n8n

Running n8n workflow automation tool in docker-compose with OrbStack

Refer agentic github repo for full setup instructions and compose.yml file

Install

Optically install n8n cli

# install CLI (one-time)
pnpm add -g n8n@next
# to update to latest version
pnpm update -g n8n@next  

Start

To start n8n with PostgreSQL simply start docker-compose by executing the following command in the current folder.

[!IMPORTANT] But before you do, copy .env.example as .env in the project root directory, then change the default postgres username and password in the .env file, if you prefer.

# for first time
docker compose --profile first-time-only up
# for next time
docker compose up
# if you want to ssh to n8n container 
docker compose exec -it n8n sh

Access n8n dashboard at:

open https://n8n.agentic.orb.local

Access qdrant dashboard at:

open https://qdrant.agentic.orb.local/dashboard#/welcome

[!NOTE] First time when you access, you will see: Set up owner account page. Enter some fake data, then you will be redirected to Dashboard

To Stop

docker compose down
# DANGER: if you want stop and also want to remove all data, to reset database:
docker compose down -v

Configuration

The default name of the database, user and password for PostgreSQL can be changed in the .env file in the current directory.

For Mac users running OLLAMA locally

If you're running Ollama locally on your Mac (not in Docker), make sure OLLAMA_HOST environment variable set to host.docker.internal:11434 in the n8n service configuration in compose.yaml .

Additionally, verify ollama base URL is set to http://host.docker.internal:11434 :

Head to https://n8n.agentic.orb.local/home/credentials Click on "Local Ollama service" Change the base URL to http://host.docker.internal:11434

[!NOTE] If you are using LM Studio, use OpenAI Model integration and use lms url: http://host.docker.internal:1234/v1 URL instead of ollama url: http://host.docker.internal:11434

[!IMPORTANT] If you are using OpenAi models, also verify OpenAi account credentials are set properly.

Usage

Quick start and usage

• Open http://n8n.agentic.orb.local in your browser to set up n8n. You’ll only have to do this once.

• Open the included workflow: http://n8n.agentic.orb.loca/workflow/srOnR8PAY3u4RSwb

• Select Test workflow to start running the workflow.

• If this is the first time you’re running the workflow, you may need to wait until Ollama finishes downloading Llama3.2.

n8n cli

use n8n-cli to manage n8n server metadata

default location of n8n CLI config file: ~/.n8n/config

# First export env. NOTE: adjust db username/password as needed 
export DB_TYPE=postgresdb DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=localhost DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432 DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=user_postgres DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=user_password

credentials

# Export all the credentials to a specific directory using the --backup flag (details above):
n8n export:credentials --backup --output=config/n8n/credentials/
# Export all the credentials in plain text format.
n8n export:credentials --backup --decrypted --output=config/n8n/credentials/
# Import all the credentials files as JSON from the specified directory:
n8n import:credentials --separate --input=config/n8n/credentials/

workflow

# Export all your workflows to the standard output (terminal):
n8n export:workflow --all
# Export all the workflows to a specific directory using the --backup flag (details above):
n8n export:workflow --backup --output=config/n8n/workflows/
# Import all the workflow files as JSON from the specified directory:
n8n import:workflow --separate --input=config/n8n/workflows/

security audit

n8n audit

Reference

• Self-hosted AI starter kit, video

• Deploy n8n with Docker Compose for Automating AI Workflows

• Install n8n The Right Way for You

• Local AI with Docker, n8n, Qdrant, and Ollama - Video

• Extract personal data with self-hosted LLM Mistral NeMo

• Building RAG Chatbot for Movie Recommendations with Qdrant and Open AI

• Build a custom knowledge RAG chatbot using n8n

• Scaling n8n, video

• Auth with n8n webhooks