n8n is an MCP server that provides AI assistants with direct access to an active n8n automation platform instance. Built with a hybrid architecture supporting standard stdio transport and an HTTP bridge, it allows developers, DevOps engineers, and system administrators to manage and inspect automated workflows using natural language prompts. The server exposes 18 specialized tools covering complete workflow lifecycle management, including listing, creating, activating, deactivating, and deleting workflows. It also supports n8n global variable handling, credential metadata administration, and historical execution inspection. When connected to MCP-compliant AI assistants like Claude Desktop, the server automatically sanitizes sensitive credential data by exposing only metadata such as IDs and types while preventing the leakage of private keys. While the original repository is marked as archived, the integration provides direct Model Context Protocol control over self-hosted or cloud-hosted n8n setups using standard API keys.
Category: CRM, ERP & E-commerce
Tags: automation, integration, n8n, orchestration, workflow
Follow these steps to set up and configure the n8n MCP server: 1. Ensure Node.js 18+ is installed, alongside an accessible n8n instance and API key. 2. Clone the repository and install dependencies: bash git clone https://github.com/sonnd08/n8n-mcp cd n8n-mcp npm install 3. Copy the example environment file and configure your credentials: bash cp .env.example .env 4. Add the server to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/.claude_desktop_config.json): json { "mcpServers": { "n8n": { "command": "node", "args": ["index.js"], "cwd": "/path/to/n8n-mcp", "env": { "N8N_API_KEY": "your-n8n-api-key-here", "N8N_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:5678" } } } } 5. Restart Claude Desktop to load the n8n tools.
Part of MCP Servers
The n8n MCP server enables AI assistants to manage n8n instances directly. It provides 18 tools to list, create, update, delete, activate, and deactivate workflows; inspect execution histories; manage environment variables; view credential metadata; and run connectivity self-tests.
The server uses standard stdio JSON-RPC 2.0 communication, making it compatible with any MCP-compliant client, including Claude Desktop. It also features a built-in HTTP server on port 3001 for standalone health checks and browser-based monitoring.
Yes, this MCP server is open-source software distributed under the MIT License on GitHub. However, note that the original repository is archived and no longer actively maintained by its author.
In n8n, environment variables management is restricted to Pro or Enterprise licenses. If you run the community edition of n8n, calling the variable management tools will return an error stating that the license does not allow the variables feature.