Restore n8n Workflows from GitHub to Any n8n Instance

Restore your n8n workflows from GitHub—any instance, in one click

This n8n automation lets you restore one or all n8n workflows from a GitHub repository directly into any n8n instance. Perfect for disaster recovery, migrating instances, or bulk re-importing workflows without manually rebuilding them.

What this workflow does

• Runs manually and asks for your GitHub and target n8n configuration: repository, branch, workflows directory, restore mode (all or single), and the target n8n base URL.
• If you provide a specific workflow path, it restores that file. Otherwise, it lists all JSON workflow files in the configured GitHub directory and filters them based on the selected restore mode.
• Fetches workflow JSON from GitHub using the GitHub API for each selected workflow file.
• Cleans exported workflow data by removing IDs and instance-specific metadata and normalizing settings for import.
• Checks the target n8n instance for an existing workflow with the same name via the n8n API.
• Updates or creates workflows: updates the existing workflow when found, or creates a new one when it isn’t.

Use cases

• Disaster recovery: restore workflows after accidental deletion or an environment rollback.
• Migration to a new n8n instance: rehydrate workflows into a fresh deployment.
• Bulk importing: restore all workflows from a GitHub-exported directory quickly.
• Single workflow recovery: recover one workflow when only a specific file was impacted.

Technical details

• GitHub integration: uses an n8n GitHub OAuth2 credential to read workflow JSON files from your repository.
• Target n8n integration: uses an n8n API credential and the target instance base URL to query/update/create workflows.
• Nodes involved: if, set, code, sticky note, http request, manual trigger.

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