Automate Confluence Search with n8n Workflow for IT Support

1. Opening Problem Statement

Meet Sarah, an IT support specialist at a mid-sized technology company. Every day, she receives numerous questions from colleagues via Slack, especially about password resets and other common IT issues. These queries often require her to search through the company’s extensive Confluence knowledge base manually. This process is time-consuming, repetitive, and prone to human error. On average, Sarah spends around 20 minutes per query, which adds up to over 15 wasted hours weekly just performing lookups. The delay also frustrates employees waiting for answers, impacting overall productivity and support quality.

Sarah needs a way to quickly and accurately retrieve relevant Knowledge Base (KB) articles directly from Slack queries without leaving her chat window or performing tedious manual searches. This is where our specialized n8n workflow comes in.

2. What This Automation Does

This automation transforms IT support by seamlessly connecting Slack inquiries to your Confluence knowledge base with these clear outcomes:

• Receive User Queries: Accepts input queries from a parent workflow (e.g., a Slack message trigger).
• Query Confluence API: Converts the query into a Confluence search query parameter and retrieves relevant articles.
• Extract Relevant Info: Pulls the article title, a direct web link, and a concise excerpt of the content from the API response.
• Return Structured Response: Sends back the formatted information to the parent workflow to power AI agents or final user replies.
• Reduce Wait Times: Saves IT support teams hours weekly by automating knowledge retrieval tasks.
• Improve User Experience: Provides immediate, precise article links and summaries, boosting employee satisfaction.

3. Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n account: To create and run your workflow.
• Confluence account with API access: Ensure you have permissions to query your company’s Confluence instance via REST API.
• HTTP Basic Auth credentials: For authenticating the Confluence API requests.
• Parent workflow or source of queries: This workflow assumes it is triggered by another n8n workflow feeding in the Slack message or user queries.

4. Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Setup the “Execute Workflow Trigger” Node to Receive Queries

Navigate to your n8n editor and add an Execute Workflow Trigger node. This node acts as the entry point for receiving queries passed from a parent workflow, such as Slack messages containing questions from users like Sarah’s coworkers.

No parameters need special configuration here. Simply name the node “Execute Workflow Trigger” for clarity.

Expected outcome: This node will listen for inbound workflow execution requests and pass the received JSON payload (user query) downstream.

Step 2: Configure “Query Confluence” HTTP Request Node to Search the Knowledge Base

Add an HTTP Request node named “Query Confluence.” This node is configured to query the Confluence Search REST API endpoint with the incoming query.

Set the following:
– URL: https://n8n-labs.atlassian.net/wiki/rest/api/search (replace with your Confluence domain)
– Authentication: Choose HTTP Basic Auth and set credentials with your Confluence API username and API token.
– Query Parameters: Add a parameter named cql with the value =text ~ "{{ $json.query }}" to pass the input query dynamically.
– Headers: Add an accept header with value application/json.
– Options: Leave defaults unless SSL or other tweaks needed.

Expected outcome: When triggered, this node sends your query to Confluence and retrieves matching KB articles in JSON.

Common mistake: Forgetting to encode or properly template the query resulting in failed or irrelevant searches.

Step 3: Add “Return Tool Response” Set Node to Format Confluence Output

Next, add a Set node named “Return Tool Response.” This node extracts and formats the response data from the Confluence API into a user-friendly message to send back.

Configure the node’s assignments with an expression like:

="Title: " + {{ $json.results[0].content.title }} +
"nLink: " + {{ $json._links.base }} + {{ $json.results[0].content._links.webui }} +
"nContent: " + {{ $json.results[0].excerpt }} +
"nWhen users request the password, make sure to send them the link above to reset it in markdown."

This outputs a neat string including the top article’s title, direct URL, and a content snippet with a hint for password resets.

Expected outcome: The formatted response is set on the JSON key response to be passed back upstream.

Step 4: Connect Nodes Properly

Link your nodes in this sequence:
Execute Workflow Trigger → Query Confluence → Return Tool Response

This ensures when a query comes in, it automatically triggers the search and formats the results.

5. Customizations ✏️

• Change Search Source: Replace the “Query Confluence” HTTP Request URL with your own KB API endpoint to integrate other tools like Zendesk or Notion.
• Refine Query Formatting: Modify the query template cql to include filters, spaces, or advanced search operators for more accurate results.
• Expand Response Details: Add additional fields from the Confluence JSON response, such as author or last modified date, in the “Return Tool Response” node for more context.

6. Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: “Unauthorized 401 error”
Cause: Incorrect Confluence API credentials or lack of permissions.
Solution: Verify your HTTP Basic Auth username and API token are correct and have access rights to the Confluence space. Test API call separately with tools like Postman.

Problem: “No results returned or empty JSON”
Cause: Query syntax error or no matching articles.
Solution: Validate the query parameter formatting in your HTTP Request node and try simpler keywords to test functionality.

7. Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Test the Execute Workflow Trigger node by sending a sample Slack query payload.
• Confirm the HTTP Request node correctly authenticates and returns JSON with valid search results.
• Verify the Set node extracts and formats the data as intended.
• Backup your n8n workflows before deploying in production to allow rollback.
• Run edge test cases with queries that have no matches to confirm graceful handling.

8. Deployment Guide

Activate your workflow by enabling it in n8n. Integrate with your parent workflow that handles Slack messages or whatever interface accepts user queries.

Monitor for errors in the n8n execution logs and use retry features for robustness. Optionally set up alerts to catch authentication failures early.

9. FAQs

Q: Can I use this workflow with other Knowledge Base tools?
A: Yes, by replacing the HTTP Request node’s URL and adapting authentication, you can integrate other tools like Zendesk, Notion, or custom APIs.

Q: Does querying Confluence consume API credits?
A: Atlassian Confluence API has rate limits depending on your plan; monitor usage to avoid exceeding limits.

Q: How secure is the data passing through n8n?
A: Ensure your n8n instance is secure and credentials are encrypted. Only use secure connections (HTTPS) when calling APIs.

10. Conclusion

By following this detailed guide, you’ve built a powerful n8n workflow that automates the retrieval of relevant Confluence KB articles based on employee queries from Slack. Sarah’s daily workload for responding to IT questions will dramatically decrease, saving her up to 15 hours weekly.

This integration enhances the quality and speed of IT support, making knowledge readily available at users’ fingertips. Next steps could include integrating AI to better refine queries before search or automating responses directly back to Slack channels.

With this setup, your IT support team gains a valuable assistant that speeds up resolutions and boosts productivity. Let’s keep automating!