n8n-cheat-sheet

March 20, 2025 · View on GitHub

Kriterium	n8n Cloud	Self-Hosting
Setup & Wartung	Kein Aufwand, sofort nutzbar	Eigenes Setup & Wartung nötig
Kosten	Monatliche Gebühr	Hosting-Kosten, aber keine Abo-Gebühren
Performance	Skalierbar, aber begrenzte Ressourcen je nach Plan	Volle Kontrolle über Ressourcen
Sicherheit	n8n übernimmt Security & Updates	Eigene Sicherheitsmaßnahmen nötig
Anpassbarkeit	Eingeschränkte Customization	Vollständig anpassbar
Integrationen	Alle Standardintegrationen verfügbar	Eigene Erweiterungen & Plugins möglich
Zugriff	Sofort weltweit erreichbar	Eigene Server oder Cloud nötig
Datenschutz	Daten auf n8n-Servern (EU/USA)	Volle Kontrolle über Daten & Speicherung
Updates	Automatisch	Manuelle Updates erforderlich
Failover & Backup	Inklusive	Selbst verantwortlich

Fazit:

n8n Cloud: Für schnelle, sorgenfreie Nutzung ohne Wartungsaufwand.
Self-Hosting: Für maximale Kontrolle, Datenschutz und individuelle Anpassungen.

Self Hosting

Hostinger

MCP

Click to expand..

n8n-nodes-mcp

https://github.com/nerding-io/n8n-nodes-mcp
This is an n8n community node that allows users to interact with Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers within their n8n workflows, enabling AI models to connect with external tools and data sources.

Install

n8n > community nodes > enter npm package name n8n-nodes-mcp

Using as a Tool

Click to expand..

This node can be used as a tool in n8n AI Agents. To enable community nodes as tools, you need to set the N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE environment variable to true.

Setting the Environment Variable

If you're using a bash/zsh shell:

export N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE=true
n8n start

If you're using Docker: Add to your docker-compose.yml file:

environment:
  - N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE=true

If you're using the desktop app: Create a .env file in the n8n directory:

N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE=true

If you want to set it permanently on Mac/Linux: Add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile:

export N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE=true

How to use

Add first step > MCP client

How to use MCP Client Tool

Add first step > MCP client > Tool > HTTP request tool
- Alternative you can use aswell MCP Client Tool

Choose client e.g. Firecrawl and then choose between STDIO (run´s all the time) or SSE (created on demand)
You can find the needed informations always in the config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-firecrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "firecrawl-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

So this means:

command: npx
aregs: -y firecrawl-mcp
evironments: FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=xxxxxxxxxxxx

https://github.com/mendableai/firecrawl-mcp-server

All endpoints from the firecrawl api docs are available in this mcp server

Add tool > mcp clien tool

Operation: Execute Tool

Tool Name > Click expression: {{ $fromAI('tool_to_use') }}
Tool Parameter: Click button let ai modify parameter