🔌 N8N Node MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides seamless access to N8N node information directly from N8N's GitHub repository. Query, search, and explore N8N's extensive node ecosystem through Claude Desktop, including both core nodes and AI/LangChain nodes.

🤔 What is this?

This project combines two powerful technologies:

MCP (Model Context Protocol): An open protocol that enables seamless integration between AI assistants and external data sources
N8N: A powerful workflow automation tool with hundreds of integrations

This MCP server allows Claude Desktop to directly access N8N's node repository, making it easy to discover nodes, understand their capabilities, and get implementation details for both core nodes and AI/LangChain nodes.

✨ Features

Available Tools

list_all_nodes - Get a comprehensive list of all N8N nodes from both core and AI packages
list_ai_nodes - List specifically AI/LangChain nodes (agents, chains, LLMs, vector stores, etc.)
get_node_details - Retrieve detailed information about any node including its package location
search_nodes - Search for nodes by keyword across both core and AI packages
get_node_code_snippet - View the source code of any node to understand its implementation
list_community_nodes - Discover community-contributed N8N nodes available on npm
check_rate_limit - Check your current GitHub API rate limit status

Node Coverage

This server provides access to:

Core Nodes (~300+): All standard N8N nodes from packages/nodes-base/
AI/LangChain Nodes: All AI-powered nodes from packages/@n8n/nodes-langchain/ including:
- AI Agents
- AI Chains
- LLM integrations (OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, etc.)
- Vector Stores (Pinecone, Qdrant, etc.)
- Embeddings
- Memory systems
- Output parsers
- AI tools

📋 Prerequisites

Node.js 16.0 or higher
npm or npx
Claude Desktop application
(Optional) GitHub Personal Access Token for higher rate limits

🚀 Installation

Option A: Using npx (Recommended - No Installation)

Simply configure Claude Desktop to use npx directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "n8n-nodes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@ari-json/n8n-node-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B: Global Installation

npm install -g @ari-json/n8n-node-mcp-server

Then configure Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "n8n-nodes": {
      "command": "n8n-node-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option C: Local Development

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/ari-json/n8n-node-mcp-server.git
cd n8n-node-mcp-server

Install dependencies:

npm install

Configure Claude Desktop to use the local installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "n8n-nodes": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/n8n-node-mcp-server/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

⚙️ Configuration

Configuration File Location

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

GitHub Token Setup (Recommended)

To avoid GitHub API rate limits (60 requests/hour → 5,000 requests/hour):

Create a GitHub Personal Access Token:
- Go to https://github.com/settings/tokens
- Click "Generate new token (classic)"
- Give it a name like "N8N MCP Server"
- No special permissions needed (public repo access only)
- Copy the token
Add the token to your Claude Desktop config as shown in the installation options above

Important:

Replace ghp_your_token_here with your actual GitHub token
Keep your token secure and never commit it to version control

💬 Usage Examples

Once configured, you can interact with N8N nodes through Claude Desktop:

Example Prompts

Check API rate limit:

"What's my GitHub API rate limit status?"

List all available nodes:

"Show me all the N8N nodes available"

List AI/LangChain nodes:

"Show me all AI and LangChain nodes in N8N"

Search for specific integrations:

"Find all N8N nodes related to OpenAI"
"Search for vector store nodes"

Get node details:

"Tell me about the AI Agent node in N8N"
"What can the OpenAI Chat Model node do?"

View node implementation:

"Show me the code for the AI Agent node"

Discover community nodes:

"What community N8N nodes are available?"

Expected Responses

Claude will use the MCP tools to fetch real-time information from N8N's repository and provide detailed responses about nodes, their configurations, and capabilities.

🧪 Testing

Testing the Server Directly

# Without token
node index.js

# With token
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your_token_here node index.js

Using MCP Inspector

Install the MCP inspector:

npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Run the inspector:

# If installed globally
mcp-inspector n8n-node-mcp-server

# If using npx
mcp-inspector npx @ari-json/n8n-node-mcp-server

# If running locally
mcp-inspector node index.js

Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser to test the tools interactively

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Server not responding" in Claude Desktop

Ensure Node.js is installed: node --version
Test the server directly: npx @ari-json/n8n-node-mcp-server
Check your Claude Desktop configuration syntax

"Module not found" errors

Clear npm cache: npm cache clean --force
Reinstall: npm install -g @ari-json/n8n-node-mcp-server@latest

Rate limiting from GitHub

Without a token: 60 requests/hour limit
With a token: 5,000 requests/hour limit
Check your rate limit status using the tool
Add a GitHub token to your configuration (see above)

"401 Unauthorized" errors

Your GitHub token may be invalid or expired
Generate a new token and update your configuration

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details on:

Reporting issues
Suggesting features
Submitting pull requests
Code style guidelines

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

N8N for their amazing workflow automation tool
Anthropic for the MCP specification
The open-source community for continuous inspiration

Note: This project is not officially affiliated with N8N or Anthropic. It's a community tool built to enhance the N8N experience within Claude Desktop.

MCP Servers