Claude n8n connectorWhat Claude can do in your n8n account.
The Claude n8n connector exposes 27 tools: 14 read, 13 write, 0 undocumented. Below: what Claude sees in your n8n instance, what it can run, publish or rewrite, the switch an admin must flip first, and the tool names n8n has since changed.
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What changes when Claude can reach your instance
Instead of opening the editor to check why a workflow failed or to add a step, you describe the job to Claude. It searches your n8n instance, reads the workflow and its past runs, and can test, run or edit it from the conversation. n8n itself stays the place where the workflows live and run; Claude becomes a way to operate it by asking.
Find out why last night's run broke. search_executions lists recent runs with their status and timing, then get_execution opens the one that failed so Claude can walk you through what went wrong, node by node.
Build a workflow from a description. You explain the job in plain words. Claude reads the node catalogue with search_nodes and get_node_types, writes the code, checks it with validate_workflow, then saves it through create_workflow_from_code. Before anything touches a real service, test_workflow runs it on simulated data for the nodes that hold credentials.
Keep a small table up to date. A sales ops lead tracks partner leads in an n8n data table. add_data_table_rows inserts the new ones and add_data_table_column adds the field the team asked for.
The part the directory sheet leaves out: nothing works until an instance owner or admin turns on assistant access in n8n, and Claude can only open, run or modify workflows someone has marked as available to it. Previews of everything you can see still show up in searches. Claude does not run in the background either: it acts while you talk to it, and the scheduled runs stay n8n's job. If you want to wire n8n into other apps rather than talk to it, the n8n integrations pages cover that side.
The vocabulary in one minute
Five words you will meet while connecting n8n.
- Connector
- The link you set up once between Claude and an account you already have, so Claude can work in it while it answers you.
- Tool
- One named thing a connector lets Claude do. Claude picks the ones it needs on its own; the directory lists them by name.
- Authorization
- The service's own sign-in screen, where you hand Claude the access it will use. Given once per person, and revocable.
- Approval
- The confirmation Claude waits for before it goes ahead with something that changes your account, shown in the chat when it matters.
- MCP
- The shared standard connectors are built on: it is what lets an assistant like Claude talk to an outside service.
Connect n8n to Claude in three steps
- 01
Find n8n in the list
In Claude's settings, open Customize, then Connectors, and look for n8n. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, an Owner or Primary Owner has to enable the connector first before each member can sign in.
- 02
Start the connection
Click Connect on its row, then sign in to your n8n instance in the window n8n opens itself. If the link breaks one day, use Disconnect and connect it again from the same row.
- 03
Read the authorization screen
Read n8n's authorization screen before you approve. It belongs to n8n, not to Claude, and it sets what this client may do, for example read workflows without running them. You can revoke it later in n8n.
The 27 n8n tools, grouped by what they do
n8n gives Claude 27 tools: 14 that read your account, 13 that change something in it.
Two groups: what Claude reads in your instance, and what it runs, publishes or changes. Names stay the ones the directory sheet shows; n8n has since renamed four of them and replaced a fifth.
- 14 read
- 13 write
What Claude reads (14)
14 toolsFourteen tools that look at workflows, runs, nodes, credentials and projects without touching them.
search_workflows
Looks through the workflows you have access to, with optional filters, and returns a preview of each one rather than its full content.
get_execution
Opens one run of a workflow from its identifiers and returns its metadata by default, with the full data only when asked. n8n has renamed it since version 2.34.0.
search_executions
Filters the history of runs and returns each one's status, timing and workflow. n8n's reference now lists it under a newer name.
get_workflow_details
Returns the full description of one workflow, trigger details included.
prepare_test_pin_data
Works out which nodes of a workflow need sample data for a test and returns the expected shape of that data for each of them. It carries a new name in recent n8n versions.
list_credentials
Lists the credentials your account can use, so Claude can point a node at the right one. The secret values themselves are never returned.
search_data_tables
Finds the data tables your account can access and gives back their identifiers, the step Claude takes before touching any of them.
search_nodes
Looks up n8n nodes by service name, trigger type or utility, and returns their identifiers plus the related nodes Claude will need next.
get_node_types
Returns the exact parameter names and structures of chosen nodes: the reference Claude consults before it drafts any workflow code, so fields match what n8n expects.
