n8n

The open-source, self-hostable automation tool that lets you drop to code when you need to - nodes and workflows, credentials, and real automations including AI steps.

1. Nodes & Workflows The core mental model - nodes, the connections between them, the visual editor, executions, and why teams choose an open-source, self-hostable tool.
2. Self-Host, Credentials & the Code Node The grown-up concerns - running n8n yourself versus n8n Cloud, where credentials and secrets live, expressions that pass data between steps, and the Code node for when no-code runs out.
3. Real Automations (and AI Nodes) Building it for real - a concrete multi-step automation end to end, how webhooks let the outside world trigger a flow, and using AI/LLM nodes to add a thinking step.