Discovery Tools

Find nodes and templates across the n8n ecosystem. Search 2,412 nodes and 2,352 templates with full-text and semantic search capabilities.

`search_nodes`

Full-text search across all 2,412 n8n nodes (829 core + 1,583 community). Returns most relevant nodes first, with frequently-used nodes (HTTP Request, Webhook, Set, Code, Slack) prioritized in results.

No Setup Required

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`query`*	`string`	—	Search keywords. Use quotes for exact phrases like "google sheets"
`limit`	`number`	`20`	Maximum results to return (max: 100)
`mode`	`string`	`OR`	Search mode `ORANDFUZZY`
`source`	`string`	`all`	Filter by node source. Use "verified" when recommending community nodes for production. `allcorecommunityverified`
`includeExamples`	`boolean`	`false`	Include real-world configuration examples from templates
`includeOperations`	`boolean`	`false`	Include each node's resource/operation pairs in results to scan capability surface without follow-up get_node calls

Basic keyword search

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search_nodes({query: "webhook"})

Returns Webhook node as top result

Search with all words required

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search_nodes({query: "google sheets", mode: "AND"})

Only returns nodes matching both words

Handle typos with fuzzy search

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search_nodes({query: "slak", mode: "FUZZY"})

Returns Slack despite the typo

Search with examples

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search_nodes({query: "http api", includeExamples: true})

Returns HTTP Request, GraphQL, REST nodes with real-world configs

Inspect operations alongside results

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search_nodes({query: "google sheets", includeOperations: true})

Returns each match with its resource/operation pairs so you can pick the right one without a follow-up get_node call

Search community nodes only

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search_nodes({query: "scraping", source: "community"})

Restricts results to the 1,583 community nodes. Use source: "verified" for the 1,340 verified subset.

Use Cases

•Finding nodes when you know partial names
•Discovering nodes by functionality (e.g., "email", "database", "transform")
•Handling user typos in node names
•Finding all nodes related to a service (e.g., "google", "aws", "microsoft")
•Discovering community integrations the official n8n MCP server cannot see

✓Best Practices

•Start with single keywords for broadest results
•Use FUZZY mode when users might misspell node names
•AND mode works best for 2-3 word searches
•Combine with get_node after finding the right node
•Use source="verified" when recommending community nodes for production
•Check the isVerified flag before relying on a community node

Common Pitfalls

•AND mode searches all fields (name, description) not just node names
•FUZZY mode with very short queries (1-2 chars) may return unexpected results
•Exact matches in quotes are case-sensitive
•Community nodes require npm installation on your n8n instance (n8n npm install <package-name>)
•Unverified community nodes (isVerified: false) may have limited support
•includeOperations is omitted for trigger nodes and freeform nodes (Code, HTTP Request) — they have no resource/operation pattern

`search_templates`

Unified template search with multiple modes across 2,352 curated templates. Search by keyword, node types, task type, metadata, or workflow patterns.

No Setup Required

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`searchMode`	`string`	`keyword`	Search mode `keywordby_nodesby_taskby_metadatapatterns`
`query`	`string`	—	For keyword mode: search keywords
`nodeTypes`	`array`	—	For by_nodes mode: array of node types
`task`	`string`	—	For by_task mode: task type. For patterns mode: optional category filter (omit for an overview of all categories). `ai_automationdata_syncwebhook_processingemail_automationslack_integrationdata_transformationfile_processingschedulingapi_integrationdatabase_operations`
`complexity`	`string`	—	For by_metadata: workflow complexity `simplemediumcomplex`
`maxSetupMinutes`	`number`	—	For by_metadata: maximum setup time (5-480)
`minSetupMinutes`	`number`	—	For by_metadata: minimum setup time (5-480)
`category`	`string`	—	For by_metadata: filter by category (e.g., "automation", "integration")
`fields`	`array`	—	For keyword mode: fields to include — id, name, description, author, nodes, views, created, url, metadata. Trim this to cut response size.
`requiredService`	`string`	—	For by_metadata: e.g., "openai", "slack"
`targetAudience`	`string`	—	For by_metadata: e.g., "developers", "marketers"
`limit`	`number`	`20`	Maximum results (max: 100)
`offset`	`number`	`0`	Pagination offset

Keyword search (default)

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search_templates({query: "chatbot"})

Find templates using specific nodes

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search_templates({
  searchMode: "by_nodes",
  nodeTypes: ["n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest", "n8n-nodes-base.slack"]
})

Get templates for a task type

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search_templates({searchMode: "by_task", task: "webhook_processing"})

Filter by metadata

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search_templates({
  searchMode: "by_metadata",
  complexity: "simple",
  requiredService: "openai"
})

Browse workflow patterns

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search_templates({searchMode: "patterns"})

Returns aggregated pattern summaries (webhook→AI→DB, schedule→batch→API, etc.) mined from all 2,352 templates. ~550 tokens.

Drill into one category's patterns

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search_templates({searchMode: "patterns", task: "ai_automation"})

Returns node frequencies with roles plus the top connection chains for that category

Use Cases

•Find workflows by business purpose (keyword search)
•Find templates using specific integrations (by_nodes)
•Get pre-built solutions for common tasks (by_task)
•Filter by complexity for team skill level (by_metadata)
•Find templates requiring specific services (by_metadata)
•Survey common workflow architectures before designing your own (patterns)

✓Best Practices

•Use searchMode="by_task" for common automation patterns
•Use searchMode="by_nodes" when you know which integrations you need
•Use searchMode="keyword" for general discovery
•Use searchMode="patterns" early in design to anchor on proven architectures
•Use get_template(id) to get the full workflow JSON