Added n8n to samples #474

KevyVo · 2025-09-23T05:19:00Z

By popular demand, n8n is added to the list of samples. Since we do not support volumes right now, all the volumes in the compose.dev.yaml will be used for only local development.

Here are some resources I used while developing this:

Samples Checklist

✅ All good!

samples/n8n/compose.yml

raphaeltm · 2025-09-23T07:49:20Z

samples/n8n/compose.yml

+      file: compose.dev.yaml
+      service: postgres
+
+  n8n:


@KevyVo you referenced the external storage docs in the PR description, but I don't see it used here.

I'd recommend adding those env vars in here and then documenting any additional steps. Tigris Data is a free option we can point people to that offers s3-compatible storage.

samples/n8n/compose.yml

raphaeltm · 2025-09-23T07:51:03Z

samples/n8n/README.md

+
+[![1-click-deploy](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DefangLabs/defang-assets/main/Logos/Buttons/SVG/deploy-with-defang.svg)](ASK RAPH)
+
+This sample shows how to get a [n8n](https://n8n.io/) app up using PostgreSQL as a database and running with Defang. The original sample can be found [here](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-hosting/tree/main/docker-compose/withPostgres). The official n8n guide for setting up with PostgreSQL [here](https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/) does not work with Defang. To use the version compatible with Defang, please refer to this sample instead.


If we say it's not compatible with Defang, I think we should highlight why/what isn't compatible.

raphaeltm · 2025-09-23T07:54:17Z

samples/n8n/README.md

+
+## Development
+
+**IMPORTANT:** But before you do that change the default users and passwords in the [`.env`](.env) file!


One awkward thing is that any .env file we put here will be loaded when we run defang compose up because the docker SDK will pick it up. Config vals should override them but I believe they won't be marked as missing if the .env file exists. I'd recommend hard-coding in the development compose file for that reason.

lionello · 2025-09-23T16:57:42Z

I personally prefer if compose.yaml is for local/dev and compose.prod.yaml extends that one.

raphaeltm · 2025-09-25T08:46:57Z

I personally prefer if compose.yaml is for local/dev and compose.prod.yaml extends that one.

We had so many conversations about this and I used to push that idea, but we collectively agreed a long time ago that that was exactly what we wanted to avoid because it means passing an extra -f flag to get things deployed properly with Defang. That's why we structured every other sample with compose.yaml to cloud, and compose.dev.yaml for local dev.

raphaeltm · 2025-10-06T08:25:52Z

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…

---------- Hey Kevin, Thanks for the mention. For the env vars in deploy.yaml, you can put them in the env section of the n8n service. For 1-click deploy, I'll help set that up once the PR is merged. Best, Raphaël Raphaël Titsworth-Morin (he/him) Co-Founder | Éphémère Creative Ltd https://ephemerecreative.ca Let's build something good together.

KevyVo · 2025-10-06T08:37:03Z

Hey Kevin, Thanks for the mention. For the env vars in deploy.yaml, you can put them in the env section of the n8n service. For 1-click deploy, I'll help set that up once the PR is merged. Best, Raphaël Raphaël Titsworth-Morin (he/him) Co-Founder | Éphémère Creative Ltd ephemerecreative.ca Let's build something good together.
…
On Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 10:25 AM @.*** wrote: By popular require, n8n https://n8n.io/ is added to the list of samples. Since we do not support volumes right now, all the volumes in the compose.dev.yaml will be used for only local development. Only two small items I help from @raphaeltm https://github.com/raphaeltm is to setup 1click deploy and set the env var in the deploy.yaml. I am unsure which environment to put it in. Here are some resources I used while developing this: - https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-hosting/tree/main/docker-compose/withPostgres - https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/ - https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/ - https://community.n8n.io/t/error-while-deploying-n8n-docker/77926 - https://community.n8n.io/t/how-to-change-localhost-5678-from-webhook-url/27033/8 Samples Checklist ✅ All good! ------------------------------ You can view, comment on, or merge this pull request online at: #474 Commit Summary - 0f0ce0c <0f0ce0c> Added n8n to samples - 1695094 <1695094> Working n8n with Oauth - 2d4a465 <2d4a465> update reason for volumes - b75f139 <b75f139> Managed Postgres - ffe0977 <ffe0977> n8n Public DNS - eb14aa0 <eb14aa0> fix gcp setup deployment File Changes (6 files https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files) - A samples/n8n/.github/workflows/deploy.yaml https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-3c5ddcabafecc6bf328a15063126c1c85f63143c97c67023d5fd425c83c27ea3 (28) - A samples/n8n/README.md https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-9468dc59215e010047102e5611169576d935d96c5c64d9d0dddaf9d8b3f09a33 (94) - A samples/n8n/compose.dev.yaml https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-b26b523e92e4d6b3f3c579cfd78fc2e974bbb63738241dc8be6a466c96f37bff (40) - A samples/n8n/compose.yaml https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-c9e4bfd0cd96adb39bea69969645d51d6df017e1e9ccf4bf568eb42e3a2e40cd (64) - A samples/n8n/init-data.sh https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-85c9cc6fa36ed5d05515650d7654d8bcb8554442fff1a29809245b4b77e1efea (47) - A samples/n8n/setup.Dockerfile https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-80d0039114745e4d309f54ac715b7432358cfc71db63417028df03db274b15a0 (5) Patch Links: - https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474.patch - https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474.diff — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#474>, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAG6MLZYLEDFUOSEPKJRW2D3WIRQFAVCNFSM6AAAAACHHLUEC6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZTGQ2DGNZSGE4TCMQ . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

