n8n

n8n (“node-to-node”) is an open-source, self-hostable workflow automation platform. Think of it as a developer-friendly alternative to Zapier/Make, with first-class support for APIs, custom logic, and on-prem deployments.
Author

Benedict Thekkel

1. What n8n is (and isn’t)

Is

  • A workflow orchestration engine (triggers → actions → logic)
  • Low-code, but very developer-capable
  • Self-hostable (Docker, VM, Kubernetes) or cloud-hosted
  • Strong at API glue, ETL, sync jobs, and event-driven automations

Is not

  • A replacement for full ETL platforms like Airflow
  • A UI-only “no-code” toy (it assumes you understand APIs)
  • A frontend automation tool (it’s backend-first)

2. Core concepts (mental model)

Concept Meaning
Workflow A directed graph of steps
Node A single operation (HTTP call, DB query, IF, code, etc.)
Trigger How the workflow starts (Webhook, Cron, Queue, Event)
Execution One run of a workflow
Credentials Encrypted secrets used by nodes
Expressions JS-like syntax to reference data between nodes

If you’re comfortable with Django signals, Celery tasks, or DRF pipelines — this will feel natural.

3. Node types you’ll use most

Triggers

  • Webhook (HTTP)
  • Cron (scheduled jobs)
  • Polling (interval-based)
  • Queue (Redis-backed)
  • App events (e.g. Stripe, GitHub)

Core logic

  • IF / Switch
  • Merge
  • Split In Batches
  • Wait / Delay
  • Error Trigger

Data + integration

  • HTTP Request (most powerful node)
  • PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQLite
  • Redis
  • S3
  • Google Sheets
  • Slack, Email, Discord
  • Hundreds of SaaS APIs

Code

  • Code node (JavaScript / TypeScript)
  • Run arbitrary logic
  • Transform payloads
  • Do math, validation, formatting

4. Expressions (very important)

n8n uses expression syntax to reference previous node data:

{{$json.email}}
{{$node["Fetch User"].json.id}}
{{$now}}

Features:

  • JS-like
  • Safe access
  • Date helpers
  • Math & string ops

This is where n8n becomes much more powerful than Zapier.

5. Credentials & secrets (security model)

  • Stored encrypted at rest

  • Scoped per node

  • Can be environment-backed

  • Supports:

    • API keys
    • OAuth2
    • Basic auth
    • Custom headers

For production:

  • Use env vars or secret managers
  • Disable plaintext exports
  • Lock down execution UI

6. Error handling & reliability

Built-in

  • Continue on failure
  • Error Trigger workflows
  • Try/catch logic with IF nodes
  • Retry on HTTP errors

Patterns

  • Dead-letter workflows
  • Idempotency keys
  • Webhook signature verification
  • Batch + resume workflows

You can build very robust pipelines if you treat it like backend infra, not a toy.

7. Hosting & deployment

Options

  1. n8n Cloud (managed, paid)
  2. Docker (most common)
  3. VM / bare metal
  4. Kubernetes (Helm chart available)

Typical Docker setup

  • n8n container
  • PostgreSQL (for executions)
  • Redis (for queue mode)
  • Reverse proxy (Nginx / Traefik)

Execution modes

Mode When to use
Main process Small setups
Queue mode High volume, reliability
Webhook workers Scale HTTP ingestion

8. Performance & scaling

  • Stateless workers (queue mode)
  • Horizontal scaling
  • Webhooks can be fronted by a load balancer
  • DB load depends on execution logging settings

Tuning tips:

  • Prune execution history
  • Disable full payload storage when not needed
  • Batch APIs aggressively
  • Avoid large JSON in memory

9. Versioning & environments

Out of the box:

  • No built-in environments (dev/staging/prod)

Common strategies:

  • Git-based export/import
  • Separate instances per env
  • Infra-as-code for workflows (JSON)
  • Use feature flags in expressions

10. Use cases (realistic, high-value)

  • CRM ↔︎ internal DB sync
  • Webhook → validation → DB → notification
  • Scheduled reporting jobs
  • SaaS glue (Stripe, HubSpot, Cliniko, Nookal, etc.)
  • IoT ingestion & transformation
  • Lightweight ETL
  • Backoffice automations
  • Admin tooling without writing a UI

Given your background, this is perfect for CRM syncs and ops tooling.

11. n8n vs alternatives

Tool Strength
Zapier Fast, simple, SaaS-only
Make Visual, complex flows
n8n Open, self-hosted, dev-friendly
Airflow Heavy ETL, data engineering
Temporal Durable workflows (code-first)
Celery Task queue, no UI

Rule of thumb:

  • Business automation → n8n
  • Core product logic → app code
  • Massive data pipelines → Airflow/Dagster

12. Common pitfalls

  • Treating it as source-of-truth logic
  • No idempotency on webhooks
  • Storing huge payloads
  • Mixing prod + dev workflows
  • Forgetting auth on webhooks 😬

13. Best practices (TL;DR)

  • Keep workflows small & composable
  • Use HTTP Request over vendor nodes when needed
  • Log minimally in prod
  • Use queue mode for anything serious
  • Version workflows in Git
  • Validate all inbound webhooks
  • Don’t put business-critical rules only in n8n

14. When n8n is a great choice for you

Given your stack (Django, DRF, Postgres, CRMs, IoT, scheduled syncs):

n8n is ideal for:

  • CRM ingestion pipelines
  • Data sync orchestration
  • Notifications & automation
  • Admin workflows
  • Rapid experimentation

…and not replacing your Django backend.

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