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n8n-cli

Use the n8n CLI to manage workflows, credentials, executions, and more on an n8n instance. Use when the user asks to interact with n8n, automate workflows, manage credentials, or operate their instance from the command line.

Quality

89%

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SecuritybySnyk

Passed

No findings from the security scan

SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

92%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

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

An excellent, dense CLI reference: fully executable, well-organized, and with rare attention to validation and error-recovery in the multi-step promotion workflow. The one structural weakness is that it is monolithic — a reference file for Promotions would keep the main skill to an overview.

Suggestions

Move the Promotions deep-dive (~130 lines: provider/environment JSON, GitLab setup, apply/apply-continue semantics, and key points) into a PROMOTIONS.md reference and keep a short overview with a clearly signaled one-level-deep link.

Consider extracting the per-resource command reference (workflows, executions, credentials, projects, tags, variables, data tables) into a COMMANDS.md file so SKILL.md stays a lean overview of setup, global flags, and composability patterns.

Verify no bundle files are needed at publish time: the body references none, so the skill currently depends on inline content alone for all detail.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The body is almost entirely executable commands with terse comments and never explains concepts Claude already knows (n8n, REST APIs, jq, git). Every section is operational detail, not padding, so each token earns its place.

5 / 5

Actionability

Commands are copy-paste ready and cover the common cases, e.g. "n8n-cli workflow list --jq '.[].id'", "cat workflow.json | n8n-cli workflow create --stdin", and full promote/apply invocations with concrete JSON payloads. Not below 5: no pseudocode or missing steps are present.

5 / 5

Workflow Clarity

Multi-step processes are clearly sequenced with explicit validation and feedback loops: the Promotions flow is numbered 1-4, apply failure handling is explicit ("Exit 3: the source changed since the review. Review again", "Check $?, or the status field... before you read counts"), and recovery is scripted via apply-continue with expected-* guards — matching anchor 5.

5 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

There are no bundle files (references/, scripts/, assets/ are absent) and everything is inlined in one ~400-line SKILL.md. Section headers are well-organized, but the ~130-line Promotions deep-dive and the bulk command reference clearly belong in one-level-deep reference files — anchor 3 (structure present, but content that should be separate is inline) rather than anchor 4, which expects references to actually be present and clear.

3 / 5

Total

18

/

20

Passed

Description

82%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

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

A strong description with an explicit, multi-phrase trigger clause and a clearly distinguished niche. Its main weakness is that the capability statement leans on one generic verb ("manage") plus "and more" rather than enumerating concrete actions like list/create/update/activate.

Suggestions

Replace "and more" with the actual remaining capabilities (e.g., projects, tags, variables, data tables, promotions, security audit) so the what-clause lists concrete actions instead of a generic verb with a hedge.

Add a few natural trigger variations users might say, such as "n8n workflows", "n8n instance", or "promote workflows between environments", to broaden keyword coverage.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

The description names the domain ("n8n instance") and three managed resources ("workflows, credentials, executions"), but the only action verb is the generic "manage" plus the hedge "and more", matching anchor 3 (domain plus 1-2 concrete actions) rather than anchor 4's multiple distinct action verbs.

3 / 5

Completeness

Both parts are explicit: the what names the tool and its managed resources ("Use the n8n CLI to manage workflows, credentials, executions... on an n8n instance") and the when gives multiple concrete trigger phrases ("Use when the user asks to interact with n8n, automate workflows, manage credentials, or operate their instance from the command line"). Anchor 4's weakness (when only implicit or unspecific) does not apply.

5 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

The when-clause covers good natural phrases users would say — "interact with n8n, automate workflows, manage credentials, or operate their instance from the command line" — but misses common variations such as "n8n workflows", "n8n instance", or "deploy". Not 5 because synonym coverage is incomplete; not 3 because these are phrases users naturally say, not generic keywords.

4 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

"n8n" is a specific named tool repeated in both the what and when clauses, giving a clear niche with distinct triggers and minimal risk of firing for unrelated skills.

5 / 5

Total

17

/

20

Passed

Validation

93%

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

Validation — 15 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

CriteriaDescriptionResult

allowed_tools_field

'allowed-tools' contains unusual tool name(s)

Warning

Total

15

/

16

Passed

Repository

n8n-io/n8n

Path

packages/@n8n/cli/skills/n8n-cli/SKILL.md

Reviewed

Table of Contents

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