Skillintermediate

@n8n/cli

> **Beta** — Client CLI for n8n. Manage workflows, executions, credentials, and more from the terminal.

Claude Code Knowledge Pack7/10/2026

Overview

@n8n/cli

Beta — Client CLI for n8n. Manage workflows, executions, credentials, and more from the terminal.

A lightweight, zero-dependency CLI that talks to any n8n instance via its public API. Designed for humans, scripts, and AI coding agents alike.

Installation

# Use directly with npx (zero install)
npx @n8n/cli workflow list

# Or install globally
npm install -g @n8n/cli

Configuration

The CLI needs your n8n instance URL and an API key.

Config file (recommended)

n8n-cli config set-url https://my-n8n.app.n8n.cloud
n8n-cli config set-api-key n8n_api_xxxxx
n8n-cli config show

Configuration is saved to ~/.n8n-cli/config.json with restricted file permissions (0600).

Environment variables

Inline flags

n8n-cli --url=https://my-n8n.app.n8n.cloud --api-key=n8n_api_xxxxx workflow list

Resolution order

Command-line flags (--url, --api-key)
Environment variables (N8N_URL, N8N_API_KEY)
Config file (~/.n8n-cli/config.json)

Commands

Topic	Commands
`workflow`	`list`, `get`, `create`, `update`, `delete`, `activate`, `deactivate`, `tags`, `transfer`
`execution`	`list`, `get`, `retry`, `stop`, `delete`
`credential`	`list`, `get`, `schema`, `create`, `delete`, `transfer`
`project`	`list`, `get`, `create`, `update`, `delete`, `members`, `add-member`, `remove-member`
`tag`	`list`, `create`, `update`, `delete`
`variable`	`list`, `create`, `update`, `delete`
`data-table`	`list`, `get`, `create`, `delete`, `rows`, `add-rows`, `update-rows`, `upsert-rows`, `delete-rows`
`user`	`list`, `get`
`config`	`set-url`, `set-api-key`, `show`
`source-control`	`pull`
`skill`	`install`
`audit`	(top-level)
`login` / `logout`	(top-level)

Every command supports --help for detailed usage.

Output formats

All commands support three output formats via --format:

Format	Flag	Use case
Table	`--format=table` (default)	Human-readable terminal output
JSON	`--format=json`	Piping to `jq`, programmatic use
ID-only	`--format=id-only`	Piping to `xargs`, scripting

# Human-readable table
n8n-cli workflow list

# JSON for scripts
n8n-cli workflow list --format=json | jq '.[] | select(.active) | .id'

# Pipe IDs into another command
n8n-cli workflow list --format=id-only | xargs -I{} n8n-cli workflow deactivate {}

AI agent integration

The CLI ships with a skill file that teaches AI coding agents how to use it.

# Claude Code (project-level)
n8n-cli skill install

# Claude Code (global)
n8n-cli skill install --global

# Cursor
n8n-cli skill install --target=cursor

# Windsurf
n8n-cli skill install --target=windsurf

Development

# Build
pnpm build

# Watch mode
pnpm dev

# Run tests
pnpm test

# Lint & typecheck
pnpm lint
pnpm typecheck

License

See LICENSE.md for details.