Nodes#
Nodes are the key building blocks of a workflow. They perform a range of actions, including:
- Starting the workflow.
- Fetching and sending data.
- Processing and manipulating data.
n8n provides a collection of built-in nodes, as well as the ability to create your own nodes. Refer to:
- Built-in integrations to browse the node library.
- Community nodes for guidance on finding and installing community-created nodes.
- Creating nodes to start building your own nodes.
Add a node to your workflow#
Add a node to an empty workflow#
- Select Add first step. n8n opens the nodes panel, where you can search or browse trigger nodes.
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Select the trigger you want to use.
Choose the correct app event
If you select On App Event, n8n shows a list of all the supported services. Use this list to browse n8n's integrations and trigger a workflow in response to an event in your chosen service. Not all integrations have triggers. To see which ones you can use as a trigger, select the node. If a trigger is available, you'll see it at the top of the available operations list.
For example, this is the trigger for Asana:
Add a node to an existing workflow#
Select the Add node connector. n8n opens the nodes panel, where you can search or browse all nodes.
Node operations: Triggers and Actions#
When you add a node to a workflow, n8n displays a list of available operations. An operation is something a node does, such as getting or sending data.
There are two types of operation:
- Triggers start a workflow in response to specific events or conditions in your services. When you select a Trigger, n8n adds a trigger node to your workflow, with the Trigger operation you chose pre-selected. When you search for a node in n8n, Trigger operations have a bolt icon .
- Actions are operations that represent specific tasks within a workflow, which you can use to manipulate data, perform operations on external systems, and trigger events in other systems as part of your workflows. When you select an Action, n8n adds a node to your workflow, with the Action operation you chose pre-selected.
Node controls#
To view node controls, hover over the node on the canvas:
- Test step : Run the node.
- Deactivate : Deactivate the node.
- Delete : Delete the node.
- Node context menu : Select node actions. Available actions:
- Open node
- Test step
- Rename node
- Deactivate node
- Pin node
- Copy node
- Duplicate node
- Select all
- Clear selection
- Delete node
Node settings#
The node settings under the Settings tab allow you to control node behaviors and add node notes.
When active or set, they do the following:
- Request Options: Select Add Option to view and select these options.
- Batching: Control how to batch large numbers of input items.
- Ignore SSL Issues: Download the response even if SSL validation isn't possible.
- Proxy: Use this if you need to specify an HTTP proxy.
- Timeout: Set a timeout for the request in ms.
- Always Output Data: The node returns an empty item even if the node returns no data during execution. Be careful setting this on IF nodes, as it could cause an infinite loop.
- Execute Once: The node executes once, with data from the first item it receives. It doesn't process any extra items.
- Retry On Fail: When an execution fails, the node reruns until it succeeds.
- On Error:
- Stop Workflow: Halts the entire workflow when an error occurs, preventing further node execution.
- Continue: Proceeds to the next node despite the error, using the last valid data.
- Continue (using error output): Continues workflow execution, passing error information to the next node for potential handling.
You can document your workflow using node notes:
- Notes: Note to save with the node.
- Display note in flow: If active, n8n displays the note in the workflow as a subtitle.