Are saying to hardcode the value to the compose.yaml to the n8n section env var like this:

n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=defang_user
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=defang12345
      - N8N_HOST=n8n
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_ENABLED=true
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false
    ports:
      - 5678:5678
    links:
      - postgres
    depends_on:
      setup:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

raphaeltm · 2025-10-06T08:37:44Z

DISREGARD - Email autoresponder went wacky

…

---------- Hey Kevin, Thanks for the PR! I've added the env vars in the deploy.yaml and will help set up the 1-click deploy after merging. Looking forward to having n8n as part of our samples. Best, Raphaël Raphaël Titsworth-Morin (he/him) Co-Founder | Éphémère Creative Ltd https://ephemerecreative.ca Let's build something good together.

On Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 10:37 AM ***@***.*** wrote: *KevyVo* left a comment (DefangLabs/samples#474) <#474 (comment)> Hey Kevin, Thanks for the mention. For the env vars in deploy.yaml, you can put them in the env section of the n8n service. For 1-click deploy, I'll help set that up once the PR is merged. Best, Raphaël Raphaël Titsworth-Morin (he/him) Co-Founder | Éphémère Creative Ltd ephemerecreative.ca Let's build something good together. … <#> On Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 10:25 AM *@*.*** wrote: By popular require, n8n https://n8n.io/ is added to the list of samples. Since we do not support volumes right now, all the volumes in the compose.dev.yaml will be used for only local development. Only two small items I help from @raphaeltm <https://github.com/raphaeltm> https://github.com/raphaeltm is to setup 1click deploy and set the env var in the deploy.yaml. I am unsure which environment to put it in. Here are some resources I used while developing this: - https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-hosting/tree/main/docker-compose/withPostgres <https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-hosting/tree/main/docker-compose/withPostgres?rgh-link-date=2025-10-06T08%3A25%3A52Z> - https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/ - https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/ - https://community.n8n.io/t/error-while-deploying-n8n-docker/77926 - https://community.n8n.io/t/how-to-change-localhost-5678-from-webhook-url/27033/8 Samples Checklist ✅ All good! ------------------------------ You can view, comment on, or merge this pull request online at: #474 <#474> Commit Summary - 0f0ce0c <0f0ce0c> <0f0ce0c <0f0ce0c>> Added n8n to samples - 1695094 <1695094> <1695094 <1695094>> Working n8n with Oauth - 2d4a465 <2d4a465> <2d4a465 <2d4a465>> update reason for volumes - b75f139 <b75f139> <b75f139 <b75f139>> Managed Postgres - ffe0977 <ffe0977> <ffe0977 <ffe0977>> n8n Public DNS - eb14aa0 <eb14aa0> <eb14aa0 <eb14aa0>> fix gcp setup deployment File Changes (6 files https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files) - *A* samples/n8n/.github/workflows/deploy.yaml https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-3c5ddcabafecc6bf328a15063126c1c85f63143c97c67023d5fd425c83c27ea3 (28) - *A* samples/n8n/README.md https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-9468dc59215e010047102e5611169576d935d96c5c64d9d0dddaf9d8b3f09a33 (94) - *A* samples/n8n/compose.dev.yaml https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-b26b523e92e4d6b3f3c579cfd78fc2e974bbb63738241dc8be6a466c96f37bff (40) - *A* samples/n8n/compose.yaml https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-c9e4bfd0cd96adb39bea69969645d51d6df017e1e9ccf4bf568eb42e3a2e40cd (64) - *A* samples/n8n/init-data.sh https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-85c9cc6fa36ed5d05515650d7654d8bcb8554442fff1a29809245b4b77e1efea (47) - *A* samples/n8n/setup.Dockerfile https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474/files#diff-80d0039114745e4d309f54ac715b7432358cfc71db63417028df03db274b15a0 (5) Patch Links: - https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474.patch - https://github.com/DefangLabs/samples/pull/474.diff — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#474 <#474>>, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAG6MLZYLEDFUOSEPKJRW2D3WIRQFAVCNFSM6AAAAACHHLUEC6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZTGQ2DGNZSGE4TCMQ . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: *@*.***> Are saying to hardcode the value to the compose.yaml to the n8n section env var like this: n8n: image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n restart: always environment: - DB_TYPE=postgresdb - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432 - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=defang_user - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=defang12345 - N8N_HOST=n8n - N8N_PORT=5678 - N8N_PROTOCOL=https - NODE_ENV=production - WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n - DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_ENABLED=true - DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false ports: - 5678:5678 links: - postgres depends_on: setup: condition: service_completed_successfully postgres: condition: service_healthy — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#474 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAG6ML47HBHS6QD577HCY2D3WIS4LAVCNFSM6AAAAACHHLUEC6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTGNZQGUYDGNRXGQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

