n8n-cli

README

n8n-cli

A command line tool for managing n8n workflows via the REST API.

Usage

n8n-cli [command] [flags]

Global Flags

  --help                   Help for any command
  --log-file string        Log file (default: stderr)
  --log-format string      Log format (json, text) (default "text")
  --log-level string       Log level (trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal) (default "info")
  --with-caller            Log caller information

Environment Variables

You can also set logging options using environment variables:

N8N_CLI_LOG_LEVEL=debug     # Set log level to debug
N8N_CLI_LOG_FORMAT=json     # Set log format to JSON
N8N_CLI_LOG_FILE=n8n.log    # Log to a file instead of stderr
N8N_CLI_WITH_CALLER=true    # Include caller information in logs

Available Commands

• add-node - Add a node to a workflow
• connect-nodes - Connect nodes in a workflow
• create-workflow - Create a new workflow
• get-execution - Get execution details
• get-nodes - Get available node types
• get-workflow - Get a workflow by ID
• list-executions - List workflow executions
• list-workflows - List all workflows in the n8n instance

Examples

List workflows with debug logging

n8n-cli list-workflows --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --log-level debug

List workflows with pagination (using cursor)

# First page
n8n-cli list-workflows --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --limit 50

# Next page (use the nextCursor value from previous results)
n8n-cli list-workflows --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --limit 50 --cursor YOUR_CURSOR_VALUE

Get a workflow with trace logging (shows full request/response)

n8n-cli get-workflow --id 123 --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --log-level trace

Create a workflow from a JSON file

n8n-cli create-workflow --name "My New Workflow" --file workflow.json --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY 

Get all node types available in n8n

n8n-cli get-nodes --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

List executions for a specific workflow

n8n-cli list-executions --workflow-id 123 --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

Debugging API issues

If you encounter HTTP errors (like 400 Bad Request), use the --log-level debug or --log-level trace flags to see more information:

n8n-cli list-workflows --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --log-level debug

The --log-level trace flag will show the full request and response bodies, which can be helpful for diagnosing issues with the API:

n8n-cli list-workflows --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --log-level trace

You can also combine flags for more detailed logging:

n8n-cli list-workflows --base-url http://localhost:5678 --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --log-level trace --with-caller --log-format json