N8n

What N8n does

N8n provides read-oriented access to an n8n installation through MCP. Agents can enumerate workflows, inspect an individual workflow, and review recent execution records. This supports questions such as which workflows are active, what integrations a workflow uses, whether recent runs failed, and when executions started or stopped.

The integration is independent and unofficial. It connects to your n8n instance using the instance URL and an n8n API key supplied as tool arguments. The service does not provide an n8n account or API key on your behalf.

How it works

The hosted MCP endpoint is:

https://gateway.pipeworx.io/n8n/mcp

An MCP client connects to that streamable HTTP endpoint and invokes the n8n tools. The endpoint also includes shared Pipeworx meta-tools, so its complete tool list is larger than the three n8n-specific tools. ask_pipeworx can route a plain-language request across the wider Pipeworx catalog. The full gateway is available at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp when direct access to every catalog pack is preferred.

A local npm option starts @pipeworx/mcp-n8n through npx. That bridge forwards requests to the same hosted endpoint and requires network access; it does not provide offline operation. Without a Pipeworx API key, the bridge allows up to 50 calls per day. A free Pipeworx account raises that limit to 200 calls per day.

Setup and configuration

For a hosted connection, add the endpoint to an MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "n8n": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/n8n/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For the local bridge, use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "n8n": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-n8n"]
    }
  }
}

Add PIPEWORX_API_KEY under the bridge's env configuration to authenticate with Pipeworx. Set PIPEWORX_META_TOOLS=1 if the local bridge should list the shared gateway tools in addition to the n8n tools. Each n8n request still needs the target instance_url and n8n API key parameter named _apiKey.

Tools and capabilities

• n8n_list_workflows returns workflow IDs, names, active states, creation and update timestamps, and tags. Use active_only:true to restrict results to active workflows.
• n8n_get_workflow retrieves one workflow by ID, including its name, active state, node list, tags, and timestamps. The ID can come from the workflow-listing tool.
• n8n_list_executions returns recent runs with execution ID, workflow ID, status, mode, start time, and stop time. Results can be filtered by status or workflow ID.

The HTTP API also exposes tool inspection and search endpoints, including GET /v1/tools/n8n_list_workflows and POST /v1/tools/search_packs.

Limitations and notes

The package is a gateway client rather than an offline n8n implementation. Calls depend on network access and are subject to Pipeworx usage limits and metering. The scoped endpoint always includes shared Pipeworx meta-tools; there is no option to mount a pack endpoint without them. The listed n8n capabilities cover querying workflows and executions rather than editing workflows or starting runs.