n8n-import

name	n8n-import
description	Import workflows from apps/automation/workflows/ into the local n8n instance. Use when the user asks to import, push, load, or sync workflow JSON files to the local n8n.

n8n-import

Reads every apps/automation/workflows/<slug>/workflow.json and creates or updates the matching workflow on the local n8n instance. Matching is by workflow name.

Preconditions

• n8n is running locally.
• apps/automation/.env has N8N_API_KEY set.

Steps

1. Pre-flight checks:

   grep -E '^N8N_API_KEY=.+' apps/automation/.env >/dev/null || echo 'MISSING N8N_API_KEY'
   curl -sf http://localhost:5678/healthz >/dev/null || echo 'n8n not reachable'
   

2. Run the import:

   pnpm --filter automation workflows:import
   

3. Report the summary to the user (created / updated / failed counts).

Behavior

• Match by name: if a workflow with the same name already exists on the instance, it's updated in place via PUT /api/v1/workflows/{id}. The instance-side id and any activations are preserved.
• Imported inactive: the active field is stripped on export, so nothing is auto-activated on import. The user activates workflows manually in the UI.
• Credentials: dangling credential references are warned per-node. Recreate the credentials in the n8n UI to clear the warning — secrets are never in the JSON.

Sanitization

Only whitelisted fields (name, nodes, connections, settings, staticData) are sent to the API. Tags aren't associated on import (n8n manages tag links via a separate endpoint; that's intentionally out of scope for now).