n8n Workflow Builder MCP
An MCP server that connects AI assistants directly to a live n8n instance for full workflow lifecycle management — create, read, update, delete, activate/deactivate, execute, and monitor workflows and their executions via 15 MCP tools.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
n8n workflow automation MCP. API key auth. Workflow credentials stored in n8n — protect admin access. Self-hostable for full control. Webhook endpoints are publicly accessible.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
When you want an AI assistant to act as a full operator of your n8n instance — managing, executing, and monitoring workflows without switching to the n8n UI.
Avoid When
When you need AI assistance building new complex workflows from node documentation; n8n-mcp provides better node coverage for authoring.
Use Cases
- • Managing n8n workflows (CRUD) via natural language commands from Claude or Cline
- • Monitoring workflow execution history with filtering and pagination from an AI assistant
- • Triggering manual workflow executions and tracking their status
- • Organizing workflows with tags from within an AI development environment
- • Generating security audit reports for n8n instance configurations
Not For
- • Teams not using n8n
- • Building new workflows from scratch using node documentation (use n8n-mcp for that)
- • Read-only workflow monitoring (over-featured for simple monitoring use cases)
Interface
Authentication
Requires N8N_HOST (instance URL) and N8N_API_KEY environment variables. API key generated from n8n Settings → API Keys.
Pricing
MIT licensed, free. Also available via Smithery.ai hosted deployment (separate terms).
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ Operates directly on a live n8n instance — no sandbox mode, mistakes affect real workflows
- ⚠ Activate/deactivate tools can immediately affect running production automations
- ⚠ Security audit tool generates reports but does not remediate issues automatically
- ⚠ Smithery.ai hosted option may have different availability and data handling than self-hosted
Alternatives
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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-06.