Configuration environment variables

File-based configuration

You can provide a configuration file for n8n. You can also append _FILE to certain variables to provide their configuration in a separate file. Variables that support this have the "/_FILE" option listed below.

Credentials

Enabling overwrites for credentials allows you to set default values for credentials which get automatically populated. The user can't see or change these credentials. The format is { CREDENTIAL_NAME: { PARAMETER: VALUE }}.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
CREDENTIALS_OVERWRITE_DATA /_FILE	*	-	Overwrites for credentials.
CREDENTIALS_OVERWRITE_ENDPOINT	String	-	The API endpoint to fetch credentials.
CREDENTIALS_DEFAULT_NAME	String	My credentials	The default name for credentials.

Database

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DB_TYPE /_FILE	Enum string: sqlite, mariadb (deprecated), mysqldb (deprecated), postgresdb	sqlite	The database to use.
DB_TABLE_PREFIX	*	-	Prefix to use for table names.

MySQL

Deprecated

n8n deprecated MySQL and MariaDB as backend databases in version 0.227.0.

n8n recommends using PostgreSQL.

Refer to how to export and import workflows and credentials for instructions.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DB_MYSQLDB_DATABASE /_FILE	String	n8n	The name of the MySQL database. Default value is n8n.
DB_MYSQLDB_HOST /_FILE	String	localhost	The MySQL host. Default value is localhost.
DB_MYSQLDB_PORT /_FILE	Number	3306	The MySQL port. Default value is 3306.
DB_MYSQLDB_USER /_FILE	String	root	The MySQL user. Default value is root.
DB_MYSQLDB_PASSWORD /_FILE	String	-	The MySQL password.

PostgreSQL

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE /_FILE	String	n8n	The name of the PostgreSQL database. Default value is n8n.
DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST /_FILE	String	localhost	The PostgreSQL host. Default value is localhost.
DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT /_FILE	Number	5432	The PostgreSQL port. Default value is 5432.
DB_POSTGRESDB_USER /_FILE	String	root	The PostgreSQL user. Default value is root.
DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL password.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA /_FILE	String	public	The PostgreSQL schema. Default value is public.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CA /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL SSL certificate authority.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CERT /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL SSL certificate.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_KEY /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL SSL key.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED /_FILE	Boolean	true	If n8n should reject unauthorized SSL connections (true) or not (false).

SQLite

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DB_SQLITE_VACUUM_ON_STARTUP	Boolean	false	Runs VACUUM operation on startup to rebuild the database. Reduces file size and optimizes indexes. This is a long running blocking operation and increases start-up time.

