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n8n SSE Trigger nodeConfigure SSE Trigger in n8n.

Some servers push updates instead of waiting to be asked. The n8n SSE Trigger node keeps an HTTP connection open to a URL you give it, and starts the workflow every time that server sends an event. One parameter to fill, no account to connect, version 1 of the node.

Try the SSE Trigger node on n8nSee the 1 parameters

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Why automate

When is the n8n SSE Trigger node the right way to start a workflow?

Server-Sent Events, or SSE, is a server push technology: a client opens one HTTP connection and the server keeps sending automatic updates down it. The SSE Trigger node is the n8n side of that client. It is a trigger, meaning it sits at the start of a workflow and decides when the rest of the nodes run. Point it at a URL that emits server-sent events, and every event that arrives becomes an execution.

The first scenario is a long-running job you did not write. Plenty of internal services expose a stream of progress updates over SSE rather than making you ask again and again. Instead of a schedule that checks a status endpoint, the workflow starts when the update lands, and the nodes behind it write the result where your team looks: a row in Postgres, a line in Google Sheets, a short message in Slack.

The second is a feed you only consume. Dashboards, queue monitors and event buses often publish a read-only SSE stream. The node handles the connection, so the workflow behind it is the interesting part: filter what matters, and let it reach a human by Gmail when a threshold is crossed.

The third is prototyping. Before wiring a permanent integration, the URL field takes any endpoint that streams events, so a test execution in the editor tells you within one run what the stream actually sends. That single listen is enough to see the shape of the payload before committing to a design.

Now the alternative. If the other system can call you instead, the Webhook node is the better fit: n8n exposes a URL, the system posts to it, and nothing has to stay connected. SSE Trigger is for the opposite direction, where the stream already exists and n8n has to listen to it. And if you simply need to read an endpoint once, or call an HTTP API that has no dedicated node, that is the job of HTTP Request, not of a trigger.

Two limits worth knowing before you build on it. The node has exactly one parameter, the URL, so anything the stream needs beyond that address has to be handled elsewhere in the workflow. And a trigger only listens in production while the workflow is active: in the editor, a test execution opens a one-off listen and stops there. Version 1 is what the current catalog describes, and an older workflow may still show an earlier version of the node.

Parameters

What goes in the one parameter?

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

01

URL

url

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

This is the address the node connects to in order to receive the server-sent events. Fill it once and the node does the rest: it opens the connection and hands each incoming event to the next node as a new execution.

Key parameters

  • URL: the URL to receive the SSE from, a required string in the shape shown by its placeholder, http://example.com. Required means the node refuses to run while it is empty.
Use cases
paste the streaming endpoint of an internal service, then activate the workflow so the node keeps listening rather than stopping after a single test run.
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FAQ

Questions people ask next

01Is the SSE Trigger node free in n8n?
Yes. SSE Trigger is a core node, shipped with n8n itself, so there is nothing to install and no extra cost on the n8n side. It behaves the same on n8n Cloud, the hosted offer run by n8n, and on an instance you host yourself with Docker or npm under the Community Edition and its Sustainable Use license. A workflow built in one place works in the other. Whatever the server on the far end of the stream charges for access is between you and that server; n8n does not add anything to it.
02What credentials does the SSE Trigger node need?
None, and that is unusual enough to be worth saying plainly. This node has no credential and no Authentication selector, so there is nothing to set up on the account side before using it. You paste a URL and the node connects. In practice that means the only thing standing between you and a first execution is having a stream to point at. If the endpoint itself is restricted, the node gives you no place to put a key, since the URL is its single parameter.
03What are the limits of the SSE Trigger node?
The node is deliberately narrow. Version 1 exposes one parameter, the URL, and nothing else: no options collection, no extra fields to add. Whatever shaping the event needs happens in the nodes after it. It also only listens continuously once the workflow is active; while you are still editing, a test execution opens a single listen and then stops, which is enough to inspect one event but not to run in production. An older workflow may display an earlier version of the node, and a node never changes version by itself.
04Should you use the n8n SSE Trigger node or the Webhook node?
It depends on which side opens the connection. With SSE Trigger, n8n is the client: it connects out to a URL and waits for the server to push events down that open HTTP connection. With Webhook, n8n is the server: it publishes a URL and the other system calls it when something happens. If the service you care about already exposes a stream of server-sent events, SSE Trigger is the direct answer. If it can send you a request instead, the Webhook node avoids holding a connection open at all. Neither replaces the other.
05n8n or Make for consuming a stream like this?
The honest answer is that they differ on hosting, data control and cost model rather than on which one is better. Make, formerly Integromat, is a hosted automation platform with no self-hosting option, billed per operation. n8n runs on its own Cloud or on your own machine with Docker or npm, which matters when the stream carries data you would rather keep inside your network. Both give you visual workflow logic. Pick on where the data sits and how you want to pay, then on which editor your team reads more comfortably.
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