n8n Has a Free API That Automates Everything You Do Manually

#n8n #automation #api #opensource

n8n is the open-source workflow automation tool that connects 400+ apps. But its real power is the API — automate your automations programmatically.

What Is n8n?

n8n (pronounced n-eight-n) is a fair-code workflow automation platform. Think Zapier, but self-hosted, open-source, and with a code option for complex logic.

The n8n API

n8n exposes a REST API for managing workflows, executions, and credentials.

Authentication

# n8n uses API keys or Basic Auth
export N8N_URL="https://your-n8n.com"
export N8N_API_KEY="your-api-key"

# List all workflows
curl -s "$N8N_URL/api/v1/workflows" \
  -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" | jq '.data | length'

Create a Workflow

curl -s -X POST "$N8N_URL/api/v1/workflows" \
  -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Daily Report",
    "nodes": [
      {"parameters": {"rule": {"interval": [{"field": "hours", "hoursInterval": 24}]}}, "name": "Schedule", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.scheduleTrigger", "position": [250, 300]},
      {"parameters": {"url": "https://api.example.com/metrics"}, "name": "Fetch Data", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest", "position": [450, 300]}
    ],
    "connections": {"Schedule": {"main": [[{"node": "Fetch Data", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}}
  }'

Execute a Workflow

# Trigger workflow by ID
curl -s -X POST "$N8N_URL/api/v1/workflows/WORKFLOW_ID/activate" \
  -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY"

# Get execution history
curl -s "$N8N_URL/api/v1/executions?workflowId=WORKFLOW_ID&limit=5" \
  -H "X-N8N-API-KEY: $N8N_API_KEY" | jq '.data[].status'

Webhook Trigger

import requests

# Trigger n8n workflow via webhook
response = requests.post(
    "https://your-n8n.com/webhook/abc-123",
    json={
        "event": "new_order",
        "customer": "john@example.com",
        "amount": 99.99
    }
)
print(response.json())

n8n vs Zapier vs Make

Feature	n8n	Zapier	Make
Self-hosted	Yes	No	No
Open source	Yes	No	No
Code nodes	JS/Python	No	Limited
API access	Full REST	Limited	Limited
Pricing	Free (self-hosted)	$20/mo+	$9/mo+
Integrations	400+	5000+	1000+

Real Use Case: Scraping Pipeline

// n8n Code node: process scraped data
const items = $input.all();
const processed = items.map(item => ({
  json: {
    title: item.json.title.trim(),
    price: parseFloat(item.json.price.replace('$', '')),
    scraped_at: new Date().toISOString(),
    source: item.json.url
  }
}));
return processed;

Getting Started

# Docker (fastest)
docker run -it --rm -p 5678:5678 n8nio/n8n

# npm
npx n8n

Open http://localhost:5678 and start building workflows.

Need web data for your n8n workflows? Scrapfly handles scraping at scale — proxies, browsers, anti-bot. Email spinov001@gmail.com for custom integrations.

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