Popular n8n Nodes

These are the most frequently used nodes in the n8n ecosystem, chosen for their versatility, reliability, and broad application across different automation scenarios.

Essential Nodes

HTTP Request

The Swiss Army knife of n8n - connect to any REST API.

HTTP Request Node

Use Cases:

Custom API integrations
Internal service connections
RESTful endpoint calls
Webhook consumption

Key Features:

All HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH)
Multiple authentication types
Custom headers and query parameters
Binary data support
Automatic JSON parsing

Configuration Example:

{
  "method": "POST",
  "url": "https://api.example.com/users",
  "authentication": "headerAuth",
  "options": {
    "response": {
      "response": {
        "fullResponse": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Best Practice: Prefer dedicated integration nodes over HTTP Request when available. Dedicated nodes provide better authentication, pre-configured parameters, and improved error handling.

Webhook

Start workflows from external HTTP requests - the gateway to event-driven automation.

Webhook Trigger

Use Cases:

Receive webhooks from external services
Create custom API endpoints
Form submission handling
IoT device integration
Third-party service notifications

Key Features:

Test and production URLs
Multiple HTTP methods support
Built-in authentication options
Custom response configuration
CORS support
IP allowlist filtering

Example Webhook URL:

Production: https://your-n8n.com/webhook/user-signup
Test: https://your-n8n.com/webhook-test/user-signup

Code

Run custom JavaScript or Python for complex transformations.

Code Node

Use Cases:

Complex data transformations
Multi-step algorithms
Custom business logic
Date/time calculations
String manipulation

JavaScript Example:

// Process multiple items
const processedItems = $input.all().map(item => ({
  json: {
    fullName: `${item.json.firstName} ${item.json.lastName}`,
    email: item.json.email.toLowerCase(),
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
  }
}));

return processedItems;

Python Example:

import pandas as pd
from datetime import datetime

# Process data with pandas
items = [item['json'] for item in _input.all()]
df = pd.DataFrame(items)

# Transform data
df['processed_date'] = datetime.now()

return df.to_dict('records')

Use Code node as a last resort. Native nodes like Set, Filter, and Aggregate are faster and easier to maintain. Code nodes run in a sandboxed environment with performance overhead.

Communication Platforms

Slack

The most popular team communication integration.

Overview
Examples
Slack Trigger

Current Version: 2.4 (versioned node)Supported Operations:

Message - Send, update, delete messages
Channel - Create, archive, list channels
User - Get user info, list users
File - Upload, list files
Reaction - Add, remove reactions
Star - Add, remove stars

Authentication: OAuth2 or Access TokenCommon Use Cases:

Team notifications
Alert systems
Approval workflows
Bot interactions
Status updates

Send a Rich Message:

{
  "resource": "message",
  "operation": "post",
  "channel": "#general",
  "text": "New user registered!",
  "attachments": [
    {
      "color": "#36a64f",
      "fields": [
        {
          "title": "Email",
          "value": "{{ $json.email }}",
          "short": true
        },
        {
          "title": "Name",
          "value": "{{ $json.name }}",
          "short": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Upload a File:

{
  "resource": "file",
  "operation": "upload",
  "channels": "#reports",
  "binaryProperty": "data",
  "fileName": "monthly-report.pdf"
}

Listen for Slack events in real-time:Supported Events:

New messages
Channel updates
User mentions
Reactions added
File shared

Setup:

Create Slack App
Enable Event Subscriptions
Subscribe to bot events
Copy webhook URL to Slack

Example Trigger Config:

{
  "event": "message",
  "channel": "#support",
  "resolve": "user"
}

Microsoft Teams

Enterprise team collaboration platform.

Microsoft Teams

Operations:

Send messages to channels
Create/manage channels
Send chat messages
Manage teams

Authentication: Microsoft OAuth2Example - Post to Channel:

{
  "resource": "message",
  "operation": "create",
  "teamId": "{{ $json.teamId }}",
  "channelId": "{{ $json.channelId }}",
  "messageType": "text",
  "message": "Deployment completed successfully!"
}

Discord

Gaming and community platform integration.

Discord

Operations:

Send messages
Manage channels
Handle webhooks
Manage roles
Bot operations

Authentication: Bot Token or WebhookWebhook Example:

{
  "content": "Server status: Online ✅",
  "username": "Status Bot",
  "embeds": [
    {
      "title": "System Health",
      "description": "All services operational",
      "color": 5814783
    }
  ]
}

Google Workspace

Google Sheets

Spreadsheet automation powerhouse.

