Resources · n8n integration

n8n Edit Fields (Set) nodeConfigure Edit Fields (Set) in n8n.

Almost every workflow needs a node that reshapes data before the next step. The n8n Edit Fields (Set) node does that job: it adds fields, overwrites them, and decides what the rest of the input becomes. Seven parameters cover mapping, duplication and binary data.

Try the Edit Fields (Set) node on n8nSee the 7 parameters

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What does the n8n Edit Fields (Set) node do?

Edit Fields (Set) modifies, adds or removes fields on the items running through a workflow. It sits between two nodes and hands the next one a clean, predictable shape: the field names you chose, the values you built, and only the input data you decided to keep. n8n ships it as a core node, so it runs on Cloud and on self-hosted instances alike.

The first scenario is the one most builders hit on day one. A trigger delivers an item with field names nobody chose, and the destination expects something else. Set Mode to Manual Mapping, drag the values across, and the row that lands in Google Sheets has the column names of the sheet instead of the raw names of the source.

The second one is assembling a payload. When a workflow calls an API through HTTP Request, the body often needs nested keys that no upstream node produces. The JSON mode writes that object directly, expressions included, and Support Dot Notation decides whether a name like number.one nests or stays flat.

The third one is trimming. A large item carrying forty fields slows nothing down, but it makes the next panel unreadable and leaks data you would rather not send to Slack or to Gmail. Include in Output with All Input Fields Except, plus a short list in Fields to Exclude, keeps the item readable.

When should another node take over? Edit Fields shapes values one field at a time. As soon as the logic loops, branches on arrays or needs a function, the Code node fits better. And a value that exists nowhere upstream has to be fetched first, by the dedicated node of the tool or by HTTP Request, before Edit Fields can put it in place.

The limits are worth knowing before the first run. The node has no operations and no credential, so nothing here reaches an external service. It processes the items it receives, which means an empty input produces no output at all. And Ignore Type Conversion Errors only exists for Manual Mapping, so a broken value in JSON mode fails the execution rather than passing through. The n8n review covers how the platform behaves around that.

Parameters

Which parameters does the node expose?

The Edit Fields (Set) node has 7 parameters. For each one: the node as you configure it in n8n, what the parameter changes, and our field notes.

01

Mode

mode

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

Mode picks how you describe the output: through the interface, or by writing the object yourself. It is the first choice to make, because the rest of the panel changes with it.

Key parameters

  • Manual Mapping (manual): edit item fields one by one, which opens Fields to Set where each field gets a name and a value.
  • JSON (raw): customize item output with JSON, typed into the JSON field, expressions such as {{ $json.id }} included.
Use cases
Manual Mapping for three or four fields renamed before a database insert. JSON when the payload needs nested objects or arrays that the field list cannot express.
02

Duplicate Item

duplicateItem

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

Turned on, this copies the item a set number of times instead of passing it along once. It is a debugging switch, not a way to build volume.

Key parameters

  • Duplicate Item (duplicateItem): whether this item should be duplicated a set number of times.
  • Duplicate Item Count (duplicateCount): how many times the item is duplicated, mainly used for testing and debugging.
Use cases
feeding a downstream node several identical items to see how it handles a batch, without waiting for a real trigger to deliver them.
03

Include in Output

include

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

This decides what happens to the input fields you did not touch. Left alone, it is the single most common reason a field disappears further down a workflow.

Key parameters

  • All Input Fields (all): also include all unchanged fields from the input.
  • No Input Fields (none): include only the fields specified above.
  • Selected Input Fields (selected) and Fields to Include: a comma separated list of field names to keep.
  • All Input Fields Except (except) and Fields to Exclude: the same list, read the other way around.
Use cases
dropping an internal identifier before the item reaches a public form response, while every other field carries on untouched.
04

Include Binary File

options.includeBinary

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

Items can carry binary data next to their JSON, a PDF or an image attached upstream. This option says whether that payload travels through the node.

Key parameters

  • Include Binary File (includeBinary): whether binary data should be included if present in the input item.
Use cases
an invoice downloaded earlier in the workflow keeps its file while its metadata gets renamed, so the node that uploads it still finds something to send.
05

Strip Binary Data

options.stripBinary

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

The mirror image of the previous option. Here the file is deliberately dropped, so only the JSON part of the item continues.

Key parameters

  • Strip Binary Data (stripBinary): whether binary data should be stripped from the input item. Only applies when Include Other Input Fields is enabled.
Use cases
a workflow that read an attachment and now only needs the extracted text, where dragging the file through every remaining node serves no purpose.
06

Ignore Type Conversion Errors

options.ignoreConversionErrors

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

Each field in Manual Mapping has a type. When the incoming value does not match it, the execution stops. This option relaxes that check.

Key parameters

  • Ignore Type Conversion Errors (ignoreConversionErrors): ignore field type errors and apply a less strict type conversion. Manual Mapping only.
Use cases
a date arriving as text in some items and as a number in others, where stopping the whole run on the odd one out costs more than a loose conversion.
07

Support Dot Notation

options.dotNotation

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

By default a dot inside a field name builds a nested object. Switching this off makes the dot part of the name itself.

Key parameters

  • Support Dot Notation (dotNotation): on, a name of number.one with a value of 20 produces { "number": { "one": 20 } }; off, it produces { "number.one": 20 }.
Use cases
an API whose own field names contain dots, where nesting them would send a structure the endpoint never expects.
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FAQ

Questions builders ask about this node

01Is the Edit Fields (Set) node included in n8n?
Yes. Edit Fields (Set) is a core node shipped with n8n, on n8n Cloud and on a self-hosted instance alike. There is nothing to install, no package to add, and no extra cost on the n8n side for using it. A workflow built with it behaves the same way whichever hosting you picked, which matters when a workflow moves from a local instance to Cloud or the other way around. The node calls no external service, so it also adds nothing to any third party bill.
02What do you need to set up before using it?
Nothing on the account side. The node has no credential and no Authentication selector, so there is no key to create, no scope to grant and no connection to test. That is unusual enough to say plainly. What it does need is an incoming item: the node runs on each item it receives and does not open a workflow, so a trigger comes first, whether that is a Schedule Trigger, a Webhook or the trigger of a tool. Values coming from that earlier node are referenced with an expression such as {{ $json.field }}.
03What are the limits of the n8n Edit Fields (Set) node?
It shapes fields, and only that. There are no operations to call and no API behind it, so anything that has to be fetched, looked up or sent belongs to another node. Ignore Type Conversion Errors applies to Manual Mapping only, which means a malformed value in JSON mode stops the execution. The page describes version 3 of the node, the highest one in the catalog: an older workflow may show an earlier version with fewer options, and a node never changes version on its own.
04Edit Fields or the Code node?
Take Edit Fields when the work is naming and assigning values. A handful of fields renamed, a payload assembled, unused input dropped through Include in Output: the panel says what happens without anybody reading code. Take Code when the logic itself is the point, when a loop, a condition or a transformation across several items is involved. A useful signal is the JSON mode. If the object you are typing there needs logic to build rather than expressions to fill, that logic belongs in Code.
05n8n or Make for this kind of data mapping?
Both reshape data between two steps, so the choice happens elsewhere. n8n can be self-hosted with Docker or npm, or used on n8n Cloud, and the workflow is identical either way, which matters when the data passing through this node should stay on your own infrastructure. Make is hosted only, with no self-hosting option, and is billed per operation, so a workflow that reshapes many items has a cost that follows its volume. Visual logic differs too, and that is largely a matter of habit.
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