mirror of
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210 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
210 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
# Contributing to n8n
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Great that you are here and you want to contribute to n8n
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## Contents
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- [Code of Conduct](#code-of-conduct)
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- [Directory Structure](#directory-structure)
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- [Development Setup](#development-setup)
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- [Development Cycle](#development-cycle)
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- [Create Custom Nodes](#create-custom-nodes)
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- [Create a new node to contribute to n8n](#create-a-new-node-to-contribute-to-n8n)
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- [Extend Documentation](#extend-documentation)
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## Code of Conduct
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This project and everyone participating in it are governed by the Code of
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Conduct which can be found in the file [CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
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By participating, you are expected to uphold this code. Please report
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unacceptable behavior to jan@n8n.io.
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## Directory Structure
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n8n is split up in different modules which are all in a single mono repository.
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The most important directories:
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- [/docker/image](/docker/image) - Dockerfiles to create n8n containers
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- [/docker/compose](/docker/compose) - Examples Docker Setups
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- [/packages](/packages) - The different n8n modules
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- [/packages/cli](/packages/cli) - CLI code to run front- & backend
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- [/packages/core](/packages/core) - Core code which handles workflow
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execution, active webhooks and
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workflows
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- [/packages/editor-ui](/packages/editor-ui) - Vue frontend workflow editor
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- [/packages/node-dev](/packages/node-dev) - Simple CLI to create new n8n-nodes
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- [/packages/nodes-base](/packages/nodes-base) - Base n8n nodes
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- [/packages/worflow](/packages/worflow) - Workflow code with interfaces which
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get used by front- & backend
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## Development Setup
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If you want to change or extend n8n you have to make sure that all needed
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dependencies are installed and the packages get linked correctly. Here a short guide on how that can be done:
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### Requirements
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#### Build Tools
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The packages which n8n uses depend on a few build tools:
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Linux:
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```
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apt-get install -y build-essential python
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```
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Windows:
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```
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npm install -g windows-build-tools
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```
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#### lerna
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n8n is split up in different modules which are all in a single mono repository.
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To facilitate those modules management, [lerna](https://lerna.js.org) gets
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used. It automatically sets up file-links between modules which depend on each
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other.
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So for the setup to work correctly lerna has to be installed globally like this:
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```
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npm install -g lerna
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```
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### Actual n8n setup
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Now that everything n8n requires to run is installed the actual n8n code can be
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checked out and set up:
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1. Clone the repository
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```
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git clone https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n.git
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```
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1. Go into repository folder
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```
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cd n8n
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```
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1. Install all dependencies of all modules and link them together:
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```
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lerna bootstrap --hoist
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```
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1. Build all the code:
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```
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npm run build
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```
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### Start
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To start n8n execute:
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```
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npm run start
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```
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## Development Cycle
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While iterating on n8n modules code, you can run `npm run dev`. It will then
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automatically build your code, restart the backend and refresh the frontend
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(editor-ui) on every change you make.
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1. Start n8n in development mode:
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```
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npm run dev
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```
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1. hack, hack, hack
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1. Check if everything still runs in production mode
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```
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npm run build
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npm run start
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```
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1. Create tests
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1. Run all tests
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```
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npm run test
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```
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1. Commit code and create pull request
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### Test suite
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The tests can be started via:
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```
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npm run test
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```
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If that gets executed in one of the package folders it will only run the tests
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of this package. If it gets executed in the n8n-root folder it will run all
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tests of all packages.
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## Create Custom Nodes
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It is very easy to create own nodes for n8n. More information about that can
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be found in the documentation of "n8n-node-dev" which is a small CLI which
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helps with n8n-node-development.
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[To n8n-node-dev](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/master/packages/node-dev)
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## Create a new node to contribute to n8n
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If you want to create a node which should be added to n8n follow these steps:
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1. Read the information in the [n8n-node-dev](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/master/packages/node-dev) package as it contains a lot of generic information about node development.
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1. Create the n8n development setup like described above and start n8n in develoment mode `npm run dev`
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1. Create a new folder for the new node. For a service named "Example" the folder would be called: `/packages/nodes-base/nodes/Example`
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1. If there is already a similar node simply copy the existing one in the new folder and rename it. If none exists yet, create a boilerplate node with [n8n-node-dev](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/master/packages/node-dev) and copy that one in the folder.
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1. If the node needs credentials because it has to authenticate with an API or similar create new ones. Existing ones can be found in folder `/packages/nodes-base/credentials`. Also there it is the easiest to simply copy existing similar ones.
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1. Add the path to the new node (and optionally credentials) to package.json of `nodes-base`. It already contains a property `n8n` with its own keys `credentials` and `nodes`.
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1. Add icon for the node (60x60 PNG)
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1. Start n8n. The new node will then be available via the editor UI and can be tested.
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When developing n8n must get restarted and the browser reloaded every time parameters of a node change (like new ones added, removed or changed). Only then will the new data be loaded and the node displayed correctly.
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If only the code of the node changes (the execute method) than it is not needed as each workflow automatically starts a new process and so will always load the latest code.
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## Extend Documentation
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All the files which get used in the n8n documentation on [https://docs.n8n.io](https://docs.n8n.io)
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can be found in the [/docs](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/master/docs) folder. So all changes
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and additions can directly be made in there
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That the markdown docs look pretty we use [docsify](https://docsify.js.org). It is possible to test
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locally how it looks like rendered with the following commands:
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```bash
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# 1. Install docisify
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npm i docsify-cli -g
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# 2. Go into n8n folder (the same folder which contains this file). For example:
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cd /data/n8n
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# 3. Start docsificy
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docsify serve ./docs
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```
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