cron8n

A CLI tool that simplifies creating and managing cron-triggered workflows in n8n.

Why cron8n?

Managing scheduled workflows in n8n can be challenging:

• No version control - Workflows are stored in n8n's database, making it hard to track changes
• Manual creation - Each cron workflow requires clicking through the UI
• No local development - You can't develop workflows offline and deploy later
• Scattered workflows - Hard to see all your cron jobs in one place
• No templates - Starting from scratch every time

cron8n solves these problems:

• ✅ Local-first - Workflows stored as JSON files in your project
• ✅ Git-friendly - Version control your scheduled jobs like code
• ✅ Templates - Start with pre-built templates (HTTP requests, shell commands, webhooks)
• ✅ CLI & Web UI - Choose your preferred interface
• ✅ Deploy anywhere - Push to any n8n instance with one command
• ✅ Central tracking - See all managed workflows across projects

Screenshots

Web UI - Workflow Dashboard

Web UI - Create Workflow

Web UI - n8n Connection

Features

• Create new cron workflows from templates
• Deploy workflows to your n8n instance
• Discover existing cron workflows in n8n
• Import unmanaged workflows into cron8n
• Validate cron expressions with next run times
• Track all managed workflows with labels
• Web UI for visual workflow management

Installation

# Install globally
npm install -g cron8n

# Or use directly with npx
npx cron8n

Quick Start

1. Authenticate with your n8n instance

# Interactive login
cron8n auth login

# Or with flags
cron8n auth login --baseUrl https://n8n.example.com --mode apiKey --secret YOUR_API_KEY

2. Create a new cron workflow

# Interactive mode
cron8n cron new

# Or with flags
cron8n cron new --name "Daily Backup" --cron "0 0 * * *" --timezone "Europe/Istanbul" --template http-request

3. Deploy to n8n

cron8n cron deploy daily-backup --activate

Commands

Web UI

cron8n ui

Start the web-based UI for visual workflow management.

# Start UI (opens browser automatically)
cron8n ui

# Custom port
cron8n ui --port 4000

# Don't open browser
cron8n ui --no-browser

The web UI provides:

• Dashboard with all workflows
• Create/Edit workflows visually
• Deploy, activate, deactivate workflows
• Connect to n8n instance
• Cron expression validation with live preview

Authentication

cron8n auth login

Authenticate with your n8n instance.

# Interactive
cron8n auth login

# Non-interactive
cron8n auth login --baseUrl https://n8n.example.com --mode apiKey --secret YOUR_KEY
cron8n auth login --baseUrl https://n8n.example.com --mode bearerToken --secret YOUR_TOKEN

cron8n auth status

Check current authentication status and verify connection.

cron8n auth status
cron8n auth status --json

Cron Workflows

cron8n cron new

Create a new cron workflow.

# Interactive mode - prompts for all options
cron8n cron new

# With all options
cron8n cron new \
  --name "My Scheduled Job" \
  --cron "0 */6 * * *" \
  --timezone "Europe/Istanbul" \
  --template http-request

Templates:

• cron-only - Basic cron trigger (starting point, does nothing)
• shell-command - Cron trigger + Execute Command (run shell commands on the server)
• http-request - Cron trigger + HTTP request
• webhook-call - Cron trigger + webhook call

Cron Presets:

• every-minute: * * * * *
• hourly: 0 * * * *
• daily: 0 0 * * *
• weekly: 0 0 * * 0
• monthly: 0 0 1 * *

cron8n cron edit <slug>

Edit an existing workflow.

# Interactive edit (select fields to change)
cron8n cron edit my-workflow

# Change specific fields
cron8n cron edit my-workflow --name "New Name"
cron8n cron edit my-workflow --cron "*/5 * * * *"
cron8n cron edit my-workflow --timezone "America/New_York"
cron8n cron edit my-workflow --shell-command "echo hello"

cron8n cron deploy <slug>

Deploy a workflow to n8n.

