n8n Collaboration Guide: Sharing Workflows & Credentials Securely

Key Points:

• Find announcements and information about upcoming features
• Request new features to enhance n8n’s capabilities
• Ask questions about your workflows and report bugs
• Discover community events and connect with other users
• Receive fast support, preventing downtime in your workflow development

My Take:

Don’t underestimate the power of community support when choosing an automation platform. Having quick access to help when you’re stuck can save hours of troubleshooting and keep your projects on track.

Key Points:

• Access templates that solve a wide array of common automation problems
• Start with templates instead of building from scratch
• Find templates for API endpoints, GitHub backups, chatbots, PDF text extraction, and more
• Sort templates by category or search by name/node type
• Submit your own workflows as templates to help others (credentials are not shared)

My Take:

Always check the template library before starting a new workflow. You’d be surprised how often someone has already solved the exact problem you’re facing. This can cut your development time from hours to minutes.

Key Points:

• Owner: One per n8n instance with the highest level of access rights
• Admin: Similar to owners but cannot access the n8n cloud dashboard or manage the owner role
• Member: Standard users who can manage their own accounts and workflows
• Even owners cannot extract sensitive information from credentials (API keys, tokens)
• User management helps ensure that no one has unwanted access to specific workflows or tools

My Take:

The security model in n8n strikes an excellent balance between collaboration and protection. I particularly appreciate that even high-level users can’t extract sensitive API keys, which prevents potential security breaches.

Key Points:

• By default, members cannot access workflows unless explicitly shared with them
• Two workflow roles: Creator (original builder) and Editor (collaborator)
• Sharing accessed via the top right of the workflow canvas
• Filter for workflows created by you or shared with you
• Editors automatically gain access to all credentials used in a shared workflow

My Take:

The automatic credential access for shared workflows is a brilliant design choice. It eliminates friction when collaborating, as your teammates won’t need to request access to each individual credential to test or modify a workflow.

Key Points:

• Share credentials with other users in the same n8n instance
• Users can use shared credentials but cannot access or edit the actual credential details
• No one can extract API keys or tokens from shared credentials
• Owners and admins can view and share all credentials (without seeing sensitive data)
• Manage credential sharing from the left menu in the credential settings
• Easily revoke access when needed

My Take:

This security-first approach to credential sharing shows that n8n truly understands enterprise needs. It enables collaboration without compromising on security – a common challenge in automation platforms.

Key Points:

• Generate API keys from Settings → n8n API section
• RESTful API with endpoints for managing workflows and credentials
• Access execution logs, create/update/delete workflows, and manage credentials
• Use the n8n node to control workflows from within n8n itself
• Automate workflow activation/deactivation based on conditions
• Generate security audits using the API

// Example: Workflow that deactivates another workflow at 6PM
// Using the n8n node within n8n
{
  "node": "n8n",
  "resource": "workflow",
  "operation": "update",
  "workflowId": "123456",
  "updateFields": {
    "active": false
  }
}
    

My Take:

The n8n API is a meta-automation dream! Creating workflows that manage other workflows opens up fascinating possibilities, like time-based activation or complex orchestration scenarios that would otherwise be difficult to implement.