Workflow Building Strategies
Use Plan Mode
In Cursor/Claude Code, use plan mode to break down complex workflow tasks into smaller, manageable steps before implementation.
Break Down Big Tasks
Split large workflow projects into smaller tasks: node discovery → validation → building → testing. This improves accuracy and makes debugging easier.
Be Detailed in Requests
Specify exact node names, operations, parameters, and expected behavior. Clear, detailed requirements lead to better workflows and fewer iterations.
Start with Node Search
Use
search_nodes({query: "your-node", includeExamples: true}) to find nodes (core & community) with real-world configuration examples.Discovery & Research
1
Search by Functionality
Start with a broad search to discover available nodes:Use
includeExamples: true to see how the nodes are configured in production workflows.2
Get Detailed Properties
Once you’ve identified a node, get its full property documentation:Use
detail: "standard" for essential properties, or "full" for everything.3
Check Existing Templates
Look for proven patterns in the template library:Templates show real-world implementations you can learn from or deploy directly.
Template-first approach: Before building from scratch, check if a template exists. Templates are production-tested and save significant development time.
Validation & Testing
1
Validate Workflow Structure
Run validation to catch configuration errors:This checks node configurations, connections, and expressions.
2
Auto-Fix Common Issues
Use autofix to automatically resolve common problems:Preview fixes first with
applyFixes: false (default).3
Test with Self-Healing
Run the workflow with self-healing enabled (requires login credentials):AI automatically detects errors and modifies configurations to fix them.
Production Safety: Always test workflows in a development environment before deploying to production. Never edit production workflows directly without backups.
Debugging Workflows
When things go wrong, use these tools to debug:1
Check Execution History
List recent executions to find failures:
2
Get Error Details
Retrieve detailed error information:This includes the execution path leading to the error and upstream node data.
3
Correlate Multi-Workflow Executions
For complex systems with multiple workflows:This traces execution chains across workflows using webhook path and timing analysis.
Quick Reference
| Task | Tool | Key Parameters |
|---|---|---|
| Find nodes | search_nodes | query, includeExamples |
| Get node info | get_node | nodeType, detail, mode |
| Find templates | search_templates | searchMode, query, nodeTypes |
| Create workflow | n8n_create_workflow | name, nodes, connections |
| Validate | n8n_validate_workflow | id |
| Auto-fix | n8n_autofix_workflow | id, applyFixes |
| Test (self-healing) | n8n_trigger_execution | id (requires login) |
| Test (external) | n8n_test_workflow | workflowId |
| Debug | n8n_executions | action, id, mode |