I am doing some research to see if there is any demand for substrate plugin for n8n.io.
Early investigations are promising, and I’m happy to develop this for the community if there is perceived need.
Typical module for trigger at block, extrinsic, event:
Typical module for RPC calls: (note, the RPC can call different endpoints in the same step)
Context aware dropdowns:
Flexible parameters:
Hey there,
sounds like a nice idea, how would this be different to https://bagpipes.io/; or what other use cases would the n8n plugin provide?
I like bagpipes, and I’m following their progress.
n8n.io has over 400 integrations.
bagpipes.io has connection to chains, and http/webhook.
a substrate node in n8n gives the user access to so much more without re-inventing all the other node types.
hey @metaspan nice to see how you’re thinking about things…
n8n is awesome, but you might as well just use the custom rpc call, because there is no real point doing a serious integration, because its not designed for web3 in mind.
You might as well come and contribute to Bagpipes than work on n8n!
n8n.io has over 400 integrations.
bagpipes.io has connection to chains, and http/webhook.
Not relevant integrations n8n has 400 integrations but mostly not that relevant to Web3 workflows…
Integrations are just abstractions: The integrations are just abstractions of their APIs. The Bagpipes http and webhook is all that is needed to interact with any API. The integration just gives it a logo and some abstraction.
All you really need is HTTP node: In Bagpipes, if you want to leverage ChatGPT or Telegram APIs before it becomes an “integration” you just make an API call from an Http Node. Yes, its nice to have the integrations, but its not a blocker.
Adding just a substrate chain will not bring much value, you need to bolt on a lot of other web3 things that brings that substrate chain node to life.
for example, you can Query, but what about Executing a tx you will need to think about integrating wallet connector.
It makes sense to take a first principles approach to a visual workflow builder for web3, with web2 integrations.
Bagpipes is intentionally designed for web3 workflows. There are a growing number of chains integrations and custom actions like swaps and bridges, a DApp builder and utilities related to web3, you cant add all that in n8n without getting a brain haemorrhage as we would have to adhere to rules that is not designed for and it will quickly become a frankenstein 
If you have a web2 workflow in n8n and you want to query the blockchain you can just use the RPC feature that n8n provides. Because you will only be able to query the chain.
You can create web3 flows as a bagpipe scenario then interact with that scenario in n8n if you need to, rather than trying to reinvent all the web3 features, inside a web2 no-code platform, because there is a lot!
here is Substrate Chain Tx Node that you basically want to add to n8n. You can do all the web3 stuff in bagpipes then connect the bagpipe inputs outputs to your n8n workflows.Let me know if i’m wrong anywhere?
n8n is an older and much more matured project than bagpipes, so i can see the allure of integrating with it. If you see some usecases that has demand go for it, but its going to have limitations.
You’re better off working on a feature of bagpipes, and making it more awesome, as we are moving in to a new phase of development which will be more inviting of contribution especially from people that have an enthuasiasm for making Polkadot/web3/blockchains accessible to the world of no-code developers.
my tg is ramsey_a if you want to dm.