Deployment

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL	String	-	Public URL where users can access the editor. Also used for emails sent from n8n.
N8N_CONFIG_FILES	String	-	Use to provide the path to any JSON configuration file.
N8N_DISABLE_UI	Boolean	false	Disable the UI (true) or not (false).
N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED	Boolean	true	Enable workflow templates (true) or disable (false).
N8N_TEMPLATES_HOST	String	https://api.n8n.io	Change this if creating your own workflow template library. Note that to use your own workflow templates library, your API must provide the same endpoints and response structure as n8n's. Refer to Workflow templates for more information.
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY	String	Random key generated by n8n	Provide a custom key used to encrypt credentials in the n8n database. By default n8n generates a random key on first launch.
N8N_USER_FOLDER	String	user-folder	Provide the path where n8n will create the .n8n folder. This directory stores user-specific data, such as database file and encryption key.
N8N_PATH	String	/	The path n8n deploys to.
N8N_HOST	String	localhost	Host name n8n runs on.
N8N_PORT	Number	5678	The HTTP port n8n runs on.
N8N_LISTEN_ADDRESS	String	0.0.0.0	The IP address n8n should listen on.
N8N_PROTOCOL	Enum string: http, https	http	The protocol used to reach n8n.
N8N_SSL_KEY	String	-	The SSL key for HTTPS protocol.
N8N_SSL_CERT	String	-	The SSL certificate for HTTPS protocol.
N8N_PERSONALIZATION_ENABLED	Boolean	true	Whether to ask users personalisation questions and then customise n8n accordingly.
N8N_VERSION_NOTIFICATIONS_ENABLED	Boolean	true	When enabled, n8n sends notifications of new versions and security updates.
N8N_VERSION_NOTIFICATIONS_ENDPOINT	String	https://api.n8n.io/versions/	The endpoint to retrieve where version information.
N8N_VERSION_NOTIFICATIONS_INFO_URL	String	https://docs.n8n.io/getting-started/installation/updating.html	The URL displayed in the New Versions panel for additional information.
N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED	Boolean	true	Whether to share selected, anonymous telemetry with n8n
N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_CONFIG_FRONTEND	String	1zPn9bgWPzlQc0p8Gj1uiK6DOTn;https://telemetry.n8n.io	Telemetry configuration for the frontend.
N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_CONFIG_BACKEND	String	1zPn7YoGC3ZXE9zLeTKLuQCB4F6;https://telemetry.n8n.io/v1/batch	Telemetry configuration for the backend.
N8N_PUSH_BACKEND	String	websocket	Choose whether the n8n backend uses server-sent events (sse) or WebSockets (websocket) to send changes to the UI.
VUE_APP_URL_BASE_API	String	http://localhost:5678/	Used when building the n8n-editor-ui package manually to set how the frontend can reach the backend API.
N8N_HIRING_BANNER_ENABLED	Boolean	true	Whether to show the n8n hiring banner in the console (true) or not (false).
N8N_PUBLIC_API_SWAGGERUI_DISABLED	Boolean	false	Whether the Swagger UI (API playground) is disabled (true) or not (false).

Binary data

By default, n8n uses memory to store binary data. Enterprise users can choose to use an external service instead. Refer to External storage for more information on using external storage for binary data.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_AVAILABLE_BINARY_DATA_MODES	String	filesystem	A comma separated list of available binary data modes.
N8N_BINARY_DATA_STORAGE_PATH	String	N8N_USE_FOLDER/binaryData	The path where n8n stores binary data.
N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE	String	default	The default binary data mode. default keeps binary data in memory. Set to filesystem to use the filesystem, or s3 to AWS S3.

User management SMTP, and two-factor authentication

Refer to User management for more information on setting up user management and emails.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_EMAIL_MODE	String	smtp	Enable emails.
N8N_SMTP_HOST	String	-	your_SMTP_server_name
N8N_SMTP_PORT	Number	-	your_SMTP_server_port
N8N_SMTP_USER	String	-	your_SMTP_username
N8N_SMTP_PASS	String	-	your_SMTP_password
N8N_SMTP_OAUTH_SERVICE_CLIENT	String	-	If using 2LO with a service account this is your client ID
N8N_SMTP_OAUTH_PRIVATE_KEY	String	-	If using 2LO with a service account this is your private key
N8N_SMTP_SENDER	String	-	Sender email address. You can optionally include the sender name. Example with name: N8N <contact@n8n.com>
N8N_SMTP_SSL	Boolean	true	Whether to use SSL for SMTP (true) or not (false).
N8N_UM_EMAIL_TEMPLATES_INVITE	String	-	Full path to your HTML email template. This overrides the default template for invite emails.
N8N_UM_EMAIL_TEMPLATES_PWRESET	String	-	Full path to your HTML email template. This overrides the default template for password reset emails.
N8N_USER_MANAGEMENT_JWT_SECRET	String	-	Set a specific JWT secret. By default, n8n generates one on start.
N8N_MFA_ENABLED	Boolean	true	Whether to enable two-factor authentication (true) or disable (false). n8n ignores this if existing users have 2FA enabled.