Operations
Examples
Trigger

Document Operations:

Read/write rows
Append data
Update rows
Delete rows
Clear sheet
Look up values

Advanced Features:

Resource locators (by URL, ID, or list)
Column mapping
Formula support
Batch operations
Upsert functionality

Authentication: Google OAuth2

Append Row:

{
  "operation": "appendOrUpdate",
  "documentId": "1BxiMVs0XRA5n...",
  "sheetName": "Sheet1",
  "columns": {
    "mappingMode": "defineBelow",
    "value": {
      "Name": "={{ $json.name }}",
      "Email": "={{ $json.email }}",
      "Date": "={{ $now.format('yyyy-MM-dd') }}"
    }
  }
}

Look Up Row:

{
  "operation": "readRows",
  "documentId": "{{ $json.spreadsheetId }}",
  "sheetName": "Customers",
  "filters": {
    "conditions": [
      {
        "field": "Email",
        "condition": "equals",
        "value": "{{ $json.email }}"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Google Sheets Trigger:Monitor spreadsheet changes with polling:Trigger Types:

Row added
Row updated
Row added or updated

Configuration:

{
  "event": "rowAdded",
  "documentId": "1BxiMVs0XRA5n...",
  "sheetName": "Sheet1",
  "pollTime": 300000  // 5 minutes
}

How It Works:

Polls spreadsheet at regular intervals
Compares with previous state
Triggers on detected changes
Uses workflow static data for state

Gmail

Email automation and management.

Gmail

Operations:

Send emails
Search messages
Add labels
Mark as read/unread
Download attachments
Delete messages

Gmail Trigger:

Polling-based trigger
Monitor inbox or labels
Filter by sender, subject
Process attachments

Send Email Example:

{
  "operation": "send",
  "to": "user@example.com",
  "subject": "Welcome to our service!",
  "message": "<p>Thank you for signing up!</p>",
  "options": {
    "attachments": "data",
    "ccList": "manager@example.com"
  }
}

Google Calendar

Event scheduling and calendar management.

Google Calendar

Operations:

Create events
Update events
Delete events
Get event details
List events

Create Event Example:

{
  "operation": "create",
  "calendarId": "primary",
  "start": "2024-03-15T10:00:00",
  "end": "2024-03-15T11:00:00",
  "summary": "Team Standup",
  "description": "Daily team sync",
  "attendees": [
    "team@example.com"
  ]
}

Google Drive

File storage and sharing automation.

Google Drive

Operations:

Upload files
Download files
Create folders
Move/copy files
Share files
List files/folders

Google Drive Trigger:

Monitor for new files
Watch specific folders
Filter by file type

Upload File Example:

{
  "operation": "upload",
  "name": "{{ $json.filename }}",
  "binaryProperty": "data",
  "options": {
    "parents": ["folder-id-123"]
  }
}

Data Processing

Set (Edit Fields)

Transform and manipulate data without code.

Set Node

Operations:

Add/remove fields
Rename fields
Set values
Use expressions
Include/exclude fields

Example:

{
  "mode": "manual",
  "fields": {
    "values": [
      {
        "name": "fullName",
        "type": "stringValue",
        "stringValue": "={{ $json.firstName }} {{ $json.lastName }}"
      },
      {
        "name": "email",
        "type": "stringValue",
        "stringValue": "={{ $json.email.toLowerCase() }}"
      },
      {
        "name": "age",
        "type": "numberValue",
        "numberValue": "={{ $json.birthYear ? $now.year() - $json.birthYear : null }}"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Use Instead of Code Node For:

Field renaming
Value transformation
Data cleanup
Type conversion

Filter

Route or remove items based on conditions.

Filter Node

Condition Types:

String contains/equals
Number comparisons
Date comparisons
Boolean checks
Regex matching
Empty/exists checks

Example:

{
  "conditions": {
    "combinator": "and",
    "conditions": [
      {
        "leftValue": "={{ $json.status }}",
        "operator": "equals",
        "rightValue": "active"
      },
      {
        "leftValue": "={{ $json.amount }}",
        "operator": "gt",
        "rightValue": 100
      }
    ]
  }
}

Merge

Combine data from multiple branches.

