🔌 N8N Node MCP Server

🔌 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

1. list_all_nodes - Get a comprehensive list of all N8N nodes from both core and AI packages
2. list_ai_nodes - List specifically AI/LangChain nodes (agents, chains, LLMs, vector stores, etc.)
3. get_node_details - Retrieve detailed information about any node including its package location
4. search_nodes - Search for nodes by keyword across both core and AI packages
5. get_node_code_snippet - View the source code of any node to understand its implementation
6. list_community_nodes - Discover community-contributed N8N nodes available on npm
7. 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

1. Clone the repository:

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

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. 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):

1. 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

2. 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

1. Install the MCP inspector:

npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

2. 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

3. 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

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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.