Endpoints

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_PAYLOAD_SIZE_MAX	Number	16	The maximum payload size in MB.
N8N_METRICS	Boolean	false	Whether to enable the /metrics endpoint.
N8N_METRICS_PREFIX	String	n8n_	Optional prefix for n8n specific metrics names.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_DEFAULT_METRICS	Boolean	true	Whether to expose default system and node.js metrics.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_CACHE_METRICS	Boolean	false	Whether to include metrics (true) for cache hits and misses, or not include them (false).
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_MESSAGE_EVENT_BUS_METRICS	Boolean	false	Whether to include metrics (true) for events, or not include them (false).
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_WORKFLOW_ID_LABEL	Boolean	false	Whether to include a label for the workflow ID on workflow metrics.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_NODE_TYPE_LABEL	Boolean	false	Whether to include a label for the node type on node metrics.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_CREDENTIAL_TYPE_LABEL	Boolean	false	Whether to include a label for the credential type on credential metrics.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_API_ENDPOINTS	Boolean	false	Whether to expose metrics for API endpoints.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_API_PATH_LABEL	Boolean	false	Whether to include a label for the path of API invocations.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_API_METHOD_LABEL	Boolean	false	Whether to include a label for the HTTP method (GET, POST, ...) of API invocations.
N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_API_STATUS_CODE_LABEL	Boolean	false	Whether to include a label for the HTTP status code (200, 404, ...) of API invocations.
N8N_ENDPOINT_REST	String	rest	The path used for REST endpoint.
N8N_ENDPOINT_WEBHOOK	String	webhook	The path used for webhook endpoint.
N8N_ENDPOINT_WEBHOOK_TEST	String	webhook-test	The path used for test-webhook endpoint.
N8N_ENDPOINT_WEBHOOK_WAIT	String	webhook-waiting	The path used for waiting-webhook endpoint.
WEBHOOK_URL	String	-	Used to manually provide the Webhook URL when running n8n behind a reverse proxy. See here for more details.
N8N_DISABLE_PRODUCTION_MAIN_PROCESS	Boolean	false	Disable production webhooks from main process. This helps ensure no HTTP traffic load to main process when using webhook-specific processes.

External hooks

Variable	Type	Description
EXTERNAL_HOOK_FILES	String	Files containing external hooks. Provide multiple files as a colon-separated list (":").

Executions

Variable	Type	Default	Description
EXECUTIONS_PROCESS (deprecated)	Enum string: main, own	main	Deprecated. Whether n8n executions run in their own process or the main process. Refer to Execution modes and processes for more details.
EXECUTIONS_MODE	Enum string: regular, queue	regular	Whether executions should run directly or using queue. Refer to Execution modes and processes for more details.
EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT	Number	-1	Sets a default timeout (in seconds) to all workflows after which n8n stops their execution. Users can override this for individual workflows up to the duration set in EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT_MAX. Set EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT to -1 to disable.
EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT_MAX	Number	3600	The maximum execution time (in seconds) that users can set for an individual workflow.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR	Enum string: all, none	all	Whether n8n saves execution data on error.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS	Enum string: all, none	all	Whether n8n saves execution data on success.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_PROGRESS	Boolean	false	Whether to save progress for each node executed (true) or not (false).
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS	Boolean	true	Whether to save data of executions when started manually.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE	Boolean	true	Whether to delete data of past executions on a rolling basis.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE	Number	336	The execution age (in hours) before it's deleted.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_MAX_COUNT	Number	10000	Maximum number of executions to keep in the database. 0 = no limit
EXECUTIONS_DATA_HARD_DELETE_BUFFER	Number	1	How old (hours) the finished execution data has to be to get hard-deleted. By default, this buffer excludes recent executions as the user may need them while building a workflow.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_HARD_DELETE_INTERVAL	Number	15	How often (minutes) execution data should be hard-deleted.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_SOFT_DELETE_INTERVAL	Number	60	How often (minutes) execution data should be soft-deleted.

