export

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/n8n/manager.ts:543-647 (handler)

  Core implementation of the export tool: executes n8n CLI export:workflow command, handles single workflow by ID or all workflows, saves them as separate JSON files in the specified output directory (defaults to workflows/flows), preserving workflow IDs.

  async exportWorkflow(options: {
    id?: string;
    all?: boolean;
    outputPath?: string;
    pretty?: boolean;
  } = {}): Promise<any> {
    try {
      const outputDir = options.outputPath || path.join(this.workflowsPath, 'flows');
      
      // Ensure output directory exists
      await fs.mkdir(outputDir, { recursive: true });
      
      // Build command - n8n requires a file path, not directory
      let command = 'n8n export:workflow';
      
      if (options.all) {
        // For all workflows, we need to export to a temp file and process
        const tempFile = path.join('/tmp', `n8n-export-${Date.now()}.json`);
        command += ` --all --output="${tempFile}"`;
        
        if (options.pretty !== false) {
          command += ' --pretty';
        }
        
        console.error(`Executing: ${command}`);
        const { stdout, stderr } = await execAsync(command);
        
        if (this.hasRealError(stderr, stdout)) {
          throw new Error(stderr);
        }
        
        // Read the exported data
        const exportedData = await fs.readFile(tempFile, 'utf-8');
        const workflows = JSON.parse(exportedData);
        
        // Save each workflow separately, preserving ID
        for (const workflow of workflows) {
          const fileName = `${workflow.name.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-')}.json`;
          const filePath = path.join(outputDir, fileName);
          
          // Store the full workflow object with ID
          await fs.writeFile(filePath, JSON.stringify(workflow, null, 2));
        }
        
        // Clean up temp file
        await fs.unlink(tempFile).catch(() => {});
        
        return {
          content: [{
            type: 'text',
            text: `✅ Exported ${workflows.length} workflows to ${outputDir}`
          }]
        };
      } else if (options.id) {
        // For single workflow, export directly
        const tempFile = path.join('/tmp', `n8n-export-${Date.now()}.json`);
        command += ` --id=${options.id} --output="${tempFile}"`;
        
        if (options.pretty !== false) {
          command += ' --pretty';
        }
        
        console.error(`Executing: ${command}`);
        const { stdout, stderr } = await execAsync(command);
        
        if (this.hasRealError(stderr, stdout)) {
          throw new Error(stderr);
        }
        
        // Read the exported data
        const exportedData = await fs.readFile(tempFile, 'utf-8');
        const workflows = JSON.parse(exportedData);
        const workflow = Array.isArray(workflows) ? workflows[0] : workflows;
        
        // Save with the workflow's name, preserving ID
        const fileName = `${workflow.name.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-')}.json`;
        const filePath = path.join(outputDir, fileName);
        
        // Store the full workflow object with ID
        await fs.writeFile(filePath, JSON.stringify(workflow, null, 2));
        
        // Clean up temp file
        await fs.unlink(tempFile).catch(() => {});
        
        return {
          content: [{
            type: 'text',
            text: `✅ Exported workflow: ${workflow.name}\n` +
                  `📁 File: ${fileName}\n` +
                  `🆔 ID: ${workflow.id}`
          }]
        };
      }
      
      // If no specific options, show error
      return {
        content: [{
          type: 'text',
          text: '❌ Please specify either --id or --all for export'
        }]
      };
    } catch (error: any) {
      throw new Error(`Failed to export workflow: ${error.message}`);
    }
  }

• src/tools/handler.ts:147-154 (handler)

  ToolHandler switch case that receives tool calls for 'export' and delegates to N8nManager.exportWorkflow with parsed arguments.

  case 'export':
    return await this.n8nManager.exportWorkflow({
      id: args?.id as string,
      all: args?.all as boolean,
      outputPath: args?.outputPath as string,
      pretty: args?.pretty as boolean,
    });

• src/tools/registry.ts:243-267 (schema)

  Tool schema definition including name, description, and input schema for the 'export' tool, returned by getToolDefinitions().

  {
    name: 'export',
    description: 'Export workflows from n8n - replaces "n8n export:workflow" command',
    inputSchema: {
      type: 'object',
      properties: {
        id: {
          type: 'string',
          description: 'Workflow ID to export',
        },
        all: {
          type: 'boolean',
          description: 'Export all workflows',
        },
        outputPath: {
          type: 'string',
          description: 'Output directory path (defaults to workflows/flows)',
        },
        pretty: {
          type: 'boolean',
          description: 'Format JSON output prettily (default: true)',
        },
      },
    },
  },

• src/server/mcflow.ts:76-85 (registration)

  Registers the tools (including 'export') with the MCP server by handling ListToolsRequest (via getToolDefinitions) and CallToolRequest (via ToolHandler).

  this.server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => ({
    tools: getToolDefinitions(),
  }));
  
  this.server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
    return await this.toolHandler.handleTool(
      request.params.name,
      request.params.arguments
    );
  });