KevyVo · 2025-10-06T08:49:03Z

Here are some issues I ran into over the last couple of days, along with how I resolved them:

Slow startup for managed Postgres
The managed Postgres instance takes a while to come online. I think it would be a better experience if we extend the retry period to up to 10 minutes and include a message in the script letting users know that the first initialization can take some time and to be patient. It’s much better than having the process fail and requiring another up. In my experience deploying this about 30 times over the past week, I’ve never had to wait more than 5 minutes on AWS or GCP.
GCP setup container environment variables
The GCP setup container kept failing because environment variables in the setup service aren’t populated unless we use the JavaScript-style ${} syntax. I had to inspect each Cloud Run service’s container environment to figure this out. I’m not sure if this is a bug or expected behavior — on AWS, we don’t need ${}, and the variables fill in fine. This only seems to affect GCP.
Init script re-deployment handling
I updated the init script to handle cases after the initial deployment. Once Postgres has been set up and the users are created, rerunning the script causes Postgres to error out since the users already exist. I added logic to handle that gracefully.
Public DNS can be automatically refer with the compose now: added public fqdn url to compose defang#1496

KevyVo · 2025-10-06T08:54:56Z

Remaining issues:

AWS redeploy issue
The initial deployment on AWS works perfectly with no problems. However, when running defang up a second time to redeploy, the n8n app crashes after deployment. A full defang down followed by defang up is required for it to deploy successfully again. I’ve checked the logs but haven’t yet determined the cause.
GCP delayed startup
On GCP, the deployment completes successfully without any errors. However, once it’s finished, the deployed URL doesn’t load immediately. Interestingly, the app keeps trying to restart itself, and after about 30 minutes, it finally comes online and remains stable. I currently have a GCP n8n instance that’s been running for two days without issues. I’m still not sure why there’s such a long delay initially.

I think I need help resolving the last two, I gave it my all. I am quite stump now.

…kflow

lionello · 2025-10-07T15:17:09Z

.github/workflows/deploy-changed-samples.yml

+          TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_ENABLED: ${{ secrets.TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_ENABLED }}
+          TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED: ${{ secrets.TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED }}


Why are these config? @KevyVo @raphaeltm

Added n8n to samples

0f0ce0c

KevyVo requested review from jordanstephens, lionello and raphaeltm September 23, 2025 05:19

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Working n8n with Oauth

1695094

KevyVo force-pushed the kevin/n8n branch from 560a44d to 1695094 Compare September 29, 2025 22:35

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update reason for volumes

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Managed Postgres

b75f139

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n8n Public DNS

ffe0977

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fix gcp setup deployment

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KevyVo marked this pull request as ready for review October 6, 2025 08:25

KevyVo requested a review from Prakash-Sundaresan October 6, 2025 08:25

byoc

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raphaeltm added 2 commits October 6, 2025 19:59

simplified working config for byoc, playground, local

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Merge branch 'raph/n8n' into kevin/n8n

0a62954

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feat: add N8N encryption key and SSL config options to deployment wor…

46f5d66

…kflow

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chore: replace hardcoded domain with placeholder in n8n compose config

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remove docker setup file

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test secrets

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switch to playground

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test env

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workaround for dbpassword

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no more js subs

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Merge branch 'main' into kevin/n8n

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lionello merged commit 4725410 into main Oct 7, 2025
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		[![1-click-deploy](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DefangLabs/defang-assets/main/Logos/Buttons/SVG/deploy-with-defang.svg)](ASK RAPH)

		This sample shows how to get a [n8n](https://n8n.io/) app up using PostgreSQL as a database and running with Defang. The original sample can be found [here](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-hosting/tree/main/docker-compose/withPostgres). The official n8n guide for setting up with PostgreSQL [here](https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/) does not work with Defang. To use the version compatible with Defang, please refer to this sample instead.


		## Development

		IMPORTANT: But before you do that change the default users and passwords in the [`.env`](.env) file!

		TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_ENABLED: ${{ secrets.TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_ENABLED }}
		TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED: ${{ secrets.TEST_DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED }}

Added n8n to samples #474

Added n8n to samples #474

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