n8n-cli-node-usage

name	n8n-cli-node-usage
description	Search all n8n workflows for a specific node type, credential, or pattern. Answers 'which workflows use Slack?' Use when an API changes, a node has a breaking update, or you need to find every use of a service.
user_invocable	true

/n8n-cli-node-usage — Search Workflows by Node, Credential, or Pattern

Given a node type, credential type, or arbitrary pattern, find every workflow that uses it.

Procedure

1. Parse the search query:

   • slack → search for nodes whose type contains slack (Slack, Slack Trigger, etc.)
   • openai → same pattern
   • httpRequest → exact node type
   • cred:slackOAuth2Api → search by credential type
   • param:url=https://api.stripe.com → search by parameter value
   • code:fetch → search inside Code node JS/Python source for a string

2. Fetch all workflows:

   • n8n-cli --json workflows list to get the list of IDs
   • For each, n8n-cli --json wf get <id> to get the full JSON
   • Cache the results in ~/.cache/n8n-cli/workflows-snapshot.json with a timestamp so repeat searches don't re-fetch

3. Search:

   • For each workflow, walk all nodes
   • Match against the parsed query
   • Record: workflow id, workflow name, node name, node type, the matching field

4. Group results:

   • By workflow (default) — "these N workflows use this node"
   • By node configuration — "these N nodes are all configured the same way" (useful for finding duplicates)
   • By project / tag — "Slack node usage across projects"

5. Output:

## Node Usage: "slack"

**Match type:** node type contains "slack"
**Matched workflows:** 12 (out of 47 total)

### Slack node usage
| Workflow | Node name | Node type | Notes |
| Daily Standup | "Post to #general" | n8n-nodes-base.slack | active |
| Order Notify | "Notify ops channel" | n8n-nodes-base.slack | active, in error handler branch |
| ... |

### Slack Trigger usage
| Workflow | Trigger config | Status |
| Slack Listener | listens to /command/foo | active |

### Summary by project
- Production: 8 workflows
- Staging: 3 workflows
- Sandbox: 1 workflow

Output format

• Always show match counts up front (X workflows out of Y total)
• Group by node type sub-category
• For "I'm changing the Slack API" use cases, sort by workflow status (active first, then inactive)

Tips

• This skill is fast on small instances and slow on large ones (one wf get per workflow). Use the snapshot cache aggressively.
• For breaking-API-change scenarios, output a checklist the user can work through: "Update workflow A → done. Update workflow B → done. ..."
• For Code node searches, also offer to grep the Code body for related strings — e.g. searching for slack in Code nodes might find axios.post('https://hooks.slack.com/...) patterns
• This skill pairs well with /n8n-cli-impact — find usages first, then assess impact of changing them
• Companion query: "find all workflows that use the deprecated XYZ node" — useful for n8n upgrade planning (see /n8n-cli-upgrade-preflight)