n8n MCP Server

get-workflow

Retrieve detailed information about a specific n8n workflow by ID to analyze its structure, nodes, and configuration for automation management.

Instructions

Retrieve a workflow by ID. Use after list-workflows to get detailed information about a specific workflow. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`clientId`	Yes
`id`	Yes

Implementation Reference

src/index.ts:928-958 (handler)

The MCP tool handler for 'get-workflow' that retrieves a specific workflow by ID from the n8n instance using the N8nClient, handles client validation, and returns the workflow data as JSON or an error.

case "get-workflow": {
  const { clientId, id } = args as { clientId: string; id: string };
  const client = clients.get(clientId);
  if (!client) {
    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: "Client not initialized. Please run init-n8n first.",
      }],
      isError: true
    };
  }

  try {
    const workflow = await client.getWorkflow(id);
    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: JSON.stringify(workflow, null, 2),
      }]
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error occurred",
      }],
      isError: true
    };
  }
}

src/index.ts:424-434 (schema)

The input schema definition for the 'get-workflow' tool, specifying required parameters clientId and id.

  name: "get-workflow",
  description: "Retrieve a workflow by ID. Use after list-workflows to get detailed information about a specific workflow. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
  inputSchema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      clientId: { type: "string" },
      id: { type: "string" }
    },
    required: ["clientId", "id"]
  }
},

src/index.ts:397-851 (registration)

The tool registration in the ListToolsRequestSchema handler where 'get-workflow' is included in the list of available tools.

server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    tools: [
      {
        name: "init-n8n",
        description: "Initialize connection to n8n instance. Use this tool whenever an n8n URL and API key are shared to establish the connection. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            url: { type: "string" },
            apiKey: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["url", "apiKey"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "list-workflows",
        description: "List all workflows from n8n. Use after init-n8n to see available workflows. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "get-workflow",
        description: "Retrieve a workflow by ID. Use after list-workflows to get detailed information about a specific workflow. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "create-workflow",
        description: "Create a new workflow in n8n. Use to set up a new workflow with optional nodes and connections. IMPORTANT: 1) Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines. 2) Must provide full workflow structure including nodes and connections arrays, even if empty. The 'active' property should not be included as it is read-only.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            name: { type: "string" },
            nodes: { type: "array" },
            connections: { type: "object" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "name"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "update-workflow",
        description: "Update an existing workflow in n8n. Use after get-workflow to modify a workflow's properties, nodes, or connections. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" },
            workflow: {
              type: "object",
              properties: {
                name: { type: "string" },
                active: { type: "boolean" },
                nodes: { type: "array" },
                connections: { type: "object" },
                settings: { type: "object" }
              }
            }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id", "workflow"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "delete-workflow",
        description: "Delete a workflow by ID. This action cannot be undone. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "activate-workflow",
        description: "Activate a workflow by ID. This will enable the workflow to run. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "deactivate-workflow",
        description: "Deactivate a workflow by ID. This will prevent the workflow from running. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "list-projects",
        description: "List all projects from n8n. NOTE: Requires n8n Enterprise license with project management features enabled. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "create-project",
        description: "Create a new project in n8n. NOTE: Requires n8n Enterprise license with project management features enabled. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            name: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "name"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "delete-project",
        description: "Delete a project by ID. NOTE: Requires n8n Enterprise license with project management features enabled. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            projectId: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "projectId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "update-project",
        description: "Update a project's name. NOTE: Requires n8n Enterprise license with project management features enabled. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            projectId: { type: "string" },
            name: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "projectId", "name"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "list-users",
        description: "Retrieve all users from your instance. Only available for the instance owner.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "create-users",
        description: "Create one or more users in your instance.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            users: {
              type: "array",
              items: {
                type: "object",
                properties: {
                  email: { type: "string" },
                  role: { 
                    type: "string",
                    enum: ["global:admin", "global:member"]
                  }
                },
                required: ["email"]
              }
            }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "users"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "get-user",
        description: "Get user by ID or email address.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            idOrEmail: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "idOrEmail"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "delete-user",
        description: "Delete a user from your instance.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            idOrEmail: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "idOrEmail"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "list-variables",
        description: "List all variables from n8n. NOTE: Requires n8n Enterprise license with variable management features enabled. Use after init-n8n to see available variables. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "create-variable",
        description: "Create a new variable in n8n. NOTE: Requires n8n Enterprise license with variable management features enabled. Variables can be used across workflows to store and share data. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            key: { type: "string" },
            value: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "key", "value"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "delete-variable",
        description: "Delete a variable by ID. NOTE: Requires n8n Enterprise license with variable management features enabled. Use after list-variables to get the ID of the variable to delete. This action cannot be undone. IMPORTANT: Arguments must be provided as compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "create-credential",
        description: "Create a credential that can be used by nodes of the specified type. The credential type name can be found in the n8n UI when creating credentials (e.g., 'cloudflareApi', 'githubApi', 'slackOAuth2Api'). Use get-credential-schema first to see what fields are required for the credential type you want to create.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            name: { type: "string" },
            type: { type: "string" },
            data: { type: "object" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "name", "type", "data"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "delete-credential",
        description: "Delete a credential by ID. You must be the owner of the credentials.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "get-credential-schema",
        description: "Show credential data schema for a specific credential type. The credential type name can be found in the n8n UI when creating credentials (e.g., 'cloudflareApi', 'githubApi', 'slackOAuth2Api'). This will show you what fields are required for creating credentials of this type.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            credentialTypeName: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "credentialTypeName"]
        }
      },
      // Execution Management Tools
      {
        name: "list-executions",
        description: "Retrieve all executions from your instance with optional filtering.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            includeData: { type: "boolean" },
            status: { 
              type: "string",
              enum: ["error", "success", "waiting"]
            },
            workflowId: { type: "string" },
            limit: { type: "number" }
          },
          required: ["clientId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "get-execution",
        description: "Retrieve a specific execution by ID.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "number" },
            includeData: { type: "boolean" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "delete-execution",
        description: "Delete a specific execution by ID.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "number" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      // Tag Management Tools
      {
        name: "create-tag",
        description: "Create a new tag in your instance.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            name: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "name"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "list-tags",
        description: "Retrieve all tags from your instance.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            limit: { type: "number" }
          },
          required: ["clientId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "get-tag",
        description: "Retrieve a specific tag by ID.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "update-tag",
        description: "Update a tag's name.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" },
            name: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id", "name"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "delete-tag",
        description: "Delete a tag by ID.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            id: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "id"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "get-workflow-tags",
        description: "Get tags associated with a workflow.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            workflowId: { type: "string" }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "workflowId"]
        }
      },
      {
        name: "update-workflow-tags",
        description: "Update tags associated with a workflow.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            workflowId: { type: "string" },
            tagIds: {
              type: "array",
              items: {
                type: "object",
                properties: {
                  id: { type: "string" }
                },
                required: ["id"]
              }
            }
          },
          required: ["clientId", "workflowId", "tagIds"]
        }
      },
      // Security Audit Tool
      {
        name: "generate-audit",
        description: "Generate a security audit for your n8n instance.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            clientId: { type: "string" },
            daysAbandonedWorkflow: { type: "number" },
            categories: {
              type: "array",
              items: {
                type: "string",
                enum: ["credentials", "database", "nodes", "filesystem", "instance"]
              }
            }
          },
          required: ["clientId"]
        }
      }
    ]
  };
});

