@a24k/n8n-nodes-printipp

An n8n community node that sends print jobs to IPP-capable printers (CUPS or direct IPP) using the ipp npm package — no system-level lp, lpr, or printer drivers required.

Why this node

Standard n8n has no built-in printing node. Common workarounds (Execute Command with lp) require the n8n host to have CUPS client tools installed and configured. This node communicates with any IPP endpoint over HTTP or HTTPS, making it work in any Docker or cloud deployment.

Installation

In your n8n instance:

1. Go to Settings → Community Nodes
2. Click Install
3. Enter @a24k/n8n-nodes-printipp
4. Click Install

The node appears as PrintIPP @a24k in the node palette.

Requires n8n 1.x or later. To use as an AI Agent tool, set N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE=true on your n8n instance.

Credentials

Create a new PrintIPP Endpoint credential with:

| Field | Description | Default | |-------|-------------|---------| | Connection Type | CUPS Server for a CUPS print server, or Direct IPP Printer for a network printer (IPP Everywhere, AirPrint, vendor IPP) | CUPS Server | | Protocol | HTTP (IPP) for plain HTTP, HTTPS (IPPS) for TLS-encrypted connections | HTTP (IPP) | | Host | CUPS server or IPP printer hostname or IP (e.g. cupsd, 192.168.1.10) | — | | Port | IPP port | 631 | | Printer Path | (Direct IPP only) Path component of the printer's IPP endpoint (e.g. /ipp/print, /ipp/printer, /) | /ipp/print | | Username | Value sent as requesting-user-name | n8n | | Password | HTTP Basic Authentication password. Leave empty to disable. | — | | Skip Certificate Validation | Accept self-signed TLS certificates (shown when Protocol is HTTPS) | false |

Use the Test connection button to verify connectivity before saving.

CUPS mode URL: {protocol}://{host}:{port}/printers/{printerName}
Direct IPP mode URL: {protocol}://{host}:{port}{printerPath}
(Basic Auth credentials are embedded in the URL when a password is set.)

Connection Modes

CUPS Server

Use this mode when printing through a CUPS print server. The node lists all printers registered on the CUPS server and lets you pick one from a dropdown.

Typical setup: cupsd container or a host running CUPS accessible on port 631.

Direct IPP Printer

Use this mode to print directly to an IPP-capable network printer without a CUPS server. Supported printer types:

• IPP Everywhere — most modern network printers (2013+) implement IPP Everywhere
• AirPrint — Apple wireless printing (uses IPP Everywhere underneath)
• Vendor IPP — many Brother, Epson, HP, Canon, and Ricoh printers expose /ipp/print

Typical setup:

1. Find the printer's hostname or IP address.
2. Set Connection Type to Direct IPP Printer.
3. Set Host to the printer's IP or hostname.
4. Set Printer Path to the printer's IPP path (usually /ipp/print; consult your printer's documentation if different).
5. Click Test connection to verify.

In Direct IPP mode, the Printer Name node field is not required and is ignored at runtime. The Sides, Media, and Color Mode dropdowns load printer-supported values as soon as the credential is configured.

Operation: Print Job

Sends a binary document to an IPP printer queue.

Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Default | Description | |-----------|----------|---------|-------------| | Printer Name | — | — | Queue name (CUPS mode only). Select from the CUPS printer list or type a name manually. Ignored in Direct IPP mode. | | Binary Property | ✅ | data | n8n binary property name containing the document | | Copies | — | 1 | Number of copies | | Sides | — | One-Sided | Duplex setting. Select from printer-supported values (loaded automatically) or type a value manually. | | Media | — | A4 | IPP media keyword. Select from printer-supported sizes (loaded automatically) or type a keyword manually. | | Color Mode | — | Color | Color mode. Select from printer-supported values (loaded automatically) or type a value manually (e.g. color, monochrome). | | Document Format | — | PDF | IPP document-format MIME type. Select from printer-supported formats (loaded automatically) or type a MIME type manually. |

Direct IPP note: Network printers typically only accept formats they can process natively (usually image/pwg-raster or image/urf). CUPS servers accept many more formats because CUPS handles format conversion internally. When printing directly to an IPP printer, choose a format it actually supports.

Advanced Options:

| Option | Default | Description | |--------|---------|-------------| | Job Name | n8n print job | Value sent as job-name in the IPP request |

Example workflow

HTTP Request (download PDF) → PrintIPP @a24k

Set Binary Property to data (the default output property of the HTTP Request node).

Output

On success:

{
  "job-id": 42,
  "job-uri": "ipp://cupsd:631/jobs/42",
  "job-state": "pending",
  "job-state-reasons": "none",
  "status-code": "successful-ok",
  "print-color-mode": "color"
}

Error handling

The node respects n8n's Continue on Fail setting. On failure:

{
  "error": "...",
  "status-code": "..."
}

License

MIT