⚡ n8n Automation Skill#

Overview#

This skill connects your OpenClaw agent directly to your n8n instance so you can trigger powerful multi-step automations using plain natural language — no coding required at runtime.

What makes this skill different: It does not just call webhooks. It confirms before acting, validates inputs, reports results, handles errors gracefully, and remembers what was last triggered so you can easily repeat or modify runs.

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Setup (One Time)#

Before using this skill, export these two environment variables in your terminal or add them to your shell profile:

text

export N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL="https://your-n8n-instance.com/webhook"
export N8N_API_KEY="your-n8n-api-key-here"

Then restart your OpenClaw gateway:

text

openclaw gateway restart

You will know setup worked when you type:

"n8n status"

And the agent responds with your instance URL confirmed.

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Trigger Phrases#

You can trigger this skill with any of these natural language phrases:

• "trigger n8n [workflow name]"
• "run automation for [contact/task]"
• "send [email type] to [name]"
• "post to social: [content]"
• "update CRM for [name]"
• "follow up with [name] from [meeting]"
• "check competitors"
• "send invoice reminder to [client]"
• "n8n status" — checks your instance is reachable

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Workflow 1 — Lead Nurture Email Sequence#

What it does: Triggers a multi-step email sequence in n8n for a new lead. Sends welcome email on Day 1, value email on Day 3, case study on Day 7, and soft pitch on Day 14. All personalized.

Trigger examples:

• "Send lead nurture to John Smith at john@company.com"
• "Start nurture sequence for sarah@startup.io, she found us via YouTube"
• "Add Maria to lead nurture, source is LinkedIn"

Required fields:

• first_name
• email
• source (where they came from — optional but improves personalization)

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/lead-nurture

Payload sent:

json

{
  "first_name": "string",
  "email": "string",
  "source": "string",
  "triggered_at": "ISO timestamp",
  "triggered_by": "openclaw"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "queued", "sequence_id": "..." }

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Workflow 2 — Social Media Auto-Post#

What it does: Takes content you describe or provide and posts it to your connected social platforms via n8n. Supports LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram caption, Facebook, and Threads.

Trigger examples:

• "Post to social: Just launched my new n8n + OpenClaw skill on ClawHub!"
• "Post this to LinkedIn and X: [your content]"
• "Schedule social post for tomorrow 9am: [content]"

Required fields:

• content (the post text)
• platforms (list: linkedin, x, instagram, facebook, threads)
• schedule_time (optional — defaults to immediate)

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/social-post

Payload sent:

json

{
  "content": "string",
  "platforms": ["linkedin", "x"],
  "schedule_time": "ISO timestamp or null",
  "hashtags": ["optional", "array"],
  "triggered_by": "openclaw"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "posted", "post_ids": {...} }

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Workflow 3 — Meeting Follow-Up#

What it does: After a meeting, triggers n8n to send a personalized follow-up email with meeting summary, action items, and next steps. Also optionally creates a follow-up task in your CRM.

Trigger examples:

• "Send follow-up to Mike from today's discovery call"
• "Follow up with the Acme team, meeting was about their automation needs"
• "Post-meeting email to jennifer@client.com, action items: send proposal, book next call"

Required fields:

• contact_name
• contact_email
• meeting_topic
• action_items (list of strings)
• next_step (optional)

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/meeting-followup

Payload sent:

json

{
  "contact_name": "string",
  "contact_email": "string",
  "meeting_topic": "string",
  "action_items": ["item1", "item2"],
  "next_step": "string or null",
  "meeting_date": "ISO date",
  "triggered_by": "openclaw"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "sent", "email_id": "..." }

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Workflow 4 — CRM Contact Update#

What it does: Updates a contact record in your CRM (works with HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Airtable, Google Sheets CRM, or any CRM connected to your n8n). Logs notes, updates status, and sets follow-up date.

Trigger examples:

• "Update CRM for John Smith — he said he's ready to buy next month"
• "Mark Sarah as hot lead, she opened all emails"
• "Log call with Mike: discussed pricing, follow up in 2 weeks"

Required fields:

• contact_name or contact_email
• notes
• status (lead / warm / hot / closed-won / closed-lost)
• follow_up_date (optional)

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/crm-update

Payload sent:

json

{
  "contact_name": "string",
  "contact_email": "string or null",
  "notes": "string",
  "status": "string",
  "follow_up_date": "ISO date or null",
  "triggered_by": "openclaw",
  "logged_at": "ISO timestamp"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "updated", "contact_id": "..." }

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Workflow 5 — Competitor Monitor Report#

What it does: Triggers n8n to scrape and compare your top competitors — pricing pages, new blog posts, social activity, job postings (signals of growth or product changes). Returns a formatted report directly in your chat.

Trigger examples:

• "Check competitors"
• "Run competitor report for [your niche]"
• "What changed on my competitors' sites this week?"

