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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

  1. 01The Automation Tool That Grew Up
  2. 02How n8n Thinks: Workflows, Nodes, Items
  3. 03Your First Workflow, Properly
  4. 04Expressions and Data Mapping
  5. 05The Two Workhorses: HTTP Request and Webhook
  6. 06Flow Logic: Branches, Loops, and Sub-Workflows
  7. 07Credentials, Done Right
  8. 08When Workflows Die: Error Handling
  9. 09Self-Hosting Without Tears
  10. 10AI in Workflows: Agents on Rails
  11. 11Running It Like a Professional
  12. 12The Money Chapter: Metering, Plans, and Client Math
  13. 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.

See the team licences

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. [1]n8n docs home
  2. [2]Welcome to n8n
  3. [3]Choose how to use n8n
  4. [4]Build your first workflow
  5. [5]n8n pricing
  6. [6]Zapier vs n8n vs Make vs custom code (NodeSparks)
  7. [7]Understand n8n's data structure
  8. [8]How items link through workflows
  9. [9]Understand executions
  10. [10]Node types
  11. [11]Key concept glossary
  12. [12]Workflow components
  13. [13]docs.n8n.io/build/ways-of-building-workflows/use-templates
  14. [14]n8n.io/workflows
  15. [15]Expressions for data transformation (official docs)
  16. [16]Expression reference (official docs)
  17. [17]Node output data (official docs)
  18. [18]Expressions versus data nodes (official docs)
  19. [19]Code node reference (official docs)
  20. [20]Using the Code node (official docs)
  21. [21]HTTP Request node reference (official docs)
  22. [22]Pagination cookbook (official docs)
  23. [23]Webhook node reference (official docs)
  24. [24]Developing with a webhook (official docs)
  25. [25]Webhook common issues (official docs)
  26. [26]If node reference
  27. [27]Switch node reference
  28. [28]Merge node reference
  29. [29]Loop Over Items (Split In Batches) reference
  30. [30]Break workflows into smaller parts
  31. [31]Execute Sub-workflow node reference
  32. [32]Create and edit credentials
  33. [33]Set a custom encryption key
  34. [34]Rotate encryption keys
  35. [35]Share credentials securely
  36. [36]Use external secret stores
  37. [37]Securing n8n
  38. [38]Use Git in n8n
  39. [39]GitHub issue 12949
  40. [40]Handle errors gracefully
  41. [41]Error Trigger node reference
  42. [42]Stop And Error node reference
  43. [43]Configure workflow settings
  44. [44]Work with nodes
  45. [45]"The 5 ways an n8n workflow dies that your Error Trigger will never catch"
  46. [46]github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/LICENSE.md
  47. [47]docs.n8n.io/privacy-and-security/sustainable-use-license
  48. [48]faircode.io
  49. [49]blog.n8n.io/announcing-new-sustainable-use-license/
  50. [50]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n
  51. [51]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/install-options/install-using-docker-compose
  52. [52]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/choose-n8ns-database
  53. [53]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/scaling/enable-queue-mode
  54. [54]docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/keep-n8n-running/update-n8n
  55. [55]github.com/n8n-io/n8n-hosting
  56. [56]Integrate AI (official docs)
  57. [57]AI Agent node reference (official docs)
  58. [58]What agents do (official docs)
  59. [59]Agents versus chains (official docs)
  60. [60]How memory works (official docs)
  61. [61]How tools work (official docs)
  62. [62]What chains do (official docs)
  63. [63]Basic LLM Chain reference (official docs)
  64. [64]LangChain in n8n (official docs)
  65. [65]Workflow history (official docs)
  66. [66]Tag workflows (official docs)
  67. [67]Source control and environments (official docs)
  68. [68]Work with environments (official docs)
  69. [69]Track usage with Insights (official docs)
  70. [70]Log streaming (official docs)
  71. [71]Set up logging (official docs)
  72. [72]Execution environment variables (official docs)
  73. [73]Zapier pricing (official)
  74. [74]Make pricing (official)

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