
n8n
Made Crystal Clear
A practical, visual guide to workflow automation, from first node to paid work
n8n is the workflow automation tool that grew up: visual like the no-code platforms, but self-hostable, priced by execution instead of by step, and honest about letting you write code when a node is not enough. This guide takes you from your first workflow to dependable automations you can run for yourself or sell to clients: triggers, nodes, data mapping, error handling, AI agent workflows, self-hosting, and the freelance math the forums keep asking about, explained visually and hands-on.
- Pages
- 180
- Level
- Beginner to advanced
- Status
- Available
Inside the book
- 01The Automation Tool That Grew Up
- 02How n8n Thinks: Workflows, Nodes, Items
- 03Your First Workflow, Properly
- 04Expressions and Data Mapping
- 05The Two Workhorses: HTTP Request and Webhook
- 06Flow Logic: Branches, Loops, and Sub-Workflows
- 07Credentials, Done Right
- 08When Workflows Die: Error Handling
- 09Self-Hosting Without Tears
- 10AI in Workflows: Agents on Rails
- 11Running It Like a Professional
- 12The Money Chapter: Metering, Plans, and Client Math
- 13The Path to Paid Work, and What to Learn Next
You'll leave with
- Understand how n8n thinks: triggers, nodes, items, and the data passing between them
- Build your first workflow in minutes and know why it works
- Master data mapping: JSON, expressions, and transforming items between nodes
For teams
Put n8n on every desk at your company.
One licence, every book in the series, one link for everyone. From $250 a year.
Sources
Every source cited in n8n Made Crystal Clear. Each number matches the [n] marker next to that link in the book's "Go deeper" lists, so you can trace any claim back to its origin.
- [1]n8n docs home
- [2]Welcome to n8n
- [3]Choose how to use n8n
- [4]Build your first workflow
- [5]n8n pricing
- [6]Zapier vs n8n vs Make vs custom code (NodeSparks)
- [7]Understand n8n's data structure
- [8]How items link through workflows
- [9]Understand executions
- [10]Node types
- [11]Key concept glossary
- [12]Workflow components
- [13]docs.n8n.io/build/ways-of-building-workflows/use-templates
- [14]n8n.io/workflows
- [15]Expressions for data transformation (official docs)
- [16]Expression reference (official docs)
- [17]Node output data (official docs)
- [18]Expressions versus data nodes (official docs)
- [19]Code node reference (official docs)
- [20]Using the Code node (official docs)
- [21]HTTP Request node reference (official docs)
- [22]Pagination cookbook (official docs)
- [23]Webhook node reference (official docs)
- [24]Developing with a webhook (official docs)
- [25]Webhook common issues (official docs)
- [26]If node reference
- [27]Switch node reference
- [28]Merge node reference
- [29]Loop Over Items (Split In Batches) reference
- [30]Break workflows into smaller parts
- [31]Execute Sub-workflow node reference
- [32]Create and edit credentials
- [33]Set a custom encryption key
- [34]Rotate encryption keys
- [35]Share credentials securely
- [36]Use external secret stores
- [37]Securing n8n
- [38]Use Git in n8n
- [39]GitHub issue 12949
- [40]Handle errors gracefully
- [41]Error Trigger node reference
- [42]Stop And Error node reference
- [43]Configure workflow settings
- [44]Work with nodes
- [45]"The 5 ways an n8n workflow dies that your Error Trigger will never catch"
- [46]github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/LICENSE.md
- [47]docs.n8n.io/privacy-and-security/sustainable-use-license
- [48]faircode.io
- [49]blog.n8n.io/announcing-new-sustainable-use-license/
- [50]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n
- [51]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/install-options/install-using-docker-compose
- [52]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/choose-n8ns-database
- [53]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/scaling/enable-queue-mode
- [54]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/keep-n8n-running/update-n8n
- [55]github.com/n8n-io/n8n-hosting
- [56]Integrate AI (official docs)
- [57]AI Agent node reference (official docs)
- [58]What agents do (official docs)
- [59]Agents versus chains (official docs)
- [60]How memory works (official docs)
- [61]How tools work (official docs)
- [62]What chains do (official docs)
- [63]Basic LLM Chain reference (official docs)
- [64]LangChain in n8n (official docs)
- [65]Workflow history (official docs)
- [66]Tag workflows (official docs)
- [67]Source control and environments (official docs)
- [68]Work with environments (official docs)
- [69]Track usage with Insights (official docs)
- [70]Log streaming (official docs)
- [71]Set up logging (official docs)
- [72]Execution environment variables (official docs)
- [73]Zapier pricing (official)
- [74]Make pricing (official)
Also in the series
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