n8n Workflow Builder

Intent

Design, build, and troubleshoot n8n workflows for Mick's self-hosted automation stack with practical node and deployment guidance.

Use When

• The user explicitly asks for n8n-workflow.
• The request matches the triggers or workflow described below.
• The task benefits from a reusable, structured output instead of a one-off answer.

Do Not Use When

• Do not use for unrelated automation tools, production changes without context, credential handling in plain text, or unsafe destructive workflow edits.
• Required context is missing and cannot be reasonably inferred.
• A more specific skill in this repo is a better match.

Constraints

• Do not fabricate missing facts, measurements, dates, sources, or user context.
• Keep output aligned with Mick's direct, practical communication style unless the skill says otherwise.
• Preserve safety, legal, medical, financial, and operational boundaries stated in this file.
• Prefer concise, usable output over broad explanation.

Design, build, or troubleshoot n8n automation workflows for Mick's self-hosted Proxmox environment.

Mick's n8n Stack

• Instance: Proxmox LXC CT 104, static IP 192.168.0.81, port 5678
• External access: Cloudflare Tunnel to an HTTPS subdomain
• Primary use cases: morning briefing pipeline, trading alerts, RSS processing, Claude API orchestration, webhook receivers
• Claude API integration: HTTP Request node to https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages

Workflow Design Principles

1. One trigger, one purpose: Keep workflows focused. Chain them with webhooks when needed.
2. Error handling on every external call: Add an Error Trigger or use Continue on Fail with a downstream notification step.
3. Credentials in the n8n credential store: Never hardcode API keys in nodes. Use named credentials.
4. Use a Set node to normalize data: Clean up fields before passing data to downstream steps.
5. Test with static data first: Pin node output during development and unpin for production.

Common Node Patterns

HTTP Request to Claude API

{
  "method": "POST",
  "url": "https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages",
  "headers": {
    "x-api-key": "={{ $credentials.anthropicApi.apiKey }}",
    "anthropic-version": "2023-06-01",
    "content-type": "application/json"
  },
  "body": {
    "model": "use-your-current-claude-model",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "messages": [
      {
        "role": "user",
        "content": "={{ $json.prompt }}"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Extract the response with:

{{ $json.content[0].text }}

Webhook Trigger

• Node: Webhook
• Method: POST
• Path: /your-endpoint-name
• Authentication: Header auth with downstream IF validation of X-Webhook-Secret
• External URL via Cloudflare: https://n8n.yourdomain.com/webhook/your-endpoint-name

Schedule Trigger

• Node: Schedule Trigger
• Common patterns:
• Daily 6am: 0 6 * * *
• Every 15 minutes: */15 * * * *
• Weekdays only at 7am: 0 7 * * 1-5

RSS Feed Processing

Schedule Trigger
  -> HTTP Request (GET RSS feed URL)
  -> XML node (parse feed)
  -> SplitInBatches (process items)
  -> IF (filter by date or keyword)
  -> Set (normalize fields: title, link, pubDate, summary)
  -> Merge or Aggregate
  -> HTTP Request (Claude API for summarization)

Error Notification Pattern

[Any node with Continue on Fail enabled]
  -> IF (check {{ $json.error }} exists)
    -> True branch: HTTP Request to Slack, Teams, or Discord webhook
       Body: "Workflow failed: {{ $workflow.name }} | Error: {{ $json.error.message }}"

Workflow Review Mode

When the user shares an existing workflow (exported JSON, screenshot, or description) and asks whether it is solid, review it against these questions before suggesting changes:

• Trigger choice: is the trigger right for the job? Polling schedules where a webhook exists waste runs; webhooks without secret validation are exposed.
• Idempotency: if the workflow fires twice with the same input, does anything double: duplicate emails, double orders, repeated rows? Add a dedupe key check or upsert pattern where it matters.
• Retries: do external calls retry transient failures, and is anything retried that must not be (payments, order placement)?
• Failure visibility: when a node fails at 3am, does anyone find out? Every production workflow needs an error path that notifies.
• Data normalization: are downstream nodes coupled to raw API shapes that will break on the next API change?

Report findings in priority order with the smallest fix for each, and say plainly when a workflow is fine as-is.

Node-By-Node Build Template

When the user wants exact wiring steps rather than a pattern sketch, deliver the build in this format, one entry per node:

Node N: [Node type] - [name to give it]
  Purpose: [one line]
  Key settings: [the non-default fields and their values]
  Connects from: [previous node and output branch]
  Test: [what to pin or run to verify before moving on]

End with the order to activate things: build with pinned data, unpin, run once manually, then enable the trigger.

Self-Hosted Operations

For Mick's CT 104 instance, treat these as part of any deployment-affecting change:

• Secrets: keep the n8n encryption key (N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY) backed up separately from the database backup; credentials are unrecoverable without it
• Backups: back up ~/.n8n/ (SQLite database plus config) before n8n version updates; a vzdump of CT 104 before major upgrades is the cheap rollback
• Versioning: export workflow JSON for anything important and keep it in a git repo; the n8n database is not a version control system
• Promotion: test risky changes as a duplicated workflow with a manual trigger before swapping it into the scheduled or webhook slot, since this instance has no separate staging environment

Morning Briefing Pipeline Pattern

Schedule Trigger (6am weekdays)
  |- HTTP Request -> CoinGecko API (BTC, ETH prices)
  |- HTTP Request -> RSS feeds (tech news)
  `- HTTP Request -> Reddit API (r/algotrading, r/homelab)

Merge (all three branches)
  -> Set (combine into single prompt string)
  -> HTTP Request -> Claude API
     Prompt: "Summarize this morning's briefing: {combined_data}"
  -> Send Email, Slack, or Discord

Cloudflare Tunnel Config

Append an ingress entry to the existing cloudflared config when external webhook access is needed:

ingress:
  - hostname: n8n.yourdomain.com
    service: http://192.168.0.81:5678
  - service: http_status:404

Restart the tunnel after config changes:

systemctl restart cloudflared

Proxmox LXC Maintenance

# Check n8n service status
pct exec 104 -- systemctl status n8n

# View logs
pct exec 104 -- journalctl -u n8n -f

# Restart n8n
pct exec 104 -- systemctl restart n8n

# Update n8n
pct exec 104 -- npm update -g n8n

Credential Setup Reference

Quality Checklist

• Trigger node defined: schedule, webhook, or manual
• Credentials stored in the n8n credential store
• Error handling present on external HTTP calls
• Set node used to normalize data between major steps
• Claude API node extracts content[0].text
• Webhook endpoints use secret header validation
• Cloudflare Tunnel config updated when external access is needed

Help And Examples

If the user is not sure how to use this skill, asks what it needs, or asks for examples:

• Explain in plain language what this skill can do.
• Tell the user the minimum input needed for a useful first pass.
• Show the example prompts below.
• Offer the fastest next prompt the user can send.

Minimum useful input:

• The workflow goal, trigger, inputs, and output or failure point.

Example prompts:

• Use n8n-workflow to design an n8n flow that ingests a JSON file and sends a Teams alert.
• Help me troubleshoot this n8n workflow that is failing after the HTTP request node.
• Show me a sample prompt for asking this skill to build a workflow step by step.