n8n/packages/@n8n/benchmark/README.md

# n8n benchmarking tool

Tool for executing benchmarks against an n8n instance.

## Running locally with Docker

Build the Docker image:

```sh
# Must be run in the repository root
# k6 doesn't have an arm64 build available for linux, we need to build against amd64
docker build --platform linux/amd64 -t n8n-benchmark -f packages/@n8n/benchmark/Dockerfile .
```

Run the image

```sh
docker run \
  -e N8N_USER_EMAIL=user@n8n.io \
  -e N8N_USER_PASSWORD=password \
  # For macos, n8n running outside docker
  -e N8N_BASE_URL=http://host.docker.internal:5678 \
  n8n-benchmark
```

## Running locally without Docker

Requirements:

- [k6](https://grafana.com/docs/k6/latest/set-up/install-k6/)
- Node.js v20 or higher

```sh
pnpm build

# Run tests against http://localhost:5678 with specified email and password
N8N_USER_EMAIL=user@n8n.io N8N_USER_PASSWORD=password ./bin/n8n-benchmark run

# If you installed k6 using brew, you might have to specify it explicitly
K6_PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin/k6 N8N_USER_EMAIL=user@n8n.io N8N_USER_PASSWORD=password ./bin/n8n-benchmark run
```

## Running in the cloud

There's a script to run the performance tests in a cloud environment. The script provisions a cloud environment, sets up n8n in the environment, runs the tests and destroys the environment.

```sh
pnpm run-in-cloud
```

## Configuration

The configuration options the cli accepts can be seen from [config.ts](./src/config/config.ts)

## Benchmark scenarios

A benchmark scenario defines one or multiple steps to execute and measure. It consists of:

- Manifest file which describes and configures the scenario
- Any test data that is imported before the scenario is run
- A [`k6`](https://grafana.com/docs/k6/latest/using-k6/http-requests/) script which executes the steps and receives `API_BASE_URL` environment variable in runtime.

Available scenarios are located in [`./scenarios`](./scenarios/).