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168 lines
11 KiB
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168 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
---
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description: Create your first workflow in n8n and learn some key concepts.
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contentType: tutorial
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---
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# Your first workflow
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This guide will show you how to construct a [workflow](/glossary.md#workflow-n8n) in n8n, explaining key concepts along the way. You will:
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* Create a workflow from scratch.
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* Understand key concepts and skills, including:
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* Starting workflows with trigger nodes
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* Configuring [credentials](/glossary.md#credential-n8n)
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* Processing data
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* Representing logic in an n8n workflow
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* Using [expressions](/glossary.md#expression-n8n)
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This quickstart uses [n8n Cloud](/manage-cloud/index.md), which is recommended for new users. A free trial is available - if you haven't already done so, [sign up](https://app.n8n.cloud/register) for an account now.
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## Step one: Create a new workflow
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When you open n8n, you'll see either:
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* A window with a welcome message and two large buttons: Choose "Start from Scratch" to create a new workflow.
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* The **Workflows** list on the **Overview** page. Select the <span class="n8n-inline-image">{.off-glb}</span> **button** to create a new workflow.
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## Step two: Add a trigger node
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n8n provides two ways to start a workflow:
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* Manually, by selecting **Execute Workflow**.
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* Automatically, using a trigger node as the first node. The trigger node runs the workflow in response to an external event, or based on your settings.
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For this tutorial, we'll use the [Schedule trigger](/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.scheduletrigger/index.md). This allows you to run the workflow on a schedule:
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1. Select **Add first step**.
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1. Search for **Schedule**. n8n shows a list of nodes that match the search.
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1. Select **Schedule Trigger** to add the node to the canvas. n8n opens the node.
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1. For **Trigger Interval**, select **Weeks**.
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1. For **Weeks Between Triggers**, enter `1`.
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1. Enter a time and day. For this example, select **Monday** in **Trigger on Weekdays**, select **9am** in **Trigger at Hour**, and enter `0` in **Trigger at Minute**.
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1. Close the node details view to return to the canvas.
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## Step three: Add the NASA node and set up credentials
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The [NASA node](/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.nasa.md) interacts with NASA's [public APIs](https://api.nasa.gov/) to fetch useful data. We will use the real-time data from the API to find solar events.
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??? explanation "Credentials"
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Credentials are private pieces of information issued by apps and services to authenticate you as a user and allow you to connect and share information between the app or service and the n8n node. The type of information required varies depending on the app/service concerned. You should be careful about sharing or revealing the credentials outside of n8n.
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1. Select the **Add node** <span class="n8n-inline-image">{.off-glb}</span> connector on the Schedule Trigger node.
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1. Search for **NASA**. n8n shows a list of nodes that match the search.
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1. Select **NASA** to view a list of operations.
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1. Search for and select **Get a DONKI solar flare**. This operation returns a report about recent solar flares. When you select the operation, n8n adds the node to the canvas and opens it.
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1. To access the NASA APIs, you need to set up credentials:
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1. Select the **Credential for NASA API** dropdown.
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1. Select **Create new credential**. n8n opens the credentials view.
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1. Go to [NASA APIs](https://api.nasa.gov/) and fill out the form from the **Generate API Key** link. The NASA site generates the key and emails it to the address you entered.
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1. Check your email account for the API key. Copy the key, and paste it into **API Key** in n8n.
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1. Select **Save**.
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1. Close the credentials screen. n8n returns to the node. The new credentials should be automatically selected in **Credential for NASA API**.
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1. By default, DONKI Solar Flare provides data for the past 30 days. To limit it to just the last week, use **Additional Fields**:
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1. Select **Add field**.
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1. Select **Start date**.
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1. To get a report starting from a week ago, you can use an expression: next to **Start date**, select the **Expression** tab, then select the expand button <span class="n8n-inline-image">{.off-glb}</span> to open the full expressions editor.
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1. In the **Expression** field, enter the following expression:
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```js
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{{ $today.minus(7, 'days') }}
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```
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This generates a date in the correct format, seven days before the current date.
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??? explanation "Date and time formats in n8n..."
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n8n uses Luxon to work with date and time, and also provides two variables for convenience: `$now` and `$today`. For more information, refer to [Expressions > Luxon](/code/cookbook/luxon.md).
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1. Close the **Edit Expression** modal to return to the NASA node.
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1. You can now check that the node is working and returning the expected date: select **Execute step** to run the node manually. n8n calls the NASA API and displays details of solar flares in the past seven days in the **OUTPUT** section.
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1. Close the NASA node to return to the workflow canvas.
