Sc n8n

/sc-n8n — self-hosted n8n control via @n8n/cli

Drive n8n.rahmanef.com (self-hosted, Dokploy) from CLI. Wrapper around the official @n8n/cli binary (n8n-cli). No reinvented scripts — the binary is the engine.

Instance

Thing	Value
URL	https://n8n.rahmanef.com
Health	curl https://n8n.rahmanef.com/healthz → {"status":"ok"}
API key	env N8N_API_KEY (~/.bashrc line 6) — public-api JWT, no exp
CLI config	~/.n8n-cli/config.json (0600); URL already set
Backups	~/backups/n8n/ — n8n-db-YYYY-MM-DD.sql + n8n-workflows-*.json
SSH deploy key	~/.ssh/id_n8n

Binary: ~/.local/bin/n8n-cli (npm i -g @n8n/cli; or zero-install npx @n8n/cli ...).

Auth resolution order

1. flags --url / --api-key
2. env N8N_URL / N8N_API_KEY ← wins over config file
3. ~/.n8n-cli/config.json

⚠️ GOTCHA: env key overrides config key. N8N_API_KEY is exported in ~/.bashrc. Setting a new key via n8n-cli config set-api-key is silently ignored in any shell that sourced .bashrc. To rotate → edit ~/.bashrc line 6, not the config file.

⚠️ invalid signature (401) = dead key, not wrong header. n8n signs public-api keys with N8N_USER_MANAGEMENT_JWT_SECRET. Redeploy that regenerates the secret kills every existing key. Fix = regenerate in n8n → Settings → n8n API → Create an API key, then replace .bashrc line 6. (The ~/backups/n8n/*.sql dump holds only expired mcp-server-api OAuth tokens — no recoverable public-api key.)

Connect / verify

n8n-cli config show                 # URL + whether key set
n8n-cli workflow list --format=id-only   # smoke test; 401 => rotate key (above)

Command surface

Every command supports --help. Formats: --format=table|json|id-only.

Topic	Commands
workflow	list · get · create · update · delete · activate · deactivate · tags · transfer
execution	list · get · retry · stop · delete
credential	list · get · schema · create · delete · transfer
project	list · get · create · update · delete · members · add-member · remove-member
tag	list · create · update · delete
variable	list · create · update · delete
data-table	list · get · create · delete · rows · add-rows · update-rows · upsert-rows · delete-rows
user	list · get
config	set-url · set-api-key · show
source-control	pull
package (beta)	export · import
audit · login · logout · skill	top-level

Recipes

# inspect
n8n-cli workflow list
n8n-cli workflow get <id> --format=json

# only-active workflow ids
n8n-cli workflow list --format=json | jq -r '.[] | select(.active) | .id'

# create from JSON (backup format works)
cat workflow.json | n8n-cli workflow create --stdin

# recent failures
n8n-cli execution list --status=error --limit=10

# credential — see fields first, then create
n8n-cli credential schema gmailOAuth2
n8n-cli credential create --type=gmailOAuth2 --name='My Gmail' --file=cred.json

# projects
n8n-cli project create --name="My Project"
n8n-cli workflow transfer <id> --project=<projectId>

# package (beta) — portable bundle w/ deps
n8n-cli package export --workflow-id=<id> --output=export.n8np
n8n-cli package import --file=export.n8np --conflict-policy=fail

# bulk deactivate everything
n8n-cli workflow list --format=id-only | xargs -I{} n8n-cli workflow deactivate {}

Backup / restore this instance

• Workflows snapshot lives at ~/backups/n8n/n8n-workflows-*.json (array of workflow objects).
• Re-import one: jq -c '.[N]' n8n-workflows-*.json | n8n-cli workflow create --stdin.
• Full DB restore = ~/backups/n8n/*.sql against the Postgres behind Dokploy (server-side, not this CLI).

Rules

1. Never delete workflows/executions without --dry-run first where the subcommand offers it, else confirm the id.
2. Beta CLI — experiments/personal only, not prod-critical automation (n8n's own caveat).
3. Key rotation edits .bashrc line 6, not config.json (env overrides — see GOTCHA).
4. Webhooks are live prod — n8n.rahmanef.com/webhook/* feed convex-backup, dual-sync, openclaw-sync, rqa-broadcast. Don't deactivate their workflows casually.

Linked skills

• [[sc-dokploy]] — the n8n app + Postgres run on Dokploy; restart/redeploy there.
• [[sc-git]] — cron/webhook replacement patterns overlap with n8n triggers.