Magic Ship

Automation and integration

n8n

Self-hostable workflow automation with a code escape hatch.

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n8n
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Magic Ship is one shop in Vancouver, BC, working remotely with clients worldwide. We are not a partner, reseller, or certified vendor of n8n - we just build with this.

What n8n is

n8n is a workflow automation tool with a visual editor and several hundred integrations. Any node can be a JavaScript or Python function, so a workflow can drop into code where the visual nodes run out. It is source-available and commonly self-hosted with Docker.

How we use it

We use n8n for the operational glue around a product: intake from a form or an inbox, enrichment, a model call, then a write into the system of record. Self-hosting keeps credentials and customer data on the client's own infrastructure instead of a vendor's. When a workflow becomes load-bearing, we move it into the codebase.

Where it is the wrong choice

A JSON canvas is hard to review, test, and diff, so once a workflow carries volume or has to be reliable it should be code with tests. Temporal gives you retries and run history you can reason about; a canvas does not.

Service lines it turns up in

More in Automation and integration

  • Linear APIGraphQL API and webhooks for issue tracking.
  • Notion APIRead and write Notion pages and databases from code.
  • Slack APIWhere an internal tool meets the people using it.
  • TemporalDurable workflows that survive crashes and restarts.
  • ZapierFast glue between SaaS tools nobody has to host.

Other tools in the same service lines

Building something on n8n?

Send the problem rather than a job spec. You get an answer on scope, on fit, and on whethern8n is even the right call for it.

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n8n and n8n are trademarks of their respective owners, used here to say what we work with.