n8n Workflow Builder MCP Server

Build n8n workflows from text using AI - Built by FlowEngine

Turn natural language descriptions into production-ready n8n workflows. Connect your favorite AI assistant to expert n8n knowledge with 600+ nodes, intelligent validation, and auto-fixing.

📜 License: Free for any use. Source code access restricted. Cannot build competing products.

Video Demo

Watch how to build n8n workflows with AI in minutes:

▶️ Watch on YouTube

See how to:

• Install and setup the MCP server
• Generate workflows from natural language
• Validate and fix workflows automatically
• Deploy to FlowEngine.cloud

Quick Start

Installation Methods

Choose the method that works best for you:

1. Smithery (One-Click Install)

Easy local installation for Claude Desktop. View on Smithery

npx @smithery/cli install @Ami3466/mcp-flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder --client claude

Note: Smithery has a 50 uses/day limit. For unlimited access, use the remote server below.

2. Remote Server (More Stable - Unlimited) ⭐

Connect to our hosted server - no installation required!

Add this to your Claude Desktop config:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "flowengine-n8n": {
      "url": "https://mcp-flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder.onrender.com/mcp",
      "transport": "http"
    }
  }
}

Benefits:

• ✅ More stable - Dedicated hosting infrastructure
• ✅ Unlimited usage - No daily limits
• ✅ Always up-to-date - Automatically updated
• ✅ Zero installation - Just add config and restart Claude
• ✅ Free - Community hosted

3. npm (Manual Install)

For all other MCP clients:

npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

Setup by Platform

Claude Desktop

Option A: Smithery (Local Install)

View on Smithery

npx @smithery/cli install @Ami3466/mcp-flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder --client claude

Restart Claude Desktop after installation.

Note: Limited to 50 uses/day. For unlimited access, use the remote server below.

Option B: Remote Server (More Stable - Unlimited) ⭐

No installation required! Just add config and restart.

1. Edit Claude Desktop config:

   • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "flowengine-n8n": {
         "url": "https://mcp-flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder.onrender.com/mcp",
         "transport": "http"
       }
     }
   }

3. Restart Claude Desktop (fully quit and reopen)

4. Verify connection:

   • Look for the 🔌 MCP icon in Claude Desktop
   • You should see "flowengine-n8n" listed with green status

Benefits: More stable, unlimited usage, no local installation, always updated.

Option C: Manual Local Install

1. Install the package:

   npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

2. Edit Claude Desktop config:

   • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

3. Add this configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "flowengine-n8n": {
         "command": "flowengine-n8n"
       }
     }
   }

4. Restart Claude Desktop (fully quit and reopen)

Claude Code (VS Code Extension)

1. Install the package globally:

   npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

2. Open VS Code Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + ,)

3. Search for "MCP"

4. Add MCP Server:

   • Click "Edit in settings.json"
   • Add to claude.mcpServers:

   {
     "claude.mcpServers": {
       "flowengine-n8n": {
         "command": "flowengine-n8n"
       }
     }
   }

5. Reload VS Code (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P → "Developer: Reload Window")

6. Start using:

   • Open Claude Code panel
   • Ask Claude to build n8n workflows
   • The MCP server will be automatically available

Cursor

1. Install the package:

   npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

2. Open Cursor Settings:

   • Mac: Cursor → Settings → Features
   • Windows/Linux: File → Preferences → Features

3. Navigate to MCP Settings:

   • Scroll to "Model Context Protocol"
   • Click "Edit Config"

4. Add configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "flowengine-n8n": {
         "command": "flowengine-n8n"
       }
     }
   }

5. Restart Cursor

6. Verify:

   • Open Cursor's AI chat
   • The MCP server should be available
   • Try: "Create an n8n workflow for me"

Cline (VS Code)

1. Install the package:

   npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

2. Open Cline Settings in VS Code:

   • Open Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P)
   • Type "Cline: Open Settings"

