n8n-docs/docs/source-control/using.md

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Using version control	How to use version control for environments in n8n.

Using version control

If your n8n instance connects to a Git repository, you need to keep your work in sync with Git.

This document assumes some familiarity with:

• Git concepts and terminology
• How environments work in n8n
• Your environments setups

Refer to Understand environments and version control in n8n for an introduction to environments and Git.

Fetch other people's work

To pull work from Git, select Pull in the main menu.

--8<-- "_snippets/environments/push-pull-menu-state.md"

n8n may display a warning that:

Some remote changes are going to override some of your local changes. Are you sure you want to continue?

Select Pull and override if you want to override your local work with the content in Git.

Send your work to Git

!!! note "Restricted to instance owners" Ordinary users can't send work to Git.

To push work to Git:

1. Select Push in the main menu.

   --8<-- "_snippets/environments/push-pull-menu-state.md"

2. In the Commit and push changes modal, select what you want to push.

   !!! note "Variables" n8n syncs variable names, but not variable values. Refer to Credentials and variable values for more information and workarounds.

3. Enter a commit message. This should be a one sentence description of the changes you're making.

4. Select Commit and Push. n8n sends the work to Git, and displays a success message on completion.

Copy work between environments

Automatic pulls

Credentials and variable values

n8n doesn't sync credentials and variable values with Git. You must set up the credentials manually when setting up a new instance. You can choose to set up variables manually, or using the API.

!!! note "Coming soon: credential support with secret managers" n8n is working on support for external secret managers to handle credentials. Once this feature is complete, n8n will support linking the secret manager to multiple instances, allowing credentials to work across environments.

Manage variables using the API

n8n syncs variable names, but doesn't push variable values to your Git provider. You can either:

• Manually set variable values in n8n.
• Set variable values using the n8n API, using the /pull endpoint.

Managing variables using the API has several advantages:

• You can automatically update variable values using a CI (continuous integration) tool.
• You may also be able to protect the values.

For example, you can store values in GitHub secrets{:target=_blank .external-link}, then populate the variables in n8n using an API call from a GitHub Action{:targry=_blank .external-link}.

To manage variables using an API call, make a POST request to /version-control/pull:

	curl --location '<YOUR-INSTANCE-URL>/api/v1/version-control/pull' \
	--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
	--header 'X-N8N-API-KEY: <YOUR-API-KEY>' \
	--data '{
	"force": true,
	"variables": { 
			"key1": "value1",
			"key2": "value2"
	}
	}
	'

If the key already exists in n8n, the API call updates the value. If there is no variable with the key, it creates a new variable.

After setting values using the API, you can safely edit variables in n8n, and push and pull changes.