Merge Node

Merge Modes:

Append - Combine all items
Keep Key Matches - Join on matching field
Merge By Index - Combine by position
Merge By Key - Advanced key-based merging
Multiplex - Create combinations

Example - Merge by Key:

{
  "mode": "combine",
  "mergeByFields": {
    "values": [
      {
        "field1": "userId",
        "field2": "id"
      }
    ]
  },
  "options": {
    "joinMode": "keepMatches"
  }
}

Databases

PostgreSQL

Powerful relational database integration.

PostgreSQL

Operations:

Execute queries
Insert rows
Update rows
Delete rows
Transactions

Query Example:

SELECT u.*, o.order_total
FROM users u
LEFT JOIN orders o ON u.id = o.user_id
WHERE u.created_at > $1
ORDER BY u.created_at DESC

Parameters:

{
  "$1": "={{ $json.startDate }}"
}

MongoDB

NoSQL document database operations.

MongoDB

Operations:

Find documents
Insert documents
Update documents
Delete documents
Aggregate

Find Example:

{
  "operation": "find",
  "collection": "users",
  "query": {
    "status": "active",
    "age": { "$gte": 18 }
  },
  "options": {
    "sort": { "createdAt": -1 },
    "limit": 100
  }
}

Schedule & Time

Schedule Trigger

Run workflows on a time-based schedule.

Schedule Trigger

Trigger Intervals:

Seconds, minutes, hours
Days, weeks, months
Custom cron expressions
Multiple schedules

Examples:Daily at 9 AM:

{
  "rule": {
    "interval": [
      {
        "field": "days",
        "hoursInterval": 1,
        "minutesInterval": 0,
        "triggerAtHour": 9
      }
    ]
  }
}

Every Monday:

{
  "rule": {
    "interval": [
      {
        "field": "weeks",
        "triggerAtDay": [1],
        "triggerAtHour": 8
      }
    ]
  }
}

Custom Cron:

{
  "rule": {
    "interval": [
      {
        "field": "cronExpression",
        "expression": "0 */30 9-17 * * 1-5"
      }
    ]
  }
}

CRM & Sales

HubSpot

Marketing, sales, and service platform.

HubSpot

Resources:

Contacts
Companies
Deals
Tickets
Forms
Engagements

Create Contact Example:

{
  "resource": "contact",
  "operation": "create",
  "properties": {
    "email": "{{ $json.email }}",
    "firstname": "{{ $json.firstName }}",
    "lastname": "{{ $json.lastName }}",
    "phone": "{{ $json.phone }}",
    "company": "{{ $json.company }}"
  }
}

Salesforce

Enterprise CRM platform.

Salesforce

Resources:

Leads
Accounts
Contacts
Opportunities
Cases
Custom objects

SOQL Query Example:

SELECT Id, Name, Email, CreatedDate
FROM Lead
WHERE Status = 'New'
AND CreatedDate = TODAY
ORDER BY CreatedDate DESC

Next Steps

Trigger Nodes

Learn about webhooks, polling, and schedule triggers

Action Nodes

Explore data transformation and action nodes

Build a Workflow

Create your first automated workflow

API Reference

Detailed API documentation for all nodes

Integration Catalog

AI Integrations

​Popular n8n Nodes

​Essential Nodes

​HTTP Request

HTTP Request Node

​Webhook

Webhook Trigger

​Code

Code Node

​Communication Platforms

​Slack

​Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams

​Discord

Discord

​Google Workspace

​Google Sheets

​Gmail

Gmail

​Google Calendar

Google Calendar

​Google Drive

Google Drive

​Data Processing

​Set (Edit Fields)

Set Node

​Filter

Filter Node

​Merge

Merge Node

​Databases

​PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL

​MongoDB

MongoDB

​Schedule & Time

​Schedule Trigger

Schedule Trigger

​CRM & Sales

​HubSpot

HubSpot

​Salesforce

Salesforce

​Next Steps

Trigger Nodes

Action Nodes

Build a Workflow

API Reference

Popular n8n Nodes

Essential Nodes

HTTP Request

Webhook

Code

Communication Platforms

Slack

Microsoft Teams

Discord

Google Workspace

Google Sheets

Gmail

Google Calendar

Google Drive

Data Processing

Set (Edit Fields)

Filter

Merge

Databases

PostgreSQL

MongoDB

Schedule & Time

Schedule Trigger

CRM & Sales

HubSpot

Salesforce

Next Steps