3. Add MCP Server:

   • In Cline settings, find "MCP Servers"
   • Add new server:

   {
     "flowengine-n8n": {
       "command": "flowengine-n8n"
     }
   }

4. Reload VS Code

Continue.dev

1. Install the package:

   npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

2. Open Continue config:

   • Open Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P)
   • Type "Continue: Open config.json"

3. Add MCP server to config:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "flowengine-n8n": {
         "command": "flowengine-n8n"
       }
     }
   }

4. Reload Continue extension

What This Does

🤖 Turns Text into Workflows

Describe what you want in plain language:

• "Monitor my email and notify me on Slack"
• "Build an AI chatbot with memory and tools"
• "Sync data between Google Sheets and my database"
• "Create a customer support automation workflow"

Your AI assistant generates complete, working n8n workflows.

🧠 Expert n8n Knowledge

Your AI gets access to:

• 600+ Node Types - All n8n-nodes-base and LangChain nodes
• Real Parameter Schemas - Loaded directly from n8n packages
• Best Practices - Workflow design patterns and optimizations
• Intelligent Validation - Automatic error detection and fixing

✨ Powerful Features

Workflow Generation:

• Build workflows from natural language descriptions
• Add, edit, and delete nodes programmatically
• Connect nodes and manage workflow structure
• Get detailed workflow analysis

Intelligence & Suggestions:

• Architecture recommendations (linear, conditional, AI agent, etc.)
• Node suggestions for specific tasks
• Workflow analysis and improvements
• Natural language explanations

Quality & Security:

• Comprehensive workflow validation
• Security vulnerability scanning
• Performance analysis and bottleneck detection
• Dry-run workflow testing

Templates & Search:

• Pre-built workflow templates
• Search 600+ nodes by keyword
• Browse nodes by category
• Get detailed node documentation

Usage Examples

Once installed, ask your AI assistant to help with workflows:

Create a New Workflow

"Create an n8n workflow that monitors Gmail for emails with 'urgent' in the subject and sends a Slack notification to #alerts"

Analyze Existing Workflow

"Analyze this workflow and suggest improvements"
[paste your workflow JSON]

Get Node Recommendations

"What nodes should I use to build a customer onboarding automation?"

Validate and Fix

"Validate this workflow and fix any errors"
[paste workflow JSON]

Security Scan

"Scan this workflow for security issues"
[paste workflow JSON]

Available Tools

Your AI assistant gets access to 23 powerful tools:

Workflow Building:

• build_workflow - Generate workflows from descriptions
• add_node - Add nodes to existing workflows
• edit_node - Modify node parameters
• delete_node - Remove nodes
• add_connection - Connect nodes
• get_workflow_details - Analyze workflow structure

Validation & Quality:

• validate_workflow - Comprehensive validation with auto-fix
• test_workflow - Dry-run simulation
• scan_security - Security vulnerability detection
• analyze_performance - Performance and bottleneck analysis

Intelligence:

• suggest_architecture - Recommend workflow patterns
• suggest_nodes - Node recommendations for tasks
• analyze_workflow - Deep workflow insights
• suggest_improvements - Optimization suggestions
• explain_workflow - Natural language explanations

Node Library:

• search_nodes - Search 600+ nodes
• list_nodes_by_category - Browse by category
• get_node_details - Detailed node documentation

Templates:

• list_templates - Browse workflow templates
• get_template - Get specific templates
• search_templates - Search templates

Utilities:

• extract_workflow_json - Extract JSON from text
• fix_json - Repair malformed JSON

Deploy Your Workflows

Option 1: FlowEngine.cloud (Recommended)

Build for free, deploy instantly:

1. Generate workflow using this MCP server
2. Visit flowengine.cloud
3. Import your workflow JSON
4. Test and deploy - no infrastructure needed

Why FlowEngine.cloud?

