Automated daily workflow backup to GitHub

This workflow provides a robust solution for automatically backing up all your n8n workflows to a designated GitHub repository on a daily basis. By leveraging the n8n API and GitHub API, it ensures your workflows are version-controlled and securely stored, safeguarding against data loss and facilitating disaster recovery. How it works The automation follows these key steps: 1. Scheduled trigger: The workflow is initiated automatically every day at a pre-configured time. 2. List existing backups: It first connects to your GitHub repository to retrieve a list of already backed-up workflow files. This helps in determining whether a workflow's backup file needs to be created or updated. 3. Retrieve n8n workflows: The workflow then fetches all current workflows directly from your n8n instance using the n8n REST API. 4. Process and prepare: Each retrieved workflow is individually processed. Its data is converted into JSON format. This JSON content is then encoded to base64, a format suitable for GitHub API file operations. 5. Commit to GitHub: For each n8n workflow: A standardized filename is generated (e.g., workflow-name-tag.json). The workflow checks if a file with this name already exists in the GitHub repository (based on the list fetched in step 2). If the file exists: It updates the existing file with the latest version of the workflow. If it's a new workflow (file doesn't exist): A new file is created in the repository. Each commit is timestamped for clarity. This process ensures that you always have an up-to-date version of all your n8n workflows stored securely in your GitHub version control system, providing peace of mind and a reliable backup history. Pre-requisites Before you can use this template, please ensure you have the following: An active n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud). A GitHub account. A GitHub repository created where you want to store the workflow backups. A GitHub Personal Access Token with repo scope (or fine-grained token with read/write access to the specific backup repository). This token will be used for GitHub API authentication. n8n API credentials (API key) for your n8n instance. Set up steps Setting up this workflow should take approximately 10-15 minutes if you have your credentials ready. 1. Import the template: Import this workflow into your n8n instance. 2. Configure n8n API credentials: Locate the "Retrieve workflows" node. In the "Credentials" section for "n8n API", create new credentials (or select existing ones). Enter your n8n instance URL and your n8n API Key (you can create your n8n api key in the settings of your n8n instance) 3. Configure GitHub credentials: Locate the "List files from repo" node (and subsequently "Update file" / "Upload file" nodes which will use the same credential). In the "Credentials" section for "GitHub API", create new credentials. Select OAuth2/Personal Access Token authentication method. Enter the GitHub Personal Access Token you generated as per the pre-requisites. 4. Specify repository details: In the "List files from repo", "Update file", and "Upload file" GitHub nodes: Set the Owner: Your GitHub username or organization name. Set the Repository: The name of your GitHub repository dedicated to backups. Set the Branch (e.g., main or master) where backups should be stored. (Optional) Specify a Path within the repository if you want backups in a specific folder (e.g., n8nbackups/). Leave blank to store in the root. 5. Adjust schedule (Optional): Select the "Schedule Trigger" node. Modify the trigger interval (e.g., change the time of day or frequency) as needed. By default, it's set for a daily run. 6. Activate the workflow: Save and activate the workflow. Explanation of nodes Here's a detailed breakdown of each node used in this workflow: Schedule trigger Type: n8n-nodes-base.scheduleTrigger Purpose: This node automatically starts the workflow based on a defined schedule (e.g., daily at midnight). List files from repo Type: n8n-nodes-base.github Purpose: Connects to your specified GitHub repository and lists all files, primarily to check for existing workflow backups. Aggregate Type: n8n-nodes-base.aggregate Purpose: Consolidates the list of file names obtained from the "List files from repo" node into a single item for easier lookup later in the "Check if file exists" node. Retrieve workflows Type: n8n-nodes-base.n8n Purpose: Uses the n8n API to fetch a list of all workflows currently present in your n8n instance. Json file Type: n8n-nodes-base.convertToFile Purpose: Takes the data of each workflow (retrieved by the "Retrieve workflows" node) and converts it into a structured JSON file format. To base64 Type: n8n-nodes-base.extractFromFile Purpose: Converts the binary content of the JSON file (from the "Json file" node) into a base64 encoded string. This encoding is required by the GitHub API for file content. Commit date & file name Type: n8n-nodes-base.set Purpose: Prepares metadata for the GitHub commit. It generates: commitDate: The current date and time for the commit message. fileName: A standardized file name for the workflow backup (e.g., my-workflow-vps-backups.json), typically using the workflow's name and its first tag. Check if file exists Type: n8n-nodes-base.if Purpose: A conditional node. It checks if the fileName (generated by "Commit date & file name") is present in the list of files aggregated by the "Aggregate" node. This determines if the workflow backup already exists in GitHub. Update file Type: n8n-nodes-base.github Purpose: If the "Check if file exists" node determines the file does exist, this node updates that existing file in your GitHub repository with the latest workflow content (base64 encoded) and a commit message. Upload file Type: n8n-nodes-base.github Purpose: If the "Check if file exists" node determines the file does not exist, this node creates and uploads a new file to your GitHub repository with the workflow content and a commit message. Customization Here are a few ways you can customize this template to better fit your needs: Backup path: In the GitHub nodes ("List files from repo", "Update file", "Upload file"), you can specify a Path parameter to store backups in a specific folder within your repository (e.g., workflows/ or dailybackups/). Filename convention: Modify the "Commit date & file name" node (specifically the expression for fileName) to change how backup files are named. For example, you might want to include the workflow ID or a different date format. Commit messages: Customize the commit messages in the "Update file" and "Upload file" GitHub nodes to include more specific information if needed. Error handling: Consider adding error handling branches (e.g., using the "Error Trigger" node or checking for node execution failures) to notify you if a backup fails for any reason. Filtering workflows: If you only want to back up specific workflows (e.g., those with a particular tag or name pattern), you can add a "Filter" node after "Retrieve workflows" to include only the desired workflows in the backup process. Backup frequency: Adjust the "Schedule Trigger" node to change how often the backup runs (e.g., hourly, weekly, or on specific days). Template was created in n8n v1.92.2