n8n-deployment

n8n Deployment Skill

This skill provides production deployment and scaling guidance for n8n.

Deployment Modes

Default Mode (Development Only)

• Single process
• SQLite database
• Not suitable for production
• Limited scalability

Queue Mode (Production)

• Multiple workers via Redis
• PostgreSQL database
• Horizontal scaling
• High availability

Queue Mode Setup

Architecture

                    ┌─────────────┐
                    │   Redis     │
                    │   (Queue)   │
                    └──────┬──────┘
                           │
┌─────────────┐     ┌──────┴──────┐     ┌─────────────┐
│   Main      │────▶│   Queue     │────▶│  Worker 1   │
│  Instance   │     │             │     └─────────────┘
│ (Triggers)  │     │             │────▶│  Worker 2   │
└─────────────┘     │             │     └─────────────┘
                    │             │────▶│  Worker N   │
                    └─────────────┘     └─────────────┘
                           │
                    ┌──────┴──────┐
                    │ PostgreSQL  │
                    │ (Database)  │
                    └─────────────┘

How It Works

1. Main instance handles triggers (webhooks, schedules)
2. Main instance generates execution ID, pushes to Redis
3. Worker picks up job from Redis queue
4. Worker fetches workflow from PostgreSQL
5. Worker executes workflow
6. Worker writes results to PostgreSQL
7. Worker notifies Redis of completion

Environment Configuration

Main Instance:

# Execution mode
EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue

# Database (PostgreSQL required)
DB_TYPE=postgresdb
DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db_password

# Redis
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=redis
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PORT=6379

# Main instance settings
N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true

Worker Instance:

# Same database and Redis config as main
EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
DB_TYPE=postgresdb
# ... same DB config ...

# Worker-specific
N8N_DISABLE_UI=true
N8N_LISTEN_ADDRESS=0.0.0.0