Restore n8n Workflows from GitHub Automatically

1. Opening Problem Statement

Meet Sarah, an automation specialist responsible for managing multiple critical n8n workflows for her company. One day, after a system crash, she realized she had to restore all her valuable workflows from a GitHub backup repository manually. It was tedious, repetitive, and prone to errors—Sarah lost hours just downloading each workflow, decoding the JSON content, and re-importing it individually into n8n. She even accidentally duplicated some workflows, leading to confusion and downtime. This manual process took her at least 4-5 hours each time and risked disrupting business continuity.

This is where the [OPS] Restore workflows from GitHub to n8n automation shines, designed precisely to eliminate this headache. It streamlines the restoration of workflows you’ve backed up in GitHub directly into n8n—completely automatically, reliably, and without duplicates.

2. What This Automation Does

When this workflow runs, it orchestrates the entire restoration process from fetching your backup workflows on GitHub to recreating them in your n8n instance. Here’s what happens specifically:

• ✅ Lists all workflow files from a specified GitHub repository folder.
• ✅ Retrieves each workflow file content as base64 and converts it into usable JSON format.
• ✅ Fetches all existing n8n workflows to check for duplicates.
• ✅ Compares GitHub backups with existing n8n workflows by workflow name.
• ✅ Automatically creates new workflows in n8n only if they don’t already exist to avoid duplicates.
• ✅ Provides clear logging and skips already existing workflows, keeping your workspace clean.

Using this automation saves you multiple hours of manual work, ensures consistent and error-free restoration, and integrates GitHub and n8n smoothly for workflow management.

3. Prerequisites ⚙️

• 🔑 A GitHub account with your workflow backups stored in a repository.
• 🔑 A personal access token for GitHub to authorize API access in n8n.
• 🔑 An n8n instance with API credentials configured for automated workflow creation.
• ⏱️ Basic familiarity with n8n’s interface and nodes.
• 🖥️ Optional: Self-hosted n8n instance for full control. For easy self-hosting, consider solutions like Hostinger’s n8n setup.

4. Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Triggering the Workflow Manually

Navigate to your workflow inside n8n and locate the Manual Trigger node labeled On clicking ‘execute’. Click on Execute Workflow to manually start the process. This node initiates the restoration sequence.

Step 2: Configure Global Variables

Find the Globals node (a Set node) which holds key parameters about your GitHub repository:

• repo.owner: Your GitHub username.
• repo.name: The name of the GitHub repository with backups.
• repo.path: The folder path where workflows are stored (e.g., workflows/).

Click Globals → Review and update these values to match your GitHub repo. For example, if your GitHub username is n8n-io, your repo n8n-backups, and the workflows are in workflows/, set these accordingly.

Step 3: Fetch All Workflow Files from GitHub

The GitHub – get all files node (GitHub node) lists all files within the repository folder you specified earlier. It uses your repo details from the Globals node to pull the list of workflow JSON files.

Expected output: A list of file metadata objects representing your workflow backups.

Step 4: Retrieve Each Workflow File Content

The GitHub – get each file node fetches the actual content of each file from GitHub in base64 format. This ensures the workflow content is ready for conversion and import.

Step 5: Decode Base64 Content and Prepare Workflow Names

The Set name and content node uses two assignments:

• Converts content from base64 to plain JSON for n8n.
• Extracts the workflow name by removing the .json extension from the filename.

This data structuring is crucial for comparing and importing workflows correctly.

Step 6: Fetch Existing Workflows from n8n

The node labeled n8n – get all workflows connects to the n8n API and retrieves all current workflows in your n8n workspace. This data is used to check for duplicates before creating new workflows.

Step 7: Extract Names of Existing n8n Workflows

The Set n8n existing workflows names node formats the existing workflows to an object array containing just the workflow names. This simplifies the filtering process ahead.

Step 8: Compare GitHub Workflows with n8n Workflows and Filter Non-Existing

The Merge Github and n8n workflows – Keep only non existing workflows based on the name node performs a merge using the workflow name field to keep only workflows from GitHub that do not already exist in n8n. This ensures no workflow duplication.

Step 9: Conditional Check Before Creation

The If workflow already exists node checks if each workflow from the previous step is already present or not. If it exists, it routes to a No Operation node (Workflow name already exists) to skip creation.

Step 10: Create New Workflows Automatically in n8n

The n8n – create workflow node applies the creation operation using JSON content fetched and decoded from GitHub. Only workflows absent in your workspace get imported. This node uses the n8n API credential.

5. Customizations ✏️

Customization 1: Change GitHub Folder Path
In the Globals node, update the repo.path value to any folder in your repo to restore workflows from other directories.
For example, set it to old_workflows/ to restore older backups.

Customization 2: Add Logging for Created Workflows
Add a Function or Code node after the n8n – create workflow node to log the created workflow names and IDs for audit or notification purposes.

Customization 3: Automate Trigger Scheduling
Replace the manual trigger with a Cron node to schedule automatic periodic restores if you want a recovery routine on a schedule.

6. Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: “GitHub – get all files” node returns an empty list.
Cause: Incorrect repository or folder path in the Globals node.
Solution: Double-check the repo.owner, repo.name, and repo.path values and verify that files reside there on GitHub.

Problem: Workflow creation fails with API authentication error.
Cause: Invalid or expired API credentials for n8n.
Solution: In n8n, go to Credentials → Edit your n8n API credential and update the token.

7. Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Verify GitHub API credentials have access to the repository.
• Ensure n8n API credential is valid and has permissions to create workflows.
• Check that the Globals node values correctly target your GitHub repository and folder.
• Run manual test execution and confirm new workflows are imported without duplicates.

8. Deployment Guide

Activate your workflow by switching Activate toggle on in n8n once tested manually. If you plan to automate periodic restores, replace the manual trigger with a Cron node and schedule it accordingly.

Monitor execution history in n8n to identify any failures. For complex environments, use n8n’s built-in logging for error tracking.

9. FAQs

Q: Can I use a different GitHub repository?
A: Yes, just update the values in the Globals node to match your desired repository details.

Q: Does this workflow consume GitHub API credits?
A: Yes, every GitHub API call counts towards your rate limits. Use personal access tokens accordingly.

Q: Is my workflow data secure during this process?
A: All communication happens over HTTPS using authenticated tokens. Your data is as secure as your GitHub and n8n credentials.

10. Conclusion

By following this tutorial, you have automated restoring your n8n workflows from GitHub backups seamlessly. This saves you hours of tedious manual importing and ensures no duplicate workflows clutter your environment.

As next steps, consider automating backup creation of your workflows to GitHub for complete two-way sync or scheduling regular restore checks with notifications.

You’ve taken a big step toward reliable workflow management and disaster recovery — keep building!