Resources · n8n integration

n8n If nodeConfigure If in n8n.

The n8n If node sends each item down one of two branches, true or false. Every item that arrives is tested against the conditions you set, then leaves through the matching output. Two parameters cover the whole node: Conditions and Options. Useful the moment a workflow stops being a straight line.

Try the If node on n8nSee the 2 parameters

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Why automate

What does the n8n If node do in a workflow?

The n8n If node applies binary conditional logic: it reads each incoming item, evaluates one or more comparisons against it, and routes that item to the true output or the false output. It handles four condition types, Bool, String, Number, and Date & Time, so a text match, a numeric threshold and a date cutoff all live in the same node. Nothing is filtered away: both branches stay available, and you decide what runs on each side.

Think of it as the fork in the road. A run pulls rows from Google Sheets, and only the rows with an amount above a threshold should go to the billing branch. One condition on the amount field, and the rest of the workflow splits cleanly instead of guarding every later node.

A second pattern: an inbox watcher reads messages, and the If node checks the sender or the subject before anything noisy happens. Matching messages continue to a Slack alert, the others leave through the false output and go to a quiet log. Same idea when a Gmail step should only fire for a subset of items.

Third, it acts as a guard in front of an expensive call. Before hitting an API with HTTP Request, test that the identifier you need is actually present in the item, with an expression such as {{ $json.customerId }}. A required field that arrives empty stops the node, so checking first keeps the run readable.

When do you reach for something else? If you need more than two conditional outputs, the Switch node is the right tool: the If node only ever exposes true and false. And the node does not start anything on its own. A trigger comes first, a Schedule Trigger, a Webhook, or the trigger of the tool you are working with. The If node then runs on each item that reaches it.

One more thing worth knowing before you build: conditions are evaluated per item, so a batch of twenty rows produces twenty independent decisions rather than a single verdict on the batch. If the two branches need to come back together later, the Merge node exists for exactly that. Teams that want the whole routing pattern walked through live can look at the n8n training, and the n8n review covers how the platform compares elsewhere.

Parameters

Which parameters does the If node expose?

The If node has 2 parameters. For each one: the node as you configure it in n8n, what the parameter changes, and our field notes.

01

Conditions

conditions

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

This is where the routing decision lives. Each condition picks a data type and a comparison from the dropdown, and the fields to fill change to match.

Key parameters

  • Conditions: the filter itself, built one line at a time from the Add Condition placeholder. The left side usually comes from the item, as an expression like {{ $json.status }}, a small formula n8n resolves at run time. With two or more lines, the dropdown between them selects AND, where every condition must hold, or OR, where one match is enough.
Use cases
keep orders above a value on the true branch, or combine a status and a date with AND so only recent open records continue.
02

Options

options

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

Two switches sit behind Add option, and neither appears in the panel until you add it. Both change how a comparison is judged rather than what is compared.

Key parameters

  • Ignore Case: tells the node to ignore letter case while evaluating conditions, so a value stored in capitals still matches a lowercase comparison.
  • Convert types where required: when the type of an expression does not match the type of the comparison, n8n casts it to the required type. For booleans, "false" or 0 become false.
Use cases
match a country code typed inconsistently across a spreadsheet, or accept a numeric flag that arrives as text.
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FAQ

Common questions about the If node

01Is the If node included with n8n?
Yes. It is a core node, shipped with n8n, so there is nothing to install and no extra cost on n8n's side. You get the same node on n8n Cloud, the hosted offer run by n8n, and on a self-hosted instance installed with Docker or npm under the Community Edition and its Sustainable Use license. A workflow behaves the same way in both places, which matters if you prototype on Cloud and later move the automation onto your own server. The node appears in the nodes panel as soon as a workflow exists, and the version described here is version 2.
02What do you need to set up before using the n8n If node?
Nothing on the account side. The If node has no credential and no Authentication selector, so there is no key to paste, no scope to grant and no connection to test. That is unusual for an n8n node and it makes this one quick to adopt. What it does need is data: the node runs on each item that reaches it, and it does not open a workflow by itself. Put a trigger in front of it, a Schedule Trigger, a Webhook, or the trigger of the tool you are automating, and make sure the field your condition reads is actually present in the incoming item.
03What are the limits of the If node?
The main one is the shape of the node: two outputs, true and false, and no third path. Anything more branching than that belongs in the Switch node. The parameter surface is deliberately small too, with a Conditions filter and an Options collection holding Ignore Case and Convert types where required. Conditions are evaluated per item rather than across the batch, so a decision applies to one item at a time. Finally, a workflow built a while ago may still show an older version of the node with fewer options, and a node never upgrades itself.
04If node or Switch node?
Ask how many roads leave the fork. With two outcomes, true and false, the If node is the simpler and more readable choice, and the AND or OR dropdown lets a single node handle several combined tests. As soon as a third outcome appears, for instance routing by plan tier or by country, the Switch node is the one to use: the If node cannot add outputs. A common middle ground is to keep If for the yes or no guard at the top of a workflow, then let Switch handle finer routing further down the branch.
05n8n or Make for conditional routing?
Both do it, and the choice rarely comes down to the branching itself. n8n can be self-hosted with Docker or npm, so the data being evaluated stays on your own infrastructure, and it also runs as a hosted service on n8n Cloud. Make is a hosted platform with no self-hosting option, billed per operation, which is worth modeling if your workflow tests thousands of items. The other axis is how you like to think: n8n exposes expressions such as an item field written inline, which suits people comfortable reading data, while Make leans more on its visual mapping.
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