# Deploy and activate
cron8n cron deploy my-workflow --activate

# Dry run (show what would happen)
cron8n cron deploy my-workflow --dry-run

# Deploy without activating
cron8n cron deploy my-workflow --no-activate

cron8n cron list

List cron workflows (local by default).

# List local workflows (default)
cron8n cron list

# Show archived workflows
cron8n cron list --archived

# Show remote workflows from n8n
cron8n cron list --remote

# Show only managed remote workflows
cron8n cron list --managed

# Show only unmanaged remote workflows
cron8n cron list --unmanaged

# JSON output
cron8n cron list --json

cron8n cron inspect <slug|workflow-id>

Inspect a workflow (local or remote).

# Inspect by local slug (fetches from n8n if deployed)
cron8n cron inspect my-workflow

# Inspect local manifest only
cron8n cron inspect my-workflow --local

# Inspect by remote workflow ID
cron8n cron inspect abc123

# JSON output
cron8n cron inspect my-workflow --json

cron8n cron import <workflow-id>

Import an existing n8n workflow into cron8n management.

# Import with auto-generated slug
cron8n cron import abc123

# Import with custom slug
cron8n cron import abc123 --slug my-imported-workflow

# Force import (overwrite existing)
cron8n cron import abc123 --force

cron8n cron activate <slug|workflow-id>

Activate a workflow in n8n.

# Activate by slug
cron8n cron activate my-workflow

# Activate by workflow ID
cron8n cron activate abc123

cron8n cron deactivate <slug|workflow-id>

Deactivate a workflow in n8n.

# Deactivate by slug
cron8n cron deactivate my-workflow

# Deactivate by workflow ID
cron8n cron deactivate abc123

cron8n cron archive <slug>

Archive a workflow (deactivate remote, move local files to archived folder).

# Archive a workflow (deactivates in n8n, moves files to archived/)
cron8n cron archive my-workflow

# Archive and delete from n8n completely
cron8n cron archive my-workflow --delete-remote

# Only deactivate remote, keep local files
cron8n cron archive my-workflow --keep-local

# Skip confirmation
cron8n cron archive my-workflow --force

cron8n cron validate [expression]

Validate a cron expression and show next run times.

# Interactive validation
cron8n cron validate

# Validate specific expression
cron8n cron validate "0 9 * * 1-5"

# With timezone
cron8n cron validate "0 9 * * 1-5" --timezone America/New_York

# Show more runs
cron8n cron validate "0 9 * * *" --count 10

# JSON output
cron8n cron validate "0 * * * *" --json

File Structure

When you create a workflow, cron8n generates:

./workflows/
├── my-workflow.json        # n8n workflow definition
└── my-workflow.cron8n.json # cron8n manifest

Manifest Format

{
  "slug": "my-workflow",
  "name": "My Workflow",
  "createdAt": "2026-02-07T10:00:00Z",
  "template": "http-request",
  "cronExpression": "0 * * * *",
  "timezone": "Europe/Istanbul",
  "tags": ["managed-by:cron8n", "cron8n:my-workflow"],
  "lastDeployedWorkflowId": "123",
  "lastDeployedAt": "2026-02-07T12:00:00Z"
}

Label Strategy

cron8n uses tags to track managed workflows:

• managed-by:cron8n - Identifies cron8n-managed workflows
• cron8n:<slug> - Links workflow to local manifest

This allows cron8n to:

• Differentiate managed vs unmanaged workflows
• Match deployed workflows to local files
• Prevent accidental modifications

Central Registry

cron8n maintains a central registry at ~/.cron8n/registry.json to track workflows across all projects:

{
  "workflows": [
    {
      "slug": "daily-backup",
      "projectPath": "/home/user/my-project",
      "manifestPath": "/home/user/my-project/workflows/daily-backup.cron8n.json",
      "workflowId": "123",
      "lastSyncedAt": "2026-02-07T12:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Configuration

Authentication and settings are stored at ~/.cron8n/config.json.

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Development with watch
npm run dev

# Run tests
npm test

# Run tests with coverage
npm run test:coverage

# Type check
npm run typecheck

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18
• n8n instance with API access

License

MIT