pixtex

Turn n8n workflow JSON into share-ready diagrams — from your terminal or CI.

# get a free key (shown once — store it as PIXTEX_API_KEY)
npx pixtex signup [email protected]

# render a local image
npx pixtex render my-flow.json -o my-flow.png

# host it at a permanent URL and embed it anywhere
npx pixtex push my-flow.json

push is the interesting one: it hosts the diagram as a PNG with a stable URL. Embed that URL in a README, Notion page, or forum post, then re-run push --id <id> whenever the workflow changes — every embed updates in place. Your architecture diagrams stop going stale.

# in CI, after the workflow JSON changes:
npx pixtex push flows/order-sync.json --id abc123

Commands

| Command | What it does | |---|---| | pixtex render <wf.json> | Render to a local png/jpeg/webp/svg/pdf | | pixtex push <wf.json> | Host as a permanent PNG (--id updates in place) | | pixtex images | List your hosted images + their URLs | | pixtex images delete <id> | Delete a hosted image | | pixtex me | Show quota + usage | | pixtex signup <email> | Get a free API key |

Every look option from the pixtex.dev editor is available as a flag — pixtex render --help lists them all. Or export an options JSON and pass --options file.json.

GitHub Action

Keep the n8n workflow diagram in your README always current. The bundled Action renders your workflow JSON into a hosted image and updates that same image in place on every push — so the picture in your docs never drifts from the actual flow.

1. Get a free API key: npx pixtex signup [email protected] (or on pixtex.dev/developers).
2. Add it as a repo secret named PIXTEX_API_KEY (Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret).
3. Add this workflow:

# .github/workflows/pixtex.yml
name: Update workflow diagram
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths: ['workflows/**.json']   # adjust to where your workflow JSON lives

jobs:
  render:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: VicegerentPrince/pixtex@v1
        id: pixtex
        with:
          workflow: workflows/order-sync.json
          api-key: ${{ secrets.PIXTEX_API_KEY }}
          image-id: ${{ vars.PIXTEX_IMAGE_ID }}   # see "First run" below

      - run: echo "Updated ${{ steps.pixtex.outputs.image-url }}"

First run — capturing the image id

The first time, leave image-id empty so a new hosted image is created, then read the id from the step output and save it as a repo variable named PIXTEX_IMAGE_ID (Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Variables). Every run after that reuses it and updates the same URL in place — which is what keeps your README embed live.

Then embed it in your README once and never touch it again:

![My workflow](https://api.pixtex.dev/i/<your-image-id>.png)

Inputs

| Input | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | workflow | yes | Path to the n8n workflow JSON file. | | api-key | yes | Your Pixtex key — pass ${{ secrets.PIXTEX_API_KEY }}. | | image-id | no | Hosted-image id to update in place. Omit to create a new one. | | name | no | Display name (defaults to the workflow's own name). | | options | no | Path to a JSON file of render options (background, palette, layout…). | | version | no | pixtex CLI version to run (default latest). |

Outputs

| Output | Description | |---|---| | image-url | Stable URL of the hosted PNG. | | image-id | The hosted-image id — save it as PIXTEX_IMAGE_ID after the first run. | | markdown | Ready-to-paste markdown embed. |

The Action is a thin composite over this same CLI — it runs pixtex push under the hood. The key travels as an environment variable, never on a command line or in a URL. No Docker image, no extra dependencies: just npx pixtex.

Lost a URL?

Hosted images are owned by your API key, so nothing is ever lost. Run pixtex images to list every image you've hosted and its stable URL — or see them with thumbnails on pixtex.dev/developers. The only thing to keep safe is your key.

Auth

Set PIXTEX_API_KEY in your environment (in CI, use a secret). The key is sent as a Bearer header only — never in a URL, never written to disk by the CLI.

Docs

Full API reference: https://pixtex.dev/developers

Built by Muhammad Muneeb.