AGENTS/skills/n8n-automation/SKILL.md

name, description, compatibility

name	description	compatibility
n8n-automation	n8n workflow design and configuration for Chiron system automation. Use when: (1) designing automated workflows, (2) setting up Cron triggers, (3) configuring webhooks, (4) integrating Obsidian with n8n, (5) setting up ntfy notifications. Triggers: n8n, workflow, automation, webhook, cron, schedule.	opencode

n8n Automation

Design and configure n8n workflows for Chiron productivity system automation.

Chiron n8n Workflows

Workflow 1: Daily Morning Briefing

Trigger: Cron 07:00 (Mon-Fri)

Purpose: Generate morning briefing with calendar events, Basecamp todos, and tasks.

Steps:

1. Get calendar events (Proton Calendar or Google Calendar)
2. Get Basecamp todos (HTTP Request to Basecamp API)
3. Read today's tasks from Obsidian vault
4. Format morning briefing
5. Write daily note at ~/CODEX/daily/YYYY/MM/DD/YYYY-MM-DD.md
6. Send ntfy notification: "Morning briefing ready"

n8n Nodes:

• Schedule Trigger (Cron 0 7 * * 1-5)
• HTTP Request (Google Calendar API)
• HTTP Request (Basecamp API)
• Read/Write File (Obsidian vault)
• Code (formatting)
• HTTP Request (ntfy)

Output: Daily note created, ntfy notification sent

Workflow 2: Basecamp to Obsidian Sync

Trigger: Webhook from Basecamp

Events: todo_created, todo_completed, comment_created, message_created

Purpose: Log Basecamp activity to Obsidian for reference.

Steps:

1. Receive webhook payload
2. Extract event type, project, content
3. Format activity log entry
4. Append to ~/CODEX/01-projects/work/_basecamp-activity.md

n8n Nodes:

• Webhook (triggered by Basecamp)
• Code (extract and format)
• Read/Write File (append to Basecamp activity log)

Output: Activity logged to Obsidian

Workflow 3: Outline Wiki Mirror

Trigger: Cron 22:00 daily

Purpose: Export updated Outline documents to Markdown and save to vault.

Steps:

1. Get recently updated documents from Outline API
2. For each document:
   • Export as Markdown
   • Save to ~/CODEX/03-resources/work-wiki/[doc-name].md
3. Document sync in daily note

n8n Nodes:

• Schedule Trigger (Cron 0 22 * *)
• HTTP Request (Outline API)
• Read/Write File (Obsidian vault)
• Code (loop and format)

Output: Outline docs synced to vault as Markdown

Workflow 4: Claude Code Webhook Handler

Trigger: Webhook at /webhook/chiron

Actions:

• notify → Send ntfy notification
• create_task → Create task in Obsidian vault
• log_learning → Create learning note in vault
• sync_basecamp → Trigger Basecamp sync workflow

Purpose: Allow external systems to trigger Chiron workflows.

Steps:

1. Receive webhook payload with action parameter
2. Switch on action:
   • notify: Send ntfy notification with message
   • create_task: Create task in tasks/inbox.md
   • log_learning: Create learning in 00-inbox/learnings/
   • sync_basecamp: Trigger Basecamp sync workflow
3. Return success response

n8n Nodes:

• Webhook (manual trigger)
• Code (action routing)
• Read/Write File (Obsidian vault)
• HTTP Request (ntfy)

Output: Action executed, confirmation returned

Workflow 5: Weekly Review Generator

Trigger: Cron Sunday 18:00

Purpose: Generate weekly review from daily notes and send notification.

Steps:

1. Read daily notes for the week (Monday-Sunday)
2. Collect completed tasks, wins, challenges
3. Generate weekly review using template
4. Write to ~/CODEX/daily/weekly-reviews/YYYY-W##.md
5. Send ntfy notification: "Weekly review ready"

n8n Nodes:

• Schedule Trigger (Cron 0 18 * * 0)
• Read File (multiple daily notes)
• Code (aggregation)
• Write File (weekly review)
• HTTP Request (ntfy)

Output: Weekly review generated, ntfy notification sent

Workflow 6: Mobile Task Reminders

Trigger: Cron every hour

Purpose: Send due tasks to mobile device via ntfy.

