Automated Workflow Backups to GitHub with PR Creation & Slack Notifications

Who is this for?

This template is ideal for DevOps engineers, automation specialists, and n8n users who manage multiple workflows and want a reliable version control system for backups. It’s especially useful for teams collaborating via GitHub.

What problem is this workflow solving?

Manually backing up n8n workflows to GitHub can be time-consuming and error-prone. This workflow solves that by automating the backup of new and updated n8n workflows, ensuring your GitHub repository always reflects the latest changes.

What this workflow does

• Retrieves all workflows from your local n8n instance.
• Decodes their content and compares it with existing GitHub files.
• Detects newly created or updated workflows.
• Creates a new Git branch and commits changes.
• Opens a pull request (PR) to the main branch.
• Sends a Slack notification when the PR is created.

The system uses GitHub API, n8n, Merge, Set, and Slack nodes for full automation.

Setup

1. GitHub credentials: Add your GitHub API credentials in n8n.
2. Slack integration: Connect your Slack Bot token if you want PR notifications.
3. Repository details: Update github_owner, repo_name, and workflow directory path in the “Define Local Variables” node.
4. n8n API key - Check this doc

How to customize this workflow to your needs

• Change the workflow directory from workflows/ to a custom path.
• Modify the Slack message or add email notification support.
• Add filters to back up only specific workflows based on naming or tags.
• Adjust branch naming conventions or use different GitHub base branches.

This workflow provides a seamless backup and versioning pipeline, minimizing manual Git interactions and supporting collaborative automation development.