Automating Workflows with n8n

In this post, I’ll share my journey exploring n8n —a flexible, open-source workflow automation tool with built-in AI integrations. I’ll walk through how I set it up locally on my Windows machine and later deployed it to my homelab environment.

Prerequiste: Cloning and Running n8n Locally

The Self-hosted AI Starter Kit is an open-source Docker Compose template designed to quickly spin up a comprehensive local AI and low-code automation environment.

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/n8n-io/self-hosted-ai-starter-kit.git
cd self-hosted-ai-starter-kit.git

Configure Local Settings

Start by copying the sample environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Since I’m working on a Windows setup, and the Docker images are primarily Linux-based, I ran everything through WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). I also modified the following environment variables to suit my setup:

N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true
N8N_LISTEN_ADDRESS=0.0.0.0

Start the Services

Spin up the necessary containers using:

docker compose --profile gpu-nvidia up

Once everything is up and running, visit http://localhost:5678 to access the n8n dashboard.

Demo Workflow

To get a quick feel of how things work, click on the Demo workflow from the Overview tab, or directly navigate to:

http://localhost:5678/workflow/srOnR8PAY3u4RSwb

Make sure to configure the required fallback model. In my case, I used the OpenRouter Chat Model.

Learn by Examples

One of the best ways to explore n8n is by diving into real workflows. The official Workflow Automation Templates are a great starting point.

First Example: API Fundamentals

Let’s start with the tutorial: Learn API Fundamentals with an Interactive Hands-On Tutorial

Open a Node

Select a node, press Enter or double-click to open its configuration panel.

Access a Simple Value

Use the expression:

{{ $('Source Data').item.json.name }}

Using n8n Selectors

Handy helpers like .first(), .last(), .all():

Accessing Array Elements

Example:

{{ $('Source Data').last().json.skills[1] }}

Working with Nested Data

Example:

{{ $('Source Data').last().json.contact.email }}

Accessing Data in Object Arrays

Example:

{{ $('Source Data').last().json.projects[0].status }}

Using JavaScript Functions

Example:

{{ $('Source Data').last().json.name.toUpperCase() }}

Inspecting Objects

Useful when exploring dynamic JSON:

Object.keys($('Source Data').item.json)

Stringify Object Data

Example:

JSON.stringify($('Source Data').item.json)

Working with Multiple Items

Combine $items with arrow functions for batch processing:

Optional – Running n8n in My Homelab

For those who prefer deploying n8n on a Kubernetes cluster, I’ve included a streamlined setup using Kompose to convert the Docker Compose setup into Kubernetes manifests. Below is my working configuration deployed in my homelab.

PostgreSQL Deployment

Use the following commands to deploy the PostgreSQL database:

kubectl apply -f postgres-storage-persistentvolumeclaim.yaml
kubectl apply -f postgres-deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f postgres-service.yaml

Postgres K8s files

Persistent Volume Claim

# postgres-storage-persistentvolumeclaim.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: postgres-storage
  name: postgres-storage
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 100Mi

Deployment

# postgres-deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: postgres
  name: postgres
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      io.kompose.service: postgres
  strategy:
    type: Recreate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        io.kompose.service: postgres
    spec:
      containers:
        - env:
            - name: POSTGRES_DB
              value: n8n
            - name: POSTGRES_PASSWORD
              value: postgres
            - name: POSTGRES_USER
              value: postgres
          image: postgres:16-alpine
          livenessProbe:
            exec:
              command:
                - pg_isready -h localhost -U postgres -d n8n
            failureThreshold: 10
            periodSeconds: 5
            timeoutSeconds: 5
          name: postgres
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
              name: postgres-storage
      hostname: postgres
      restartPolicy: Always
      volumes:
        - name: postgres-storage
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: postgres-storage

Service

# postgres-service.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: postgres
  name: postgres
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  ports:
    - name: "5432"
      port: 5432
      targetPort: 5432
  selector:
    io.kompose.service: postgres
  type: ClusterIP

n8n Deployment

Use the following commands to deploy n8n:

kubectl apply -f n8n-demo-persistentVolumeClaim.yaml
kubectl apply -f n8n-storage-persistentVolumeClaim.yaml
kubectl apply -f n8n-claim2-persistentVolumeClaim.yaml
kubectl apply -f n8n-job.yaml
kubectl apply -f n8n-configmap.yaml
kubectl apply -f n8n-deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f n8n-service.yaml

n8n K8s files

Persistent Volume Claims

Multiple PVCs are used to separate storage for runtime data, demo workflows, and shared content.