get_suggested_nodes
The only official mention says this tool gave workflow-planning guidance, which n8n has since replaced with a best-practices tool. The exact content it returned is not described anywhere.
validate_workflow
Parses workflow code into a workflow and reports the errors it finds. n8n wants this check run every time, before a workflow is saved.
search_projects
Finds the n8n projects your account can access and resolves a project name into its identifier, so Claude does not guess where things belong.
search_folders
Looks for folders inside a project, which lets Claude place a workflow in the right folder.
get_sdk_reference
Returns the reference n8n publishes for building workflows in code: patterns, expression syntax, functions, rules and design guidance. Recent n8n versions expose it under a longer name.
What Claude changes (13)
13 toolsThirteen tools that run, publish, create, edit or delete in your instance. No source describes a Claude confirmation specific to them: the general rule below applies.
execute_workflow
Approval: see the ruleStarts a workflow by its identifier and hands back the run's identifier straight away, without waiting for the end. The workflow does for real whatever it is built to do.
publish_workflow
Approval: see the ruleActivates a workflow for production by turning its current draft into the active version.
unpublish_workflow
Approval: see the ruleDeactivates a workflow so it is no longer available for production runs. The workflow itself stays in the instance.
test_workflow
Approval: see the ruleRuns a workflow on sample data: trigger nodes, nodes with credentials and web request nodes are simulated, the others execute for real.
create_data_table
Approval: see the ruleSets up a new data table in n8n with the columns you specify.
rename_data_table
Approval: see the ruleGives an existing data table a new name, contents untouched.
add_data_table_column
Approval: see the ruleAdds a new column to an existing data table.
delete_data_table_column
Approval: see the ruleRemoves a column from a data table along with all the data it held.
rename_data_table_column
Approval: see the ruleChanges the name of one column in a data table and leaves its values as they are.
add_data_table_rows
Approval: see the ruleInserts rows into an existing data table, each row matching column names to values.
create_workflow_from_code
Approval: see the ruleTurns validated workflow code into a saved workflow in n8n, assigning available credentials to its nodes.
archive_workflow
Approval: see the ruleArchives a workflow in n8n from its identifier.
update_workflow
Approval: see the ruleApplies an ordered batch of targeted edits to an existing workflow, all or nothing: if one edit fails, none is saved.
What Claude asks you before acting
By default, Claude stops and asks for your go-ahead before each action it takes on an account for you. No source describes an n8n-specific confirmation on the Claude side, so that rule covers runs, publications and edits.
n8n adds its own layer. Each connected client only has the permissions granted when it connected, for example reading workflows without being able to create or run them. Workflows must also be marked as available before Claude can open, run or modify them. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, Claude's owners decide whether members may skip prompts and can restrict what the connector may do for the whole organization.
Which plans this is available on
Out of 819 directory sheets, not one shows availability by plan. The connector-by-connector answer is published nowhere: it is a real gap in the catalogue.
The general rule is public: remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner turns the connector on for the organization before members can connect. For the current state of this one, check its sheet in the official directory, the only place that shows it.
Where this connector stops
A connector is not an automation, even when it points at one. Claude calls these tools while it answers you; the schedules, webhooks and background runs remain n8n's own work.
Everything here comes from n8n's documentation and the directory sheet; Claude's help centre has no page on this connector. The tool list is an observed floor, not a promise, and n8n's reference already lists tools the sheet does not show. The verification badge is not a security audit either: Anthropic states on every sheet that it does not choose the tools a publisher exposes. The Integrations hub gathers the rest of the n8n material.
Are the tool names on the directory sheet still the ones n8n exposes?
- n8n's sheet in the Claude directory ↗September 2026Out of dateLists get_execution, search_executions, prepare_test_pin_data, get_sdk_reference and get_suggested_nodes among its tools.
- n8n's tools reference for its assistant server ↗September 2026Four of those tools were renamed in n8n 2.34.0 and the fifth was replaced; the reference also lists tools missing from the sheet.
What this page followsn8n's reference is the more recent source on names, so the sheet's list looks dated. The names Claude actually shows depend on what your own instance exposes. Check the tool list in the connector settings before relying on one.
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