n8n-cli-template

name	n8n-cli-template
description	Templatize or instantiate n8n workflows. Strips IDs and credentials to create reusable templates, or fills placeholders to create new workflows from templates. Use for sharing patterns across instances or building a library.
user_invocable	true

/n8n-cli-template — Workflow Templating

Two modes: extract a template from an existing workflow, or instantiate a new workflow from a template.

Mode 1: Extract template from a workflow

Procedure

1. Get the workflow:

   • n8n-cli wf export <id> -o /tmp/source.json

2. Strip non-portable fields:

   • id (will be assigned on import)
   • versionId, createdAt, updatedAt, homeProject, sharedWithProjects
   • webhookId on every webhook node (n8n regenerates on import)
   • credentials.<name>.id references (replace with {{CREDENTIAL_<name>}} placeholders)
   • Hard-coded URLs in HTTP Request nodes (offer to parameterize as {{API_URL}})
   • Hard-coded channel IDs / user IDs / project IDs (offer to parameterize)

3. Add a template manifest at the top of the JSON as _template:

   {
     "_template": {
       "name": "Slack Daily Digest",
       "version": "1.0.0",
       "description": "Posts a daily summary of N items to a Slack channel",
       "placeholders": [
         {"key": "CREDENTIAL_slack", "type": "credential", "credential_type": "slackOAuth2Api", "description": "Slack workspace OAuth"},
         {"key": "CHANNEL_ID", "type": "string", "description": "Slack channel ID to post to"},
         {"key": "SCHEDULE_CRON", "type": "cron", "description": "When to post", "default": "0 9 * * *"}
       ]
     },
     ...rest of workflow
   }
   

4. Save the template:

   • Default location: ~/n8n-templates/<slug>.json
   • Or user-specified path
   • Print a usage example: invoke this skill again as /n8n-cli-template from inside Claude Code and pass the template path when prompted

Mode 2: Instantiate a workflow from a template

Procedure

1. Read the template file
2. Parse _template.placeholders — for each one, prompt the user to fill in
3. For credential placeholders:
   • List existing credentials of the matching type: n8n-cli creds list --type <type>
   • Let the user pick from the list, or create a new one
4. Substitute placeholders throughout the JSON
5. Strip the _template block before import
6. Import:
   • n8n-cli wf import /tmp/instantiated.json (don't activate by default)
   • Report the new workflow ID and a link to view it in the n8n UI

Output format

For extract: confirm what was stripped, show the placeholder list, save to disk, print next-step instructions.

For instantiate: walk the user through each placeholder interactively, show a summary of substitutions, confirm before importing.

Tips

• Templates should be portable across cloud and self-hosted. Don't hardcode project IDs.
• For templates that ship with multiple workflows (parent + children), package as a directory of JSONs with a shared manifest.
• If the user has a Notion or Slack message describing the workflow they want to template, read it for context to write the template description.
• When instantiating, always preview the substituted JSON before importing — easier to catch a typo before it lands as a workflow.
• Templates with 0 placeholders are basically just clones — that's fine, but mention it.

Future hook

Eventually n8n-cli could ship a built-in template library (n8n-cli templates list, n8n-cli templates install <name>) — this skill is the human-friendly front end for that future surface.