n8n-mcp-tools-expert

Expert guide for using n8n-mcp MCP tools effectively. Use when searching for nodes, validating configurations, accessing templates, managing workflows, managing credentials, auditing instance security, or using any n8n-mcp tool. Provides tool selection guidance, parameter formats, and common patterns. IMPORTANT — Always consult this skill before calling any n8n-mcp tool — it prevents common mistakes like wrong nodeType formats, incorrect parameter structures, and inefficient tool usage. If the user mentions n8n, workflows, nodes, or automation and you have n8n MCP tools available, use this skill first.

Quality

83%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

—

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Risky

Do not use without reviewing

Quality

Discovery

89%

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

This is a solid skill description with excellent completeness and distinctiveness. It clearly communicates both what the skill does and when to use it, with strong trigger terms covering natural user language. The main weakness is that the capability descriptions are somewhat categorical rather than listing deeply specific concrete actions, and the description is somewhat verbose with the 'IMPORTANT' directive which reads more as internal instruction than discriminating description.

Suggestions

Replace high-level categories like 'managing workflows' and 'managing credentials' with more specific concrete actions (e.g., 'create/update/delete workflows', 'configure OAuth credentials', 'search node catalog by keyword').

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	The description names the domain (n8n-mcp tools) and lists several action categories (searching nodes, validating configurations, accessing templates, managing workflows/credentials, auditing security), but these are fairly high-level categories rather than deeply specific concrete actions like 'fill forms, merge documents'.	2 / 3
Completeness	Clearly answers both 'what' (guide for using n8n-mcp tools, provides tool selection guidance, parameter formats, common patterns) and 'when' (explicit triggers: 'Use when searching for nodes, validating configurations...', 'If the user mentions n8n, workflows, nodes, or automation'). Has a clear 'Use when...' clause.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Includes strong natural trigger terms: 'n8n', 'workflows', 'nodes', 'automation', 'credentials', 'templates', 'n8n-mcp', 'nodeType'. These cover the terms a user would naturally use when working with n8n automation tooling.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Highly distinctive — targets a very specific tool ecosystem (n8n-mcp) with clear niche triggers. Unlikely to conflict with other skills unless another n8n-specific skill exists. The mention of 'n8n MCP tools available' further narrows the scope.	3 / 3
	Total	11 / 12 Passed

Implementation

77%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

This is a highly actionable and well-structured skill with excellent concrete examples and clear multi-step workflows with validation checkpoints. Its main weakness is length — at 600+ lines, it includes extensive inline documentation for tools (credentials, data tables, audit, workflow generation) that would be better offloaded to separate guide files, creating redundancy and consuming significant token budget. The progressive disclosure structure is partially implemented but the main file carries too much detailed content.

Suggestions

Move the detailed Credential Management, Data Table Management, Security & Audit, Workflow Generation, and Template Usage sections into separate guide files (e.g., CREDENTIALS_GUIDE.md, DATATABLE_GUIDE.md) and replace them with 2-3 line summaries with links — this could cut the main file by 40-50%.

Consolidate the nodeType format information into a single authoritative section and remove the duplicated explanations in Common Mistakes and Summary sections.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The skill is comprehensive but includes some redundancy — the same information appears in multiple sections (e.g., nodeType formats explained in 'Critical' section, 'Common Mistakes', and 'Summary'; validation profiles repeated across sections). Performance characteristics tables and timing data (e.g., '18s average', '56s average between edits') add marginal value. However, most content is genuinely useful and not explaining things Claude already knows.	2 / 3
Actionability	Excellent actionability throughout — nearly every section includes concrete, executable JavaScript examples with correct parameter structures. The common mistakes section provides explicit wrong/correct pairs, tool selection guides show step-by-step workflows with real code, and the credential/datatable/audit sections all have copy-paste ready examples covering multiple use cases.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	Multi-step processes are clearly sequenced with explicit validation checkpoints. The workflow management pattern shows create → validate → update → validate → activate. The validation loop pattern includes explicit error checking and fix-then-revalidate cycles. Data table operations recommend dryRun before bulk changes. The credential deletion workflow includes a pre-deletion safety check with includeUsage.	3 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	The skill references three detailed guides (SEARCH_GUIDE.md, VALIDATION_GUIDE.md, WORKFLOW_GUIDE.md) with clear navigation, which is good. However, the SKILL.md itself is very long (~600+ lines) and includes substantial detail that could be offloaded to those guides — full credential management docs, data table management docs, audit tool docs, template usage, and workflow generation are all inline rather than in separate files. The main file tries to be both an overview and a comprehensive reference.	2 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Validation

90%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 10 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
skill_md_line_count	SKILL.md is long (967 lines); consider splitting into references/ and linking	Warning

	Total	10 / 11 Passed

Repository: czlonkowski/n8n-skills
Commit: 27e9d0a

Reviewed: 5 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

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