Logs

n8n logs

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_LOG_LEVEL	Enum string: info, warn, error, verbose, debug	info	Log output level.
N8N_LOG_OUTPUT	Enum string: console, file	console	Where to output logs. Provide multiple values as a comma-seperated list.
N8N_LOG_FILE_COUNT_MAX	Number	100	Max number of log files to keep.
N8N_LOG_FILE_SIZE_MAX	Number	16	Max size of each log file in MB.
N8N_LOG_FILE_LOCATION	String	file	Log file location. Requires N8N_LOG_OUTPUT set to file.
DB_LOGGING_ENABLED	Boolean	false	Whether to enable database-specific logging.
DB_LOGGING_OPTIONS	Enum string: query, error, schema, warn, info, log	error	Database log output level. To enable all logging, specify all.
DB_LOGGING_MAX_EXECUTION_TIME	Number	1000	Maximum execution time (in milliseconds) before n8n logs a warning. Set to 0 to disable long running query warning.

Log streaming

Refer to Log streaming for more information on this feature.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_EVENTBUS_CHECKUNSENTINTERVAL	Number	0	How often (in milliseconds) to check for unsent event messages. Can in rare cases cause a message to be sent twice. Set to 0 to disable it.
N8N_EVENTBUS_LOGWRITER_SYNCFILEACCESS	Boolean	false	Whether all file access happens synchronously within the thread (true) or not (false).
N8N_EVENTBUS_LOGWRITER_KEEPLOGCOUNT	Number	3	How many event log files to keep.
N8N_EVENTBUS_LOGWRITER_MAXFILESIZEINKB	Number	10240	Maximum size (in kilo-bytes) of an event log file before a new one is started.
N8N_EVENTBUS_LOGWRITER_LOGBASENAME	String	n8nEventLog	Basename of the event log file.

External data storage

Refer to External storage for more information on using external storage for binary data.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_HOST	String	-	Host of the n8n bucket in S3-compatible external storage. For example, s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_BUCKET_NAME	String	-	Name of the n8n bucket in S3-compatible external storage.
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_BUCKET_REGION	String	-	Region of the n8n bucket in S3-compatible external storage. For example, us-east-1
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_ACCESS_KEY	String	-	Access key in S3-compatible external storage
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_ACCESS_SECRET	String	-	Access secret in S3-compatible external storage.

Nodes

Variable	Type	Default	Description
NODES_INCLUDE	Array of strings	-	Specify which nodes to load.
NODES_EXCLUDE	Array of strings	-	Specify which nodes not to load. For example, to block nodes that can be a security risk if users aren't trustworthy: NODES_EXCLUDE: "[\"n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand\", \"n8n-nodes-base.readBinaryFile\", \"n8n-nodes-base.readBinaryFiles\", \"n8n-nodes-base.writeBinaryFile\"]"
NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN	String	-	Permit users to import specific built-in modules in the Code node. Use * to allow all. n8n disables importing modules by default.
NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL	String	-	Permit users to import specific external modules (from n8n/node_modules) in the Code node. n8n disables importing modules by default.
NODES_ERROR_TRIGGER_TYPE	String	n8n-nodes-base.errorTrigger	Specify which node type to use as Error Trigger.
N8N_CUSTOM_EXTENSIONS	String	-	Specify the path to additional directories containing your custom nodes.
N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ENABLED	Boolean	true	Whether community nodes are enabled (true) or not (false).

