ShowOnce

Do a task once in your browser. Get an n8n workflow that does it forever.

Illustration with made-up sites.

No nodes to drag. No expressions to learn. Just show it.

Quickstart · How it works · Choosing the AI · Privacy · Roadmap

Building automations is still a job for people who already know automation tools. Everyone else does the same boring browser task every day: copy an amount from an email, paste it into a sheet, send a message.

ShowOnce watches you do it one time and turns the recording into a real, editable n8n workflow. It doesn't replay your clicks. It understands what you were trying to do and uses proper API nodes (Gmail, Google Sheets, HTTP, Telegram…), so the result is fast and doesn't break when a website changes its layout.

 You, once                          ShowOnce                              n8n, forever
┌──────────────────────┐    ┌────────────────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ open Gmail           │    │ "search unread invoices,   │    │ ⏰ Weekdays 9:00              │
│ search "fatura"      │ ─► │  extract the amount,       │ ─► │ → Gmail: search               │
│ copy R$ 189,90       │    │  append a row,             │    │ → Code: extract amount        │
│ paste into Sheets    │    │  notify on Telegram"       │    │ → Sheets: append row          │
│ message on Telegram  │    │                            │    │ → Telegram: notify            │
└──────────────────────┘    └────────────────────────────┘    └──────────────────────────────┘

Features

• 🎬 Record by doing. A Chrome extension captures clicks, typing, navigation and copy/paste, plus screenshots.

• 🧠 Intent, not macros. A vision model figures out the task and maps it to API nodes.

• 🎛️ You stay in control. Before anything is created, review the steps, choose which values change every run, and pick the trigger (manual, schedule, webhook, or new email).

• ⚡ One click to n8n. Creates the workflow through the n8n API, or download the JSON and import it.

• 🔌 Bring your own model. Claude (default), OpenAI, Gemini, any OpenAI-compatible API, or a local model via Ollama.

• 🔑 Or no API key at all. Let the AI assistant you already use do it over MCP, or paste the prompt into any chat AI.

• 🔒 Private by design. Runs in your browser. Passwords, card numbers and tokens are never recorded.

• 📦 Nothing to run. Everything happens inside the extension. No server, no npm install.

Related MCP server: n8n Workflow Builder

Quickstart

You need Chrome (or any Chromium browser). That's all.

1. Get the extension

Download the ZIP and unzip it (or git clone this repo). Open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode, click Load unpacked and pick the extension/ folder.

2. Set up (once, in the popup)

Click the ShowOnce icon. The Set up checklist opens by itself:

1. Pick the AI that reads your recording. No key? Choose Any AI chat and you copy a prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Have a key? Paste it; Get a key opens the right page.

2. Connect n8n (optional): type its address, click Get an API key, paste, Connect. No n8n yet? The popup offers n8n cloud or a one-line Docker command, and Download JSON works without any n8n.

3. Show it once

● Record → do your task → ■ Stop → ✨ Turn it into a workflow. Review, then Create in n8n or Download JSON.

How it works

flowchart LR
  A[Chrome extension<br/>records actions + screenshots] -->|log + screenshots| C[Vision model<br/>Claude / GPT / Gemini / local]
  C -->|intent plan JSON| A
  A -->|you review:<br/>variables + trigger| B[Builder<br/>inside the extension]
  B -->|workflow JSON| D[n8n API or a file]

1. Record. The extension logs each action with the element's label and takes a screenshot right after it.

2. Understand. The model receives the action log and up to 20 screenshots and returns a plan: steps from a small, fixed vocabulary (gmail.search, sheets.append, http.request, transform, …), the values that look like variables, and a suggested trigger.

3. Review. You confirm what changes between runs and when it should run.

4. Build. A deterministic builder turns the plan into n8n nodes and connections. The model never writes raw n8n JSON, which keeps the output valid.

When something has no API, it becomes a clearly marked manual step with instructions instead of a fragile click-replay.

Supported steps

Adding a step type is one function in extension/core/builder.js and one line in the prompt. PRs welcome!

Choosing the AI

Pick it in the popup under Set up. You can change it any time.

Your AI assistant, over MCP

The only mode that needs something outside the extension: a small helper your assistant starts by itself.

1. Add ShowOnce to the assistant. In Claude Code:

   claude mcp add --scope user showonce -- npx -y github:subnautixx/showonce mcp

   In other clients, add this to their MCP config:

   { "mcpServers": { "showonce": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "github:subnautixx/showonce", "mcp"] } } }

2. In the popup, pick My AI assistant, over MCP under Set up.

3. Record your task and click ✨ Turn it into a workflow. The popup says it is waiting for your assistant.

4. Ask the assistant: "turn my ShowOnce recording into a workflow".

5. Open the popup again: the plan is there to review.

Privacy

• Nothing runs outside your browser, except the AI you pick and your own n8n.

• API keys stay in the extension's local storage on this computer. Each key is only sent to the service it belongs to.

• Password fields, card fields (autocomplete="cc-*"), one-time codes and fields named like token, secret, cpf, cvv… are replaced with [REDACTED] in the page, before anything is stored.

• Recordings stay in the extension's local storage until you clear them. Only the AI you choose sees them, and with Ollama nothing leaves your machine.

• Screenshots can still show what's on screen. Avoid recording pages with sensitive information, or use a local model.

• The MCP helper listens on 127.0.0.1 only and refuses requests from websites.

Roadmap

• Launch GIF and more example recordings

• Chrome Web Store listing

• More step types: Slack, Notion, Airtable, WhatsApp, Discord

• Browser-runner node for steps without an API (Playwright)

• Record across desktop apps, not only the browser

• "Show it twice": learn variables by diffing two recordings

• Export to Make / Zapier / plain code

• Firefox support

Development

npm test        # no dependencies to install
npm run demo    # helper server with a canned plan
npm start       # helper server with the provider from server/.env

Project layout:

extension/        Chrome extension (Manifest V3): recorder, popup, review UI
  core/           everything shared with the helper: no node: imports
    prompt.js       what the model is told
    plan.js         plan validation
    builder.js      plan → n8n workflow
    providers/      Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama
    n8n.js          connect to n8n and create workflows
server/           Optional zero-dependency Node helper (MCP mode)
  src/handoff.js    the recording waits for a plan from the assistant
  src/mcp.js        MCP server for AI assistants
  src/cli.js        `npx github:subnautixx/showonce [start|mcp|demo]`

License

MIT. Not affiliated with n8n GmbH.