Run n8n from the catalogue

By the end of this walkthrough you will have n8n running in one of your projects, with its data on a volume, a daily backup of that volume, an HTTPS address, and its owner account set up. Cloud supplies the image, the port, the storage and the encryption key; you choose a size and press two buttons.

You need:

• a project to put it in (Projects creates one with New project);

• a card on the project's organization, since n8n is charged by the hour while it runs (Billing explains how each month is paid).

1. Open the catalogue

   Open the project and press Add a service. The Services group at the bottom of the page is the catalogue. Press Create on n8n.

   

2. Fill in the form

   The form is titled "Create n8n".

   • Name: n8n unless you change it, up to 40 characters. The generated address starts with it.

   • Size: the list starts at Small, the smallest size n8n runs at. The Order summary shows the hourly rate of the size you choose.

   • Automatic backup: keep Daily to have the n8n volume archived every day. n8n is stopped while each archive is taken, so choose Weekly if a daily pause matters to you.

   n8n asks for no values of its own. Press Create service.

3. Check the service before deploying

   The browser opens the new service's page. Cloud has already attached a volume named State at /home/node/.n8n, where n8n keeps its workflows and credentials; the service's Storage section lists it.

   If the Overview shows Setup did not finish, the volume did not attach. Press Try again and wait for "Setup finished." before you deploy, or n8n keeps its data inside the container and loses it at the next deploy.

4. Deploy

   Press Deploy. The deployment's page opens, and its status moves from Queued through Starting and Deploying to Done while the Build log shows the image being pulled. Nothing is built: the image is n8n's own release.

   If it ends Failed, the sentence on the page says why; A deployment failed goes through each one.

5. Wait for its address

   When the deployment is Done, Cloud gives the service an address under the platform domain, starting with the service's name, and sends n8n that address in its environment. The service's Domains section shows the new domain moving to HTTPS active, and refreshes itself while it does.

   Visit, in the service's header, stays greyed out with "Its domain is still being set up" until then. If it reads "Add a domain to visit this service" instead, the platform offers no generated addresses: add your own domain as described under Use your own domain.

6. Open n8n and create its owner account

   Press Visit. n8n opens in a new tab and asks you to set up its owner account. That account belongs to this n8n alone: it is not your Cahaves account.

7. Keep a copy of the encryption key

   On the service's Environment section, press Edit. Copy the value of N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY to your password manager, then press Cancel so nothing is saved.

   n8n encrypts every credential you store with this key. Do not change or remove it once workflows hold credentials: n8n cannot read credentials stored under another key.

The Environment section holds only N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY, which Cloud generated at creation. Cloud also sends n8n these values each time its environment is applied, without saving them:

The last three are sent once the service has an address, and follow it when it changes.

To change one, such as the time zone, add the same name with your value on the Environment section and press Save. Yours wins from then on, and the running service is restarted with it. n8n lists everything the entry sets.

1. On the service's Domains section, press Add domain, choose Your own domain under Domain type and type the Hostname.

2. Press Show DNS records on the new domain and create those records at your DNS provider, exactly as the dialog shows them.

3. Wait for HTTPS active. Domains explains each status and Check again.

n8n keeps calling itself by the platform domain while the service still has one, so the webhook addresses it shows keep using that domain. To move n8n to your own domain, set N8N_HOST to your hostname and N8N_WEBHOOK_URL and N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL to https:// followed by your hostname and / on the Environment section. Or remove the platform domain from Domains: the three values then follow your own domain, and Cloud restarts n8n with them.

• Backups: the daily archive of the State volume is listed on the Storage page, under Backups. An archive cannot be downloaded from the console, and Restore is not available yet, so export the workflows that matter from n8n itself and keep them with your encryption key. Backups has the details.

• Cost: a running service is charged every hour. Stop in the service's header stops the charge, but a stopped n8n runs no workflows and answers no webhooks.

• Updates: the image is fixed for the life of the service. A newer n8n release in the catalogue reaches services created after it.

If something does not come up, Catalogue setup did not finish and The service keeps restarting cover the usual causes.