Queues

Variable	Type	Default	Description
QUEUE_BULL_PREFIX	String	-	Prefix to use for all queue keys.
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_DB	Number	0	The Redis database used.
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST	String	localhost	The Redis host.
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PORT	Number	6379	The Redis port used.
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_USERNAME	String	-	The Redis username (needs Redis version 6 or above). Don't define it for Redis < 6 compatibility
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PASSWORD	String	-	The Redis password.
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_TIMEOUT_THRESHOLD	Number	10000	The Redis timeout threshold (in seconds).
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_CLUSTER_NODES	String	-	Expects a comma-separated list of Redis Cluster nodes in the format host:port, for the Redis client to initially connect to. If running in queue mode (EXECUTIONS_MODE = queue), setting this variable will create a Redis Cluster client instead of a Redis client, and n8n will ignore QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST and QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PORT.
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_TLS	Boolean	false	Enable TLS on Redis connections.
QUEUE_RECOVERY_INTERVAL	Number	60	Interval (in seconds) for active polling to the queue to recover from Redis crashes. 0 disables recovery. May increase Redis traffic significantly.
QUEUE_WORKER_TIMEOUT	Number	30	How long should n8n wait (seconds) for running executions before exiting worker process on shutdown.
QUEUE_HEALTH_CHECK_ACTIVE	Boolean	false	Whether to enable health checks (true) or disable (false).
QUEUE_HEALTH_CHECK_PORT	Number	-	The port to serve health checks on.
QUEUE_WORKER_LOCK_DURATION	Number	30000	How long (in ms) is the lease period for a worker to work on a message.
QUEUE_WORKER_LOCK_RENEW_TIME	Number	15000	How frequently (in ms) should a worker renew the lease time.
QUEUE_WORKER_STALLED_INTERVAL	Number	30000	How often should a worker check for stalled jobs (use 0 for never).
QUEUE_WORKER_MAX_STALLED_COUNT	Number	1	Maximum amount of times a stalled job will be re-processed.

Security

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_AUTH_EXCLUDE_ENDPOINTS	String	-	Exclude endpoints from authentication checks. Provide multiple endpoints as a colon-seperated list (":"). The endpoints must not start with a forward slash ("/").
N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE	Boolean	false	Whether to allow users to access environment variables in expressions and the Code node (false) or not (true).

Source control

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_SOURCECONTROL_DEFAULT_SSH_KEY_TYPE	String	ed25519	Set to rsa to make RSA the default SSH key type for Source control setup.

Timezone and localization

Variable	Type	Default	Description
GENERIC_TIMEZONE	*	America/New_York	The n8n instance timezone. Important for schedule nodes (such as Cron).
N8N_DEFAULT_LOCALE	String	en	A locale identifier, compatible with the Accept-Language header. n8n doesn't support regional identifiers, such as de-AT. When running in a locale other than the default, n8n displays UI strings in the selected locale, and falls back to en for any untranslated strings.

Workflows

Variable	Type	Default	Description
WORKFLOWS_DEFAULT_NAME	String	My workflow	The default name used for new workflows.
N8N_ONBOARDING_FLOW_DISABLED	Boolean	false	Whether to show onboarding tips when creating a new workflow (true) or not (false).
N8N_WORKFLOW_TAGS_DISABLED	Boolean	false	Whether to disable workflow tags (true) or enable tags (false).
N8N_WORKFLOW_CALLER_POLICY_DEFAULT_OPTION	String	workflowsFromSameOwner	Which workflows can call a workflow. Options are: any, none, workflowsFromAList, workflowsFromSameOwner. This feature requires Workflow sharing.

License

Variable	Type	Default	Description
N8N_HIDE_USAGE_PAGE	boolean	false	Hide the usage and plans page in the app.
N8N_LICENSE_ACTIVATION_KEY	String	''	Activation key to initialize license. Not applicable if the n8n instance was already activated.
N8N_LICENSE_AUTO_RENEW_ENABLED	Boolean	true	Whether autorenew for licenses is enabled (true) or not (false).
N8N_LICENSE_AUTO_RENEW_OFFSET	Number	60 * 60 * 72 (72 hours)	How many seconds before expiry a license should automatically renew.
N8N_LICENSE_SERVER_URL	String	http://license.n8n.io/v1	Server URL to retrieve license.