Command References

Global Options

These options are available for all commands:

Option	Description
--format [json|table]	Output format (default: json)
--no-color	Disable colored output
--debug	Show full stack traces on errors
--version	Show version and exit
--help	Show help message

Examples:

# JSON output (default)
n8n-cli workflows

# Table output
n8n-cli workflows --format table

# Disable colors (useful for logging)
n8n-cli workflows --no-color

# Debug mode for troubleshooting
n8n-cli workflows --debug

---

configure

Configure n8n-cli with your n8n instance credentials.

n8n-cli configure [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Description
--url URL	n8n instance URL (e.g., http://localhost:5678)
--api-key KEY	n8n API key for authentication

Examples:

# Interactive setup
n8n-cli configure

# Non-interactive (CI/CD)
n8n-cli configure --url http://localhost:5678 --api-key your-key

---

workflows

List all workflows in the n8n instance.

n8n-cli workflows [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Description
--active	Filter to only active workflows
--inactive	Filter to only inactive workflows
--tag TAG	Filter by tag name (can be repeated)

Examples:

# List all workflows
n8n-cli workflows

# List only active workflows
n8n-cli workflows --active

# Filter by tag
n8n-cli workflows --tag production

# Filter by multiple tags
n8n-cli workflows --tag production --tag critical

# Table format
n8n-cli workflows --format table

Output (JSON):

[
  {
    "id": "123",
    "name": "My Workflow",
    "active": true,
    "updatedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
  }
]

---

workflow

Get detailed information about a specific workflow.

n8n-cli workflow WORKFLOW_ID

Examples:

n8n-cli workflow 123

Output includes: id, name, active status, nodes, connections, timestamps.

---

create

Create a new workflow from a JSON definition.

n8n-cli create [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Short	Description
--file PATH	-f	Path to workflow JSON file
--stdin		Read workflow JSON from stdin
--name NAME	-n	Override the workflow name
--activate	-a	Activate immediately after creation

Examples:

# Create from file
n8n-cli create --file workflow.json

# Create and activate
n8n-cli create --file workflow.json --activate

# Create with custom name
n8n-cli create --file workflow.json --name "Production Workflow"

# Create from stdin
cat workflow.json | n8n-cli create --stdin

# Create from stdin with name
echo '{"nodes": [], "connections": {}}' | n8n-cli create --stdin --name "Empty Workflow"

---

update

Update an existing workflow.

n8n-cli update WORKFLOW_ID [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Short	Description
--file PATH	-f	Path to workflow JSON file
--stdin		Read workflow JSON from stdin
--name NAME	-n	Update the workflow name
--activate		Activate the workflow
--deactivate		Deactivate the workflow

Examples:

# Replace entire workflow definition
n8n-cli update 123 --file workflow.json

# Just rename a workflow
n8n-cli update 123 --name "New Name"

# Activate a workflow
n8n-cli update 123 --activate

# Combined: update definition, rename, and activate
n8n-cli update 123 --file workflow.json --name "My Workflow" --activate

---

update-node

Update a specific parameter on a node within a workflow. This is useful for making targeted changes without handling the full workflow JSON.

n8n-cli update-node WORKFLOW_ID [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Short	Description
--node-name NAME	-n	Name of the node to update
--node-id ID	-i	ID of the node to update
--param PATH	-p	Parameter path (supports dot notation)
--value VALUE	-v	New value (JSON auto-detected)

Note: Either --node-name or --node-id is required (but not both).

Examples:

# Update URL on an HTTP Request node by name
n8n-cli update-node abc123 --node-name "HTTP Request" --param "url" --value "https://api.example.com"

# Update by node ID
n8n-cli update-node abc123 --node-id "xyz789" --param "method" --value "POST"

# Update nested parameter using dot notation
n8n-cli update-node abc123 -n "HTTP Request" -p "options.timeout" -v "30000"

# Update with boolean value (auto-detected as JSON)
n8n-cli update-node abc123 -n "IF" -p "conditions.boolean[0].value1" -v "true"

# Update with JSON object
n8n-cli update-node abc123 -n "Set" -p "values" -v '{"key": "value"}'

Value type detection:

• Numbers (123, 3.14) → parsed as numbers
• Booleans (true, false) → parsed as booleans
• JSON objects/arrays ({"key": "value"}, [1,2,3]) → parsed as JSON
• Everything else → treated as strings

---

delete

Delete a workflow by ID.

n8n-cli delete WORKFLOW_ID [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Description
--confirm	Confirm deletion (required unless using --force)
--force	Force deletion without confirmation

Examples:

# Delete with confirmation
n8n-cli delete 123 --confirm

# Force delete (for scripting)
n8n-cli delete 123 --force

# Force required for active workflows
n8n-cli delete 123 --force  # if workflow is active

---

enable

Enable (activate) a workflow by ID.

n8n-cli enable WORKFLOW_ID

Examples:

n8n-cli enable 123

Activates the workflow so it can be triggered via webhooks or schedules. This operation is idempotent.

---

disable

Disable (deactivate) a workflow by ID.

n8n-cli disable WORKFLOW_ID

Examples:

n8n-cli disable 123

Deactivates the workflow. This operation is idempotent.

---

executions

List workflow executions.

n8n-cli executions [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Description
--workflow ID	Filter by workflow ID
--status STATUS	Filter by status: success, error, running, waiting, canceled
--limit N	Number of results (default: 20, max: 250)

Examples:

# List recent executions
n8n-cli executions

# Filter by workflow
n8n-cli executions --workflow 123

# Filter by status
n8n-cli executions --status error

# Combine filters
n8n-cli executions --workflow 123 --status success --limit 50

---

execution

Get detailed information about a specific execution.

n8n-cli execution EXECUTION_ID

Examples:

n8n-cli execution 456

Output includes: id, workflowId, status, timestamps, and execution data with node outputs.

---

trigger

Trigger workflow execution.

n8n-cli trigger WORKFLOW_ID [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option	Short	Description
--data JSON	-d	JSON input data to pass to the workflow
--file PATH	-f	Path to JSON file containing input data
--wait	-w	Wait for execution to complete
--timeout SECS	-t	Timeout in seconds when using --wait (default: 300)

Examples:

# Simple trigger (returns immediately)
n8n-cli trigger 123

# Trigger with inline data
n8n-cli trigger 123 --data '{"email": "user@example.com"}'

# Trigger with data from file
n8n-cli trigger 123 --file input.json

# Wait for completion
n8n-cli trigger 123 --wait

# Wait with custom timeout
n8n-cli trigger 123 --wait --timeout 60

# Full example: data + wait
n8n-cli trigger 123 --data '{"key": "value"}' --wait --timeout 120

Immediate output:

{
  "executionId": "456"
}

Output with --wait:

{
  "id": "456",
  "workflowId": "123",
  "status": "success",
  "startedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "stoppedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:05.000Z",
  "data": { ... }
}