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## Step four: Add logic with the If node
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n8n supports complex logic in workflows. In this tutorial we will use the [If node](/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.if.md) to create two branches that each generate a report from the NASA data. Solar flares have five possible classifications; we will add logic that sends a report with the lower classifications to one output, and the higher classifications to another.
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Add the If node:
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1. Select the **Add node** <span class="n8n-inline-image">{.off-glb}</span> connector on the NASA node.
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1. Search for **If**. n8n shows a list of nodes that match the search.
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1. Select **If** to add the node to the canvas. n8n opens the node.
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1. You need to check the value of the `classType` property in the NASA data. To do this:
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1. Drag `classType` into **Value 1**.
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/// note | Make sure you ran the NASA node in the previous section
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If you didn't follow the step in the previous section to run the NASA node, you won't see any data to work with in this step.
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///
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1. Change the comparison operation to **String > Contains**.
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1. In **Value 2**, enter **X**. This is the highest classification of solar flare. In the next step, you will create two reports: one for X class solar flares, and one for all the smaller solar flares.
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1. You can now check that the node is working and returning the expected date: select **Execute step** to run the node manually. n8n tests the data against the condition, and shows which results match true or false in the **OUTPUT** panel.
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/// note | Weeks without large solar flares
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In this tutorial, you are working with live data. If you find there aren't any X class solar flares when you run the workflow, try replacing **X** in **Value 2** with either **A**, **B**, **C**, or **M**.
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///
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1. Once you are happy the node will return some events, you can close the node to return to the canvas.
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## Step five: Output data from your workflow
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The last step of the workflow is to send the two reports about solar flares. For this example, you'll send data to [Postbin](https://www.toptal.com/developers/postbin/). Postbin is a service that receives data and displays it on a temporary web page.
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1. On the If node, select the **Add node** <span class="n8n-inline-image">{.off-glb}</span> connector labeled **true**.
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1. Search for **PostBin**. n8n shows a list of nodes that match the search.
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1. Select **PostBin**.
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1. Select **Send a request**. n8n adds the node to the canvas and opens it.
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1. Go to [Postbin](https://www.toptal.com/developers/postbin/) and select **Create Bin**. Leave the tab open so you can come back to it when testing the workflow.
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1. Copy the bin ID. It looks similar to `1651063625300-2016451240051`.
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1. In n8n, paste your Postbin ID into **Bin ID**.
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1. Now, configure the data to send to Postbin. Next to **Bin Content**, select the **Expression** tab (you will need to mouse-over the **Bin Content** for the tab to appear), then select the expand button <span class="n8n-inline-image">{.off-glb}</span> to open the full expressions editor.
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1. You can now click and drag the correct field from the If Node output into the expressions editor to automatically create a reference for this label. In this case the input we want is `classType`.
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1. Once dropped into the expressions editor it will transform into this reference: `{{$json["classType"]}}`. Add a message to it, so that the full expression is:
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```js
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There was a solar flare of class {{$json["classType"]}}
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```
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1. Close the expressions editor to return to the node.
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1. Close the Postbin node to return to the canvas.
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1. Add another Postbin node, to handle the **false** output path from the If node:
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1. Hover over the Postbin node, then select **Node context menu** <span class="n8n-inline-image">{.off-glb}</span> > **Duplicate node** to duplicate the first Postbin node.
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1. Drag the **false** connector from the If node to the left side of the new Postbin node.
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## Step six: Test the workflow
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1. You can now test the entire workflow. Select **Execute Workflow**. n8n runs the workflow, showing each stage in progress.
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1. Go back to your Postbin bin. Refresh the page to see the output.
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1. If you want to use this workflow (in other words, if you want it to run once a week automatically), you need to activate it by selecting the **Active** toggle.
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/// note | Time limit
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Postbin's bins exist for 30 minutes after creation. You may need to create a new bin and update the ID in the Postbin nodes, if you exceed this time limit.
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///
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## Congratulations
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You now have a fully functioning workflow that does something useful! It should look something like this:
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[[ workflowDemo("file:///try-it-out/quickstart/tutorial.json") ]]
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Along the way you have discovered:
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- How to find the nodes you want and join them together
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- How to use expressions to manipulate data
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- How to create credentials and attach them to nodes
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- How to use logic in your workflows
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There are plenty of things you could add to this (perhaps add some more credentials and a node to send you an email of the results), or maybe you have a specific project in mind. Whatever your next steps, the resources linked below should help.
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## Next steps
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- Interested in what you could do with AI? Find out [how to build an AI chat agent with n8n](/advanced-ai/intro-tutorial.md).
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- Take n8n's [tutorials](/tutorials/index.md) or [video courses](/video-courses.md).
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- Explore more examples in [workflow templates](https://n8n.io/workflows/).
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