Steps:

1. Search Obsidian vault for tasks due today
2. Format task list
3. Send ntfy notification with task summary

n8n Nodes:

• Schedule Trigger (Cron 0 * * *)
• Read File (search tasks)
• Code (format and search)
• HTTP Request (ntfy)

Output: ntfy notification with today's tasks

Workflow Design Guidelines

General Principles

1. Minimal dependencies - Each workflow should work independently
2. Error handling - Graceful degradation if external services fail
3. Logging - Log all actions for debugging
4. Idempotency - Workflows should be safe to run multiple times
5. Testing - Test manually before enabling Cron triggers

File Operations

Always use absolute paths:

• ~/CODEX/ → /home/username/knowledge/
• Expand ~ before file operations

File permissions:

• Write operations: Ensure write access to vault
• Read operations: Files should exist or handle gracefully
• Directory creation: Create parent directories if needed

API Integrations

Basecamp API:

• Endpoint: https://3.basecampapi.com/[account]/projects.json
• Authentication: OAuth2 or API token
• Rate limiting: Respect API limits (check headers)
• Error handling: Retry with exponential backoff

Outline API:

• Endpoint: Outline API base URL
• Authentication: API key
• Export format: Markdown
• Filtering: Updated in last 24 hours

Proton Calendar:

• Endpoint: Proton Calendar API
• Authentication: API token
• Time range: Today's events only
• Timezone: Use user's timezone (Europe/Berlin)

ntfy:

• Endpoint: https://ntfy.sh/[topic]
• Authentication: Token or basic auth
• Message format: Plain text or Markdown
• Priority: Default, urgent for time-sensitive notifications

Webhook Configuration

Setup steps:

1. Expose n8n webhook (if self-hosted):

   • Domain: n8n.example.com
   • Path: /webhook/chiron
   • SSL: HTTPS required

2. Configure Basecamp webhooks:

   • URL: https://n8n.example.com/webhook/chiron
   • Events: todo_created, todo_completed, comment_created, message_created
   • Secret: Shared secret for validation

3. Security:

   • Validate webhook secret
   • Rate limit webhook endpoints
   • Log all webhook calls

Cron Triggers

Syntax: minute hour day month weekday

Examples:

# Daily at 7 AM, Mon-Fri
0 7 * * 1-5

# Daily at 10 PM
0 22 * * *

# Weekly Sunday at 6 PM
0 18 * * 0

# Hourly
0 * * * *

n8n Cron Node settings:

• Enable: Toggle on/off for testing
• Timezone: Europe/Berlin
• Test run: Manual trigger button

Integration with Chiron Skills

Delegates to:

• obsidian-management - File operations for reading/writing vault
• task-management - Task extraction and format
• quick-capture - Quick capture for webhook-created tasks
• daily-routines - Daily note creation for morning briefings

Delegation rules:

• File operations → obsidian-management
• Task creation → task-management
• Quick capture → quick-capture
• Daily note creation → daily-routines

Quick Reference

Action	Workflow	Trigger	Frequency
Morning briefing	Workflow 1	Cron 07:00 Mon-Fri
Basecamp sync	Workflow 2	Webhook (on change)
Outline mirror	Workflow 3	Cron 22:00 daily
Webhook handler	Workflow 4	Manual (API calls)
Weekly review	Workflow 5	Cron Sunday 18:00
Task reminders	Workflow 6	Cron hourly

File Paths

Obsidian vault:

~/CODEX/
├── daily/
│   ├── YYYY/
│   │   └── MM/
│   │       └── DD/
│   │           └── YYYY-MM-DD.md      # Morning briefings
│   └── weekly-reviews/
│       └── YYYY-W##.md                # Weekly reviews
├── 01-projects/work/
│   └── _basecamp-activity.md           # Basecamp activity log
├── tasks/
│   └── inbox.md                         # Webhook-created tasks
└── 00-inbox/learnings/                    # Webhook-created learnings

Error Handling

API Failure

1. Log error with timestamp
2. Use cached data if available
3. Send ntfy notification: "API failed, using cache"
4. Retry with exponential backoff

File Write Failure

1. Log error
2. Check disk space
3. Check file permissions
4. Send ntfy notification: "Failed to write to vault"

Webhook Authentication Failure

1. Reject invalid requests (401)
2. Log suspicious attempts
3. Rate limit source IP
4. Send alert notification

Testing

Manual Testing

Before enabling Cron triggers:

1. Test each workflow:

   • Manual trigger in n8n UI
   • Verify file creation
   • Verify API calls
   • Check ntfy notifications

2. Integration testing:

   • Trigger Basecamp webhook (create todo)
   • Verify appears in Obsidian
   • Test morning briefing workflow
   • Verify daily note created

3. Load testing:

   • Test with multiple daily notes
   • Verify weekly review aggregation
   • Test webhook with concurrent requests

Monitoring

Add monitoring workflows:

1. Health check - Verify n8n is running (Cron every 5 min)
2. Success rate - Track workflow success/failure (daily summary)
3. Error alerts - Send ntfy on critical failures
4. Performance - Track workflow execution time

Best Practices

Workflow Design

• Keep workflows simple and focused
• Use environment variables for configuration
• Document dependencies and requirements
• Version control workflow JSON files

API Integration

• Respect rate limits and backoff
• Cache responses when appropriate
• Handle pagination for large datasets
• Use appropriate authentication (OAuth2 vs API keys)

Notifications

• Don't spam with ntfy
• Use appropriate priority (urgent vs default)
• Include actionable information
• Test notification delivery

Security

• Never hardcode API keys in workflow JSON
• Use environment variables or n8n credentials
• Validate webhook secrets
• Rate limit public endpoints
• Log all external access

Example Workflow JSON

{
  "name": "Daily Morning Briefing",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.schedule-trigger",
      "parameters": {
        "rule": {
          "interval": [
            {
              "field": "cronExpression",
              "expression": "0 7 * * 1-5"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httprequest",
      "parameters": {
        "method": "GET",
        "url": "https://calendar.googleapis.com/v3/calendars/primary/events",
        "authentication": "predefinedCredentialType",
        "nodeCredentialType": {
          "id": "proton-calendar-token"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "code",
      "parameters": {
        "jsCode": "// Format calendar events\nreturn events.map(e => e.summary);\n"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.writefile",
      "parameters": {
        "fileName": "/home/username/knowledge/daily/2026/01/27/2026-01-27.md",
        "data": "={{ $json.events }}",
        "mode": "overwrite"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httprequest",
      "parameters": {
        "method": "POST",
        "url": "https://ntfy.sh/chiron-tasks",
        "authentication": "predefinedCredentialType",
        "nodeCredentialType": {
          "id": "ntfy-token"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Troubleshooting

Workflow Not Triggering

1. Check Cron expression syntax
2. Verify timezone settings
3. Check n8n execution logs
4. Test manual trigger

API Rate Limits

1. Reduce polling frequency
2. Implement caching
3. Use batch operations
4. Contact provider for higher limits

File Sync Issues

1. Check vault directory exists
2. Verify file permissions
3. Check available disk space
4. Verify path format (absolute vs relative)

Resources

• references/n8n-workflow-guide.md - Detailed n8n workflow design patterns
• references/api-integration.md - Basecamp, Outline, Proton Calendar API docs
• references/webhook-security.md - Webhook security best practices

Load references when:

• Designing new workflows
• Troubleshooting integration issues
• Setting up monitoring