Required fields:

• None (uses your pre-configured competitor list in n8n)
• Optional: niche or specific competitor URL to add

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/competitor-monitor

Payload sent:

json

{
  "include_niche": "string or null",
  "add_competitor_url": "string or null",
  "report_type": "full or summary",
  "triggered_by": "openclaw"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "complete", "report": "markdown string" }

Display the report content directly in chat formatted as markdown.

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Workflow 6 — Invoice Reminder#

What it does: Sends a polite, personalized invoice reminder to a client. Supports first reminder, second nudge, and final notice tones. Logs the outreach attempt in your CRM automatically.

Trigger examples:

• "Send invoice reminder to Acme Corp, invoice #1042, $2,500 due"
• "Second reminder to mike@client.com for invoice 203"
• "Final notice to sarah@company.com, overdue 30 days"

Required fields:

• client_name
• client_email
• invoice_number
• amount
• due_date
• reminder_type (first / second / final)

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/invoice-reminder

Payload sent:

json

{
  "client_name": "string",
  "client_email": "string",
  "invoice_number": "string",
  "amount": "number",
  "due_date": "ISO date",
  "reminder_type": "first | second | final",
  "triggered_by": "openclaw"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "sent", "email_id": "..." }

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Workflow 7 — YouTube / Content Repurpose#

What it does: Takes a YouTube video URL or blog post URL and triggers n8n to repurpose it into: Twitter/X thread, LinkedIn post, email newsletter snippet, and short-form hook. Returns all versions in chat for your review before posting.

Trigger examples:

• "Repurpose this video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
• "Turn my latest blog post into social content: [URL]"
• "Create social posts from: [URL]"

Required fields:

• url (YouTube or blog URL)
• formats (thread, linkedin, email, hook — defaults to all)

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/content-repurpose

Payload sent:

json

{
  "url": "string",
  "formats": ["thread", "linkedin", "email", "hook"],
  "brand_voice": "punchy and direct",
  "triggered_by": "openclaw"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "complete", "content": { "thread": "...", "linkedin": "...", "email": "...", "hook": "..." } }

Display all content versions in chat for review.

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Workflow 8 — Daily Briefing#

What it does: Triggers n8n to pull together your full daily briefing: new leads from last 24 hours, open deals status, social media performance, emails that need replies, and your top 3 priorities for the day.

Trigger examples:

• "Morning briefing"
• "What happened overnight?"
• "Daily digest"
• "Give me my briefing"

Webhook endpoint: $N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE_URL/daily-briefing

Payload sent:

json

{
  "date": "ISO date",
  "sections": ["leads", "deals", "social", "email", "priorities"],
  "triggered_by": "openclaw"
}

Expected n8n response: { "status": "complete", "briefing": "markdown string" }

Display the briefing content formatted in chat.

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Error Handling#

If any webhook call fails, follow this sequence:

1. Report the error clearly: "The [workflow name] webhook returned [error]. Here is what was sent: [payload summary]"
2. Ask: "Should I retry, or would you like to check your n8n instance?"
3. Do NOT silently fail or pretend the workflow ran
4. Log the failed attempt in memory: "Failed workflow: [name] at [timestamp] — Error: [message]"

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Rules (Always Follow These)#

• ALWAYS confirm what you are about to trigger before sending
• NEVER expose API keys, webhook URLs, or credentials in chat
• NEVER trigger a workflow without all required fields
• If a required field is missing, ask for it before proceeding
• NEVER send test data to production webhooks unless user confirms
• Always report the n8n response status back to the user
• If triggering email workflows, confirm the recipient email address out loud before sending
• Log every successful trigger to daily memory: "[Workflow] triggered for [target] at [time]"

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Status Check#

At any time the user can type "n8n status" and you should:

1. Run: python3 scripts/n8n_status.py
2. Display the output exactly as returned
3. If any workflows show as inactive, suggest running: python3 scripts/n8n_validator.py

Scripts Reference#

All scripts live in the scripts/ folder and use only environment variables — no secrets stored in files.

ScriptPurposeCommandn8n_trigger.pyTrigger any workflowpython3 scripts/n8n_trigger.py <command>``n8n_validator.pyValidate all webhookspython3 scripts/n8n_validator.py``n8n_status.pyQuick status dashboardpython3 scripts/n8n_status.py

Quick test after setup:

text

python3 scripts/n8n_validator.py --env-only
python3 scripts/n8n_status.py
python3 scripts/n8n_trigger.py health --pretty

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Slash Commands#

• /n8n-nurture — Quick trigger lead nurture
• /n8n-post — Quick trigger social post
• /n8n-followup — Quick trigger meeting follow-up
• /n8n-crm — Quick trigger CRM update
• /n8n-competitors — Quick trigger competitor report
• /n8n-invoice — Quick trigger invoice reminder
• /n8n-repurpose — Quick trigger content repurpose
• /n8n-briefing — Quick trigger daily briefing
• /n8n-status — Check instance health