Building custom n8n nodes and publishing them

Introduction

Building custom n8n nodes and publishing them is a powerful way to extend your automation