# n8n-demo-persistentVolumeClaim.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: demo-data-pvc
  name: demo-data-pvc
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 100Mi

# n8n-storage-persistentvolumeclaim.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: n8n-storage
  name: n8n-storage
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 100Mi

# n8n-claim2-persistentVolumeClaim.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: n8n-claim2
  name: n8n-claim2
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 100Mi

Import Job

This job initializes the demo credentials and workflows:

# n8n-job.yaml
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: n8n-import
  name: n8n-import
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        io.kompose.service: n8n-import
    spec:
      containers:
        - args:
            - -c
            - n8n import:credentials --separate --input=/demo-data/credentials && n8n import:workflow --separate --input=/demo-data/workflows
          command:
            - /bin/sh
          env:
            - name: DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST
              value: postgres
            - name: DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD
              value: postgres
            - name: DB_POSTGRESDB_USER
              value: postgres
            - name: DB_TYPE
              value: postgresdb
            - name: N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED
              value: "false"
            - name: N8N_PERSONALIZATION_ENABLED
              value: "false"
            - name: OLLAMA_HOST
              value: ollama:11434
          envFrom:
            - configMapRef:
                name: env
          image: n8nio/n8n:latest
          name: n8n-import
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: /demo-data
              name: demo-data
      hostname: n8n-import
      restartPolicy: Never
      volumes:
        - name: demo-data
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: demo-data-pvc

ConfigMap

Centralized environment variables:

# n8n-configmap.yaml
apiVersion: v1
data:
  N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE: filesystem
  N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY: super-secret-key
  N8N_LISTEN_ADDRESS: 0.0.0.0
  N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED: "true"
  N8N_USER_MANAGEMENT_JWT_SECRET: even-more-secret
  N8N_SECURE_COOKIE: "false"
  POSTGRES_DB: n8n
  POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
  POSTGRES_USER: postgres
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: n8n-env
  name: env
  namespace: n8n

Deployment

# n8n-deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: n8n
  name: n8n
  namespace: n8n
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      io.kompose.service: n8n
  strategy:
    type: Recreate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        io.kompose.service: n8n 
    spec:
      containers:
        - env:
            - name: DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST
              value: postgres
            - name: DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD
              value: postgres
            - name: DB_POSTGRESDB_USER
              value: postgres
            - name: DB_TYPE
              value: postgresdb
            - name: N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED
              value: "false"
            - name: N8N_PERSONALIZATION_ENABLED
              value: "false"
            - name: OLLAMA_HOST
              value: ollama:11434
          envFrom:
            - configMapRef:
                name: env
          image: n8nio/n8n:latest
          name: n8n
          ports:
            - containerPort: 5678
              protocol: TCP
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: /home/node/.n8n
              name: n8n-storage
            - mountPath: /data/shared
              name: n8n-claim2
            - mountPath: /demo-data
              name: demo-data
      hostname: n8n
      restartPolicy: Always
      volumes:
        - name: n8n-storage
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: n8n-storage
        - name: n8n-claim2
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: n8n-claim2
        - name: demo-data
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: demo-data-pvc

Service

# n8n-service.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  labels:
    io.kompose.service: n8n
  name: n8n
spec:
  ports:
    - name: "5678"
      port: 5678
      targetPort: 5678
  selector:
    io.kompose.service: n8n
  type: LoadBalancer

Homelab n8n In Action

Once the Kubernetes services are up and running, check the external IP address or NodePort exposed by your homelab cluster. In my case, I accessed n8n via:

http://192.168.68.222:5678/

With n8n now running in my homelab, I imported the same demo workflow used earlier. Everything worked seamlessly—just like the local setup, but now running in a self-hosted, scalable Kubernetes environment.

Conclusion

Exploring n8n has been a rewarding experience—from running it locally with Docker to deploying it on a Kubernetes homelab. With its low-code interface, flexible integrations, and powerful scripting capabilities, n8n makes workflow automation approachable and scalable. Whether you’re just starting out or integrating AI into your pipelines, there’s a lot to build and automate.

Happy nodemating!