n8nctl
n8nctl¶
Control any n8n instance from the terminal via its public API
Synopsis¶
n8nctl is a portable, single-binary client for the n8n public REST API.
It manages workflows, executions, credentials, tags, variables, projects and users on any n8n instance — self-hosted or Cloud — over HTTPS with an API key.
Multi-instance is first class: define named profiles, store each instance's API
key in your OS keyring, and switch with --profile or "n8nctl config use
Options¶
--api-key string override the API key (prefer keyring via 'auth login')
--base-url string override the instance base URL (e.g. https://host/api/v1)
--columns strings comma-separated columns for table/csv output
--dry-run print the equivalent curl and send no request
-h, --help help for n8nctl
--jq string apply a jq program to the result (e.g. '.[].id'); implies JSON input
--no-color disable colored output [env: NO_COLOR]
--no-header hide the table header row
-o, --output string output format: table|json|yaml|csv [env: N8NCTL_OUTPUT]
--profile string config profile (instance) to use [env: N8NCTL_PROFILE]
-q, --quiet suppress non-essential chatter
--rps float client-side rate limit in requests/sec (0 = use config/default)
--show-token do not redact the API key in --dry-run output
-v, --verbose verbose (debug) logging to stderr
SEE ALSO¶
- n8nctl alias - Define command shortcuts expanded before parsing
- n8nctl api - Make a raw authenticated API request (escape hatch)
- n8nctl audit - Generate a security audit of the instance
- n8nctl auth - Authenticate against an n8n instance
- n8nctl backup - Export workflows, tags, and variables to a directory (JSON or YAML)
- n8nctl completion - Generate a shell completion script
- n8nctl config - Inspect and edit configuration and profiles
- n8nctl credentials - Manage credentials
- n8nctl data-tables - Manage data tables and their rows
- n8nctl doctor - Diagnose configuration, credentials, and connectivity
- n8nctl executions - Inspect and control workflow executions
- n8nctl init - Interactive first-run setup for an instance/profile
- n8nctl login - Authenticate the active profile (alias for
auth login) - n8nctl logout - Remove the active profile's API key (alias for
auth logout) - n8nctl packages - Export and import workflows as .n8np packages (beta)
- n8nctl projects - Manage projects and their members
- n8nctl restore - Recreate workflows from a backup directory
- n8nctl skills - Install this CLI's AI-agent skill into Claude, Cursor, and other agents
- n8nctl source-control - Interact with the Source Control (Git) integration
- n8nctl tags - Manage workflow tags
- n8nctl users - Manage users (instance owner only)
- n8nctl variables - Manage instance variables
- n8nctl version - Print version, commit, and build date
- n8nctl workflows - Manage workflows