ABOUT

The project is a mini version of n8n.

Link to video show a little bit about the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiW2SZ2YSuc

Features

• Create workflows
• Edit workflows
• Delete workflows
• Execute workflows via Webhook
• Test the workflow while you are creating it
• Create custom nodes to execute your own logic when you need a customized solution

What did I learn or reviewed?

• Linked list concept
• Plugin architecture. PS: to use the plugin architecture to create custom nodes
• Build form dynamically
• How to make reference from output data from one node to another node. PS: you can use the output data from one node in another node using the syntax {{this.state.steps.step_name_here.output.key_name}} or {{this.state.steps.step_name_here.input.key_name}}
• How to encrypt sensitive data and store it in the database
• How to decrypt sensitive data when you need to use it
• How to install package in other project where the package is only available in the local machine. Example: inside the dependencies of package.json add the path to the package "package-name": "file:../path/to/package" and execute the command pnpm install, so the package will be installed in the project you want to use it

Node types

• Webhook(WebhookNode) => the start node of workflow. PS: will create a webhook to start the workflow
• Api(HttpRequestNode) => make http requests
• Code(CodeNode) => execute code in runtime
• Condition(ConditionNode) => make conditions
• Loop(LoopNode) => make loops when you need to repeat a nodes

Stack

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• TypeScript
• PostgreSQL
• Docker
• Docker Compose

Frontend

• NextJs
• TypeScript
• React
• React flow to create workflows

How to run

• Clone
• Access directory api-mini-n8n
• Create .env file based on .env.example
• Execute command pnpm run migration:run to run database migrations and create the database tables
• Run docker-compose up --build to run containers: api-mini-n8n, code-executor and mongo
• Access directory frontend
• Execute command pnpm install
• Execute command pnpm run start:dev

Folder structure

• api-mini-n8n: backend
  • src
    • config: configurations
    • exception: exception from application
    • middlewares: middlewares
    • migrations: database migrations
    • models: models represent database tables
    • repositories: repositories contains database queries
    • services: containers the business logic
    • workflow: contains the workflow engine to execute the workflow and native nodes.
    • utils: contains code support other layers
• frontend: frontend
  • app: pages of the application
  • components: components of the application
  • hooks: hooks of the application
  • types: types of the application
  • utils: utils of the application
• core-package: core package to create custom nodes
  • src
    • types: types to create custom nodes
    • index.ts: main file
• package-examples: examples of custom nodes

How to create custom nodes

• Copy folder package-examples/template-package
• Rename folder to my-custom-node
• Access the package.json and change the name to my-custom-node and description
• Access the src/index.ts and rename the class name and in the method getConfig set configs from custom node. PS: the name and type need to be the same.
• When the package is ready to use, execute the command pnpm run build to build the package and execute the command pnpm publish --public to publish the package on npm as public package.
• Access the frontend running at http://localhost:3000 and access the link http://localhost:3000/install-custom-packages to install the package.