n8n-nodes-sse-client

SSE Client action node for n8n — connects to any Server-Sent Events endpoint mid-workflow with authentication, custom headers, and configurable stop conditions.

Unlike the built-in SSE Trigger, this node runs inside a workflow: it opens an SSE stream, collects events, and returns them as output items when a stop condition is met.

Features

• Connect to any SSE endpoint as a mid-workflow action node
• Authentication: None, Anthropic API Key, Bearer Auth, Header Auth (API Key)
• Custom headers via key-value pairs or raw JSON
• Stop conditions: regex on event type and/or event data
• Filter Event Types: regex to collect only matching event types
• Timeout with partial results: returns collected events even on timeout
• Retry logic with configurable attempts and delay
• GET and POST HTTP methods
• AI Agent compatible (usableAsTool)
• Zero runtime dependencies (native fetch + ReadableStream)

Installation

In your n8n instance:

1. Go to Settings → Community Nodes
2. Click Install a community node
3. Enter n8n-nodes-sse-client
4. Click Install

Requires n8n 1.0+ and Node.js 18.10+.

Authentication

| Method | Use case | |---|---| | None | Public SSE endpoints | | Anthropic API Key | Anthropic/Claude API (sets x-api-key header automatically) | | Bearer Auth | Endpoints expecting Authorization: Bearer <token> | | Header Auth (API Key) | Endpoints expecting a custom header (e.g., x-api-key, Authorization) |

For Anthropic, select Anthropic API Key and use your existing Anthropic credential in n8n. For other API key authentication, create a Header Auth credential with the header name (e.g., x-api-key) and your API key as the value.

Parameters

| Parameter | Description | Default | |---|---|---| | URL | SSE endpoint URL (supports expressions) | — | | Authentication | Auth method | None | | Send Custom Headers | Add extra headers | false | | Stop Event Type | Regex on the SSE event: field — stops when matched | — | | Stop Data Pattern | Regex on the SSE data: field — stops when matched | — | | Include Stop Event | Include the triggering event in output | true |

Options

| Option | Description | Default | |---|---|---| | Timeout (ms) | Global timeout | 300000 (5 min) | | Retry Attempts | Number of retries on network error | 3 | | Retry Delay (ms) | Delay between retries | 1000 | | Include Metadata | Add $metadata (eventType, lastEventId, timestamp, origin) | true | | Max Events | Stop after N events (0 = unlimited) | 0 | | Filter Event Types | Regex — only collect events whose type matches | — | | HTTP Method | GET or POST | GET | | Request Body | JSON body for POST requests | — |

Output

Each SSE event becomes one output item. If the data: field is valid JSON, it is parsed into the item fields. Otherwise, the raw string is returned as { data: "..." }.

With Include Metadata enabled, each item includes:

{
  "$metadata": {
    "eventType": "message",
    "lastEventId": "42",
    "timestamp": "2026-04-30T12:00:00.000Z",
    "origin": "https://example.com/sse"
  }
}

Examples

Public SSE endpoint

• URL: https://sse.dev/test
• Authentication: None
• Max Events: 5

API with key authentication

• URL: https://api.example.com/v1/events/stream
• Authentication: Header Auth (API Key)
• Credential: Header name x-api-key, value = your API key
• Stop Data Pattern: "status":"completed"

POST request with body

• URL: https://api.example.com/v1/stream
• HTTP Method: POST
• Request Body: {"prompt": "Hello"}
• Stop Event Type: done

Migrating from v0.1.0

v0.2.0 temporarily removed the Anthropic API Key option. It was re-added in v0.3.0, so no migration is needed — your existing Anthropic credentials will work as before.

License

MIT