src/index.ts:160-162 (helper)
The N8nClient helper method that performs the actual API request to fetch the workflow by ID.
```
async getWorkflow(id: string): Promise<N8nWorkflow> {
  return this.makeRequest<N8nWorkflow>(`/workflows/${id}`);
}
```

src/index.ts:25-31 (schema)

TypeScript interface defining the structure of an n8n workflow object.

  id: number;
  name: string;
  active: boolean;
  createdAt: string;
  updatedAt: string;
  tags: string[];
}

Tool Definition Quality

A3.5/5.0

Behavior2/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

No annotations are provided, so the description carries full burden. It mentions the JSON formatting requirement ('compact, single-line JSON without whitespace or newlines'), which is useful behavioral context. However, it doesn't disclose other important traits like authentication needs, rate limits, error behavior, or what 'detailed information' includes in the response.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is perfectly concise with two sentences: one stating the purpose and usage guideline, another providing critical formatting instruction. Every sentence earns its place with no wasted words, and important information is front-loaded.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness3/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given 2 required parameters, 0% schema coverage, no annotations, and no output schema, the description provides basic purpose and usage guidance but lacks parameter explanations and behavioral details. It's minimally adequate for a simple retrieval tool but leaves significant gaps in understanding parameter meanings and response format.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters2/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 0%, so the description must compensate. It mentions 'ID' but doesn't explain what 'clientId' represents or provide any context about parameter formats, sources, or constraints. The description adds minimal value beyond what the bare schema provides.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose4/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description clearly states the verb 'retrieve' and resource 'workflow by ID', making the purpose specific and understandable. However, it doesn't explicitly differentiate from sibling tools like 'get-execution' or 'get-user', which follow similar patterns for different resources.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description provides explicit guidance: 'Use after list-workflows to get detailed information about a specific workflow.' This clearly indicates when to use this tool versus its sibling 'list-workflows', establishing a sequential workflow pattern.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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