n8n-cli

Execute n8n operations using the repo-owned launcher at `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n`. All n8n interactions should use that explicit launcher path. The canonical launcher for this repo is `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n`. On this host, Homebrew also provides unrelated `n8n` and `n8n-cli` binaries, so do not rely on bare command names.

The repo-owned n8n CLI follows this pattern:

$HOME/.local/bin/n8n <command-group> <action> [arguments] [options]

Task	Command
List workflows	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n workflows list --table
Get workflow detail	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n workflows get <workflow_id>
Trigger a workflow	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n workflows execute <workflow_id>
Query recent executions	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n executions list --filter created_at:gte:2026-04-11 --table
Get execution detail	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n executions get <execution_id>
List credentials	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n credentials list --table
Update credential data (JSON piped on stdin)	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n credentials update <credential_id> --data-stdin --name "New Name"
List data-table rows	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n data-tables rows <table_id> --table
Check server version	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n server version
Check auth status	$HOME/.local/bin/n8n auth status
</quick_start>

**MANDATORY: Consult the adjacent `usage.json` at `/_repo/skills/-cli/usage.json` before executing ANY repo-owned `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n` command.** This file contains complete command syntax, all arguments, all options, and usage instructions for every command. Never guess at command syntax. This host already has upstream/vendor Homebrew binaries named both `n8n` and `n8n-cli`. `command -v n8n` can resolve to `/opt/homebrew/bin/n8n`, where `n8n auth status -t` fails with `Error: Command "auth" not found`, and `command -v n8n-cli` can also resolve to Homebrew. The durable repo contract is: **always invoke the repo-owned launcher as `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n`**.

Use command -v n8n / type -a n8n only to diagnose a collision; do not use
their output as permission to run bare n8n in automation. If you intentionally
repair PATH for an interactive shell, prepend $HOME/.local/bin and clear the
shell command cache (hash -r in Bash), but repo-owned docs, skills, and
automation should still prefer the explicit launcher path.

Use `usage.json` as the primary syntax source. Do not run unbounded n8n group-level help probes or unbounded local Node source-inspection probes against global n8n `node_modules` paths. `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n data-tables --help` is known to hang for over 40 seconds and can exit `130` after Ctrl+C with no output; a local Node heredoc reading `/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/n8n-nodes-base/dist/nodes/DataTable/DataTable.node.js` has shown the same failure shape. If live help or local source inspection is required, select the leaf command or exact source path from `usage.json` or the repo-owned n8n CLI source, capture stdout/stderr under the task workspace, and run it with an explicit deadline. Treat a timeout as blocker evidence, not as successful command discovery. `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n workflows list` has no `--json` option. The command's default stdout is JSON; `--table` switches to table output. For machine parsing, run `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n workflows list --properties "id,name,active"` without `--json`, save stdout to a file, verify the command status and non-empty file, then parse. For human display, use `--table`. The supported options are the ones in `usage.json`: `--table`, `--limit`, `--filter`, `--properties`, `--active`, and `--profile`. - **auth** -- login, logout, status, refresh, test credentials - **auth** -- Authentication commands and nested `auth profiles` management - **cache** -- manage the local response cache - **workflows** -- list, get, create, update, delete, activate, deactivate, export, execute, assign-error-handler, node - **nodes** -- test, create, deploy, remove, install, list, get community node packages - **credentials** -- list, get, create, update, delete, rename, schema for server credentials - **data-tables** -- CRUD on n8n Data Tables (list, get, create, delete, columns, rows, insert, update-rows, delete-rows) - **executions** -- query execution history (list, get, events via SSH) - **server** -- upgrade, version, restart, logs, config All list commands support `--filter/-f` using `field:op:value` syntax. Operators: `eq`, `ne`, `gt`, `gte`, `lt`, `lte`, `in`, `nin`, `like`, `ilike`, `null`, `notnull`, `contains`, `startswith`, `endswith`. Examples: `--filter name:contains:sync`, `--filter active:eq:true`, `--filter created_at:gte:2026-04-11`. `$HOME/.local/bin/n8n workflows create` emits the created workflow JSON on stdout. When a later step needs the workflow ID, save stdout to a file, verify the create command exited `0`, then parse `.id` from that JSON with `jq -r '.id'` or another JSON parser. Do not grep for labels such as `id:`; JSON uses `"id":`, and an unguarded no-match can make a successful create look failed. </essential_principles> **`usage.json`** -- Complete command tree with arguments, options, defaults, and usage instructions for every command. </reference_index> - Command executes without error - Output is displayed in requested format - Correct command and flags used (verified against usage.json) </success_criteria>