n8n CI/CD Reusable Workflow

This reusable workflow provides CI/CD capabilities for n8n deployments to DigitalOcean. It leverages our Dagger modules to provide a consistent and reliable deployment process.

Features

  • 🔄 Automated CI/CD pipeline for n8n
  • 🌊 DigitalOcean App Platform deployment
  • 🔐 Secure secrets management
  • ⚙️ Configurable environment variables
  • 🎯 Region-specific deployment
  • 🏷️ Custom app naming

Prerequisites

  • GitHub repository with n8n configuration
  • DigitalOcean account and API token
  • GitHub Actions enabled in your repository

Usage

Basic Example

Create .github/workflows/n8n-deploy.yml in your repository:

name: Deploy n8n

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy-n8n:
    uses: felipepimentel/daggerverse/.github/workflows/reusable-n8n-ci-cd.yml@main
    secrets:
      digitalocean_token: $

Advanced Example 

name: Deploy n8n with Custom Configuration

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, staging]
    paths:
      - 'n8n/**'
      - '.github/workflows/**'
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, staging]
    paths:
      - 'n8n/**'
      - '.github/workflows/**'

jobs:
  deploy-n8n:
    uses: felipepimentel/daggerverse/.github/workflows/reusable-n8n-ci-cd.yml@main
    with:
      dagger_version: "0.15.3"
      region: "fra1"
      app_name: "n8n-production"
      env_vars: |
        {
          "N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE": "true",
          "N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER": "admin",
          "N8N_PROTOCOL": "https",
          "N8N_HOST": "workflow.example.com",
          "N8N_PORT": "5678",
          "N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY": "$",
          "WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL": "https://workflow.example.com/"
        }
    secrets:
      digitalocean_token: $

Inputs

Name Description Required Default Example Values
dagger_version Version of Dagger to use No 0.15.3 0.15.3, 0.15.0
region DigitalOcean region for deployment No nyc nyc, fra1, sgp1
app_name Name of the n8n application No n8n n8n-prod, n8n-staging
env_vars JSON string of environment variables No Basic auth config See environment variables section

Secrets

Name Description Required How to Obtain
digitalocean_token DigitalOcean API token Yes Create in DigitalOcean

Environment Variables

Required Variables 

{
  "N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE": "true",
  "N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER": "admin"
}

{
  "N8N_PROTOCOL": "https",
  "N8N_HOST": "your-domain.com",
  "N8N_PORT": "5678",
  "N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY": "your-secure-key",
  "WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL": "https://your-domain.com/",
  "N8N_EMAIL_MODE": "smtp",
  "N8N_SMTP_HOST": "smtp.example.com",
  "N8N_SMTP_PORT": "587",
  "N8N_SMTP_USER": "your-smtp-user",
  "N8N_SMTP_PASS": "your-smtp-password"
}

Workflow Details

CI Process

The CI job performs the following steps:

  1. Code checkout
  2. Dagger setup with specified version
  3. Runs tests and validations
  4. Checks n8n configuration
  5. Validates environment variables

CD Process

The CD job (runs only on main branch) performs:

  1. Code checkout
  2. Dagger setup
  3. DigitalOcean authentication
  4. App deployment configuration
  5. Environment variables setup
  6. Application deployment
  7. Health check verification

Best Practices

  1. Environment Variables
    • Store sensitive data in GitHub Secrets
    • Use descriptive names for variables
    • Document all custom variables
  2. Security
    • Rotate DigitalOcean tokens regularly
    • Use HTTPS for production deployments
    • Enable basic authentication
    • Set strong encryption keys
  3. Deployment
    • Use different app names for staging/production
    • Set appropriate resource limits
    • Configure automatic backups
    • Monitor deployment logs

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Authentication Failures 
    Error: Unable to authenticate with DigitalOcean
    • Verify token permissions
    • Check token expiration
    • Ensure token is properly set in secrets
  2. Environment Variables 
    Error: Invalid environment variables format
    • Validate JSON syntax
    • Check for missing quotes
    • Ensure all values are strings
  3. Region Issues 
    Error: Invalid region specified
    • Use valid DigitalOcean region codes
    • Check region availability
    • Verify resource availability in region

Debug Steps

  1. Check workflow run logs
  2. Verify environment variables
  3. Validate DigitalOcean configuration
  4. Test n8n configuration locally
  5. Review deployment status in DigitalOcean dashboard

Support

For issues and feature requests:

  • Open an issue in the repository
  • Provide workflow run logs
  • Include error messages
  • Describe expected vs actual behavior