• ✅ No server setup or management
• ✅ Built-in monitoring and logs
• ✅ Automatic scaling
• ✅ Visual workflow editor
• ✅ Free tier available

Option 2: Self-Hosted n8n

1. Generate workflow using this MCP server
2. Open your n8n instance
3. Import JSON (... → Import from File)
4. Configure credentials and activate

Troubleshooting

MCP Server Not Showing Up?

1. Verify installation:

   which flowengine-n8n
   # Should show: /usr/local/bin/flowengine-n8n (or similar)

2. Test the server manually:

   flowengine-n8n
   # Should start the MCP server

3. Check Claude Desktop logs:

   • Mac: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log
   • Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/logs/mcp*.log

4. Restart your AI client completely (fully quit and reopen)

Package Not Found?

# Update npm
npm install -g npm@latest

# Reinstall the package
npm uninstall -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder
npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

Permission Issues?

Mac/Linux:

sudo npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

Windows: Run PowerShell/CMD as Administrator

Smithery Installation Issues?

# Clear npm cache
npm cache clean --force

# Try manual installation instead
npm install -g flowengine-n8n-workflow-builder

How It Works

This MCP server connects your AI assistant to expert n8n knowledge:

You describe what you want
         ↓
Your AI Tool (Claude/Cursor/etc.)
         ↓
   MCP Protocol
         ↓
FlowEngine n8n Builder
         ↓
Expert n8n Knowledge + Validation
         ↓
Complete, Working Workflow

What Your AI Gets:

• Deep n8n expertise
• 600+ node definitions with real schemas
• Workflow patterns and best practices
• Validation and auto-fixing capabilities
• Security and performance analysis

What You Get:

• Production-ready workflows
• Properly validated JSON
• Working configurations
• Best practice implementations

Features

✅ Build workflows from text - Natural language to working n8n workflows ✅ 600+ Node Types - Full n8n-nodes-base and LangChain support ✅ Real Parameter Schemas - Loaded directly from n8n packages ✅ Intelligent validation - Automatic error detection and fixing ✅ Security scanning - Detect vulnerabilities and sensitive data ✅ Performance analysis - Find bottlenecks and optimize ✅ Works with any LLM - Universal MCP protocol support ✅ No API keys needed - Works completely offline ✅ Built by FlowEngine - Production-tested technology ✅ Deploy anywhere - FlowEngine.cloud or self-hosted

About FlowEngine

FlowEngine is a platform for building and deploying n8n workflows with AI:

• 🎨 Visual Builder - Drag-and-drop editor at flowengine.cloud
• 🤖 AI-Powered - Generate workflows with natural language
• ☁️ Managed Hosting - Deploy instantly, no DevOps needed
• 📈 Production Ready - Monitoring, logs, and scaling included
• 🆓 Free Tier - Try and build workflows for free

This MCP server brings FlowEngine's workflow generation technology to your local development environment.

Use Cases

For Developers:

• Generate boilerplate workflows quickly
• Prototype automation ideas fast
• Learn n8n patterns and best practices
• Build complex workflows with AI assistance

For Teams:

• Accelerate workflow development
• Standardize workflow patterns
• Reduce learning curve for n8n
• Scale automation initiatives

For Businesses:

• Automate repetitive tasks
• Connect systems and tools
• Build custom integrations
• Deploy AI-powered workflows

Support & Resources

• FlowEngine Platform: flowengine.cloud
• Documentation: docs.flowengine.cloud
• npm Package: View on npm
• Smithery Registry: Install via Smithery
• Documentation Repository: View Documentation
• Report Issues: Contact FlowEngine support

License

FlowEngine MCP License

✅ You CAN:

• Use for personal projects
• Use for commercial projects
• Build and deploy workflows
• Integrate into your products

❌ You CANNOT:

• Build competing workflow platforms
• Redistribute the source code
• Create competing n8n tools
• Claim this as your own work

Full license: LICENSE

Built by FlowEngine - Enterprise-grade n8n workflow automation platform

Website • Documentation • npm • Smithery