --all --pretty --separate for backups. You can optionally set --output.
--id	The ID of the workflow to export.
--output, -o	Outputs file name or directory if using separate files.
--pretty	Formats the output in an easier to read fashion.
--separate	Exports one file per workflow (useful for versioning). Must set a directory using --output.
--decrypted	Exports the credentials in a plain text format. (Credentials only.)
--version	The version ID of a specific historical version to export. (Workflows only, can't be used with --all or --published.)
--published	Exports the published/active version of the workflow instead of the current draft. When combined with --all, unpublished workflows are skipped. (Workflows only, can't be used with --version.)

Workflows

Export all your workflows to the standard output (terminal):

n8n export:workflow --all

Export a workflow by its ID and specify the output file name:

n8n export:workflow --id=<ID> --output=file.json

Export all workflows to a specific directory in a single file:

n8n export:workflow --all --output=backups/latest/file.json

Export all the workflows to a specific directory using the --backup flag (details above):

n8n export:workflow --backup --output=backups/latest/

Export a specific workflow version

You can export a specific historical version of a workflow by passing its versionId with --version:

n8n export:workflow --id=<ID> --version=<VERSION_ID> --output=workflow-v1.json

Export the published version of a workflow

Use --published to export the currently published/active version of a workflow rather than the current draft:

n8n export:workflow --id=<ID> --published --output=published.json

You can combine --published with --all to export every workflow's published version. Workflows that don't have a published version are skipped:

n8n export:workflow --all --published --output=workflows.json

Version metadata

When exporting a workflow, n8n includes a versionMetadata property containing the workflow's historical name and description for that version. The import command preserves this data in the workflow history table on import. The current workflow's name and description aren't overridden.

Credentials

Export all your credentials to the standard output (terminal):

n8n export:credentials --all

Export credentials by their ID and specify the output file name:

n8n export:credentials --id=<ID> --output=file.json

Export all credentials to a specific directory in a single file:

n8n export:credentials --all --output=backups/latest/file.json

Export all the credentials to a specific directory using the --backup flag (details above):

n8n export:credentials --backup --output=backups/latest/

Export all the credentials in plain text format. You can use this to migrate from one installation to another that has a different secret key in the configuration file.

Sensitive information

All sensitive information is visible in the files.

n8n export:credentials --all --decrypted --output=backups/decrypted.json

Import entities

You can import entities from a previous export:entities command using this command, it allows importing of entities into a database type that differs from the exported database type. Current supported database types include: SQLite, Postgres.

The database is expected to be empty prior to import, this can be forced with the --truncateTables parameter.

Command flags:

Flag	Description
--help	Help prompt.
--inputDir	Input directory that holds output files for import
--truncateTables	Truncate tables before import

n8n import:entities --inputDir ./outputs --truncateTables true

Import workflows and credentials

You can import your workflows and credentials from n8n using the CLI.

Update the IDs

When exporting workflows and credentials, n8n also exports their IDs. If you have workflows and credentials with the same IDs in your existing database, they will be overwritten. To avoid this, delete or change the IDs before importing.

Available flags:

Flag	Description
--help	Help prompt.
--input	Input file name or directory if you use --separate.
--projectId	Import the workflow or credential to the specified project. Can't be used with --userId.
--separate	Imports *.json files from directory provided by --input.
--userId	Import the workflow or credential to the specified user. Can't be used with --projectId.
--skipMigrationChecks	Skip migration validation checks.
--activeState	Controls the active state of imported workflows. Accepts false (default, deactivates all imported workflows) or fromJson (uses the active field from each workflow's JSON; multi-main mode only).

Migrating to SQLite

n8n limits workflow and credential names to 128 characters, but SQLite doesn't enforce size limits.

This might result in errors like Data too long for column name during the import process.

In this case, you can edit the names from the n8n interface and export again, or edit the JSON file directly before importing.

Workflows

Known issue: cron triggers keep running after import

The behaviour of importing a previously active workflow differs depending on the mode you are running. This is a known bug.

On multi-main and queue-mode instances the previously active workflow's cron triggers are deactivated on import.

On non multi-main instances the previously active workflows cron triggers will remain running until you restart the n8n instance.

Import workflows from a specific file:

n8n import:workflow --input=file.json

Import all the workflow files as JSON from the specified directory:

n8n import:workflow --separate --input=backups/latest/

Version metadata on import

If the imported file includes a versionMetadata property (added by exports that target a specific version or the published version), n8n preserves that historical name and description in the workflow history table. The current workflow entity's name and description are kept as-is.

By default, import:workflow deactivates every imported workflow. To preserve the active field from each JSON file instead, pass --activeState=fromJson (only supported in multi-main & queue mode):

n8n import:workflow --separate --input=backups/latest/ --activeState=fromJson

Credentials

Import credentials from a specific file:

n8n import:credentials --input=file.json

Import all the credentials files as JSON from the specified directory:

n8n import:credentials --separate --input=backups/latest/

License

Clear

Clear your existing license from n8n's database and reset n8n to default features:

n8n license:clear

If your license includes floating entitlements, running this command will also attempt to release them back to the pool, making them available for other instances.

Info

Display information about the existing license:

n8n license:info

User management

You can reset user management using the n8n CLI. This returns user management to its pre-setup state. It removes all user accounts.

Use this if you forget your password, and don't have SMTP set up to do password resets by email.

n8n user-management:reset

Disable MFA for a user

If a user loses their recovery codes you can disable MFA for a user with this command. The user will then be able to log back in to set up MFA again.

n8n mfa:disable --email=[e-mail]

Disable LDAP

You can reset the LDAP settings using the command below.

n8n ldap:reset

Uninstall community nodes and credentials

You can manage community nodes using the n8n CLI. For now, you can only uninstall community nodes and credentials, which is useful if a community node causes instability.

Command flags:

Flag	Description
--help	Show CLI help.
--credential	The credential type. Get this value by visiting the node's <NODE>.credential.ts file and getting the value of name.
--package	Package name of the community node.
--uninstall	Uninstalls the node.
--userId	The ID of the user who owns the credential. On self-hosted, query the database. On cloud, query the API with your API key.

Nodes

Uninstall a community node by package name:

n8n community-node --uninstall --package <COMMUNITY_NODE_NAME>

For example, to uninstall the Evolution API community node, type:

n8n community-node --uninstall --package n8n-nodes-evolution-api

Credentials

Uninstall a community node credential:

n8n community-node --uninstall --credential <CREDENTIAL_TYPE> --userId <ID>

For example, to uninstall the Evolution API community node credential, visit the repository and navigate to the credentials.ts file to find the name:

n8n community-node --uninstall --credential evolutionApi --userId 1234

Security audit

You can run a security audit on your n8n instance, to detect common security issues.

n8n audit