n8n-self-hosting

n8n-self-hosting is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from czlonkowski/n8n-mcp. It costs 265 tokens per session (3,194 once invoked), scanned B, original, MIT.

Instructions for deploying n8n on your own fresh Linux server using Docker Compose, with Caddy handling HTTPS. n8n is a workflow automation tool, Docker Compose runs its services, and HTTPS encrypts browser and service traffic.

In plain words
What is it for?
Installing self-hosted n8n on a virtual machine or physical server, choosing between a simpler single-process setup and a scaled queue setup, launching it, and verifying secure access.
Why use it?
They provide an end-to-end deployment approach instead of leaving server setup, secrets, TLS, and service checks to manual guesswork.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one.

Good fit Installing self-hosted n8n on a virtual machine or physical server, choosing between a simpler single-process setup and a scaled queue setup, launching it, and verifying secure access.

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Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/n8n-self-hosting
About the project

n8n-MCP is a Model Context Protocol server that gives AI assistants structured knowledge of n8n's workflow-automation nodes, including their properties, operations, documentation, and examples. It helps developers use AI assistants to create and work with n8n workflows. The catalogue contains skills, agents, and instructions for using it.

czlonkowski/n8n-mcp · 22,861 stars · on GitHub · n8n-mcp.com

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add czlonkowski/n8n-mcp --skill n8n-self-hosting
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for n8n-self-hosting

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/n8n-self-hosting/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/n8n-self-hosting)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/n8n-self-hosting"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/n8n-self-hosting/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for n8n-self-hosting

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/n8n-self-hosting"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/n8n-self-hosting.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 265 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 3,194 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan B 2 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe. Third-party audits
  • NVIDIA SkillSpector warn 7 Sept 2026
SkillSpector: 4 findings, up to medium

These are SkillSpector’s own severities. On a checked sample its high-severity flags on skills were ~96% false positives — a documented command, a public API, a “never do X” rule — so we show them as a caution to read, not a verdict. Why →

  • medium Privilege Escalation · line 8
    Commands invoke sudo or root privileges. Verify this elevated access is necessary and justified.
    Fix: Avoid sudo/root unless strictly required. Prefer least-privilege patterns. If elevation is needed, document the justification and scope.
  • medium Privilege Escalation · line 58
    Commands invoke sudo or root privileges. Verify this elevated access is necessary and justified.
    Fix: Avoid sudo/root unless strictly required. Prefer least-privilege patterns. If elevation is needed, document the justification and scope.
  • medium Data Exfiltration · line 75
    Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.
    Fix: Verify the destination URL is trusted and necessary. Remove or replace with documented APIs. Ensure no secrets, tokens, or PII are transmitted.
  • medium Privilege Escalation · line 110
    Commands invoke sudo or root privileges. Verify this elevated access is necessary and justified.
    Fix: Avoid sudo/root unless strictly required. Prefer least-privilege patterns. If elevation is needed, document the justification and scope.
How audits are shown
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00265 $0.03194
Opus 5 $0.00133 $0.01597
Sonnet 5 $0.00053 $0.00639
Haiku 4.5 $0.00026 $0.00319

Measured 12d ago against content hash 78fe6b10d383, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-11, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade B, and why

n8n-self-hosting scanned grade B with 2 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 12d ago.

The scan reads SKILL.md. This mod also ships 1 executable file (assets/init-data.sh), listed below but not scanned — reading those needs a real analyzer, not pattern matching.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Asks for rootmediumPrivilege escalation

A mod that escalates privileges can change anything on the machine, not only the project.

This skill takes a **fresh Linux VM** (Ubuntu/Debian, root or sudo SSH) to a **running,

Makes network callslowCapability

Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.

- **DNS must already point at the box.** Compare the box's public IP (`curl -s ifconfig.me`)
Origin

Copies of this mod

4 near-identical copies found in the catalogue:

data/skills/n8n-self-hosting/SKILL.md · 173 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 173 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Deploying self-hosted n8n

This skill takes a fresh Linux VM (Ubuntu/Debian, root or sudo SSH) to a running, HTTPS, production n8n via Docker Compose behind Caddy (automatic Let's Encrypt TLS). It is for self-hosted n8n on Docker — not n8n Cloud, and not for building workflows (that's the rest of this pack).

Two deployment modes. The architectures differ, so pick the mode before doing anything.

You drive this end-to-end over SSH: preflight → install Docker → lay down the project → generate secrets → launch → verify TLS → hand off. The template files live in assets/; the per-mode and security depth live in the reference files named below.

Rule 0 — choose the mode (ask the user)

Do not guess. Ask, then commit to one:

Single / regular Queue
Processes one n8n main + N workers
Extra services none (SQLite) Redis (queue) + Postgres (DB)
Executes workflows in the main process on workers, in parallel
Good for 1 user, light/moderate load, simplest ops high volume, heavy/long executions, horizontal scale
Compose assets/docker-compose.single.yml assets/docker-compose.queue.yml
Deep dive SINGLE_MODE.md QUEUE_MODE.md

If unsure, start single — it's the simplest correct thing and covers most needs. Moving to queue later means swapping the compose file and migrating SQLite→Postgres, so if the user already expects real volume, start queue.

Rule 1 — secret hygiene (non-negotiable)

A misstep here leaks client credentials. Be diligent:

  1. Generate every secret fresh, on the target box. Never copy an encryption key, DB password, or .env from another n8n instance into this one. See SECURITY.md for the openssl commands.
  2. Secrets live only in .env (mode 600), referenced by the compose as ${VAR}. Never inline a secret into docker-compose.yml, the Caddyfile, or anything you commit.
  3. The N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY is sacred. It encrypts every stored credential. If it's lost or changes, all saved credentials become undecryptable. Set it explicitly, and tell the user to back it up off the box. Don't echo it into long-lived logs or chat history beyond what's needed to hand it over.
  4. Never expose internal services. Only Caddy (80/443) is public. n8n (5678), Postgres (5432), Redis (6379) stay on the private Docker network — the templates already omit their host port mappings. Don't add them.
  5. .env and Caddy's caddy_data volume (the issued certs + ACME account key) are not artifacts to share. If you're working inside a git repo, confirm .env is git-ignored before any commit.

Read the full file on GitHub · 173 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 12d ago First seen · 173 lines · 265 tokens per session scan B 78fe6b10d383

Subscribe to this mod's changes

n8n-self-hosting is a skill published in the GitHub repository czlonkowski/n8n-mcp (22,861 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed MIT. It adds 265 tokens to every session and 3,194 once invoked, about $0.0013 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it B with 2 findings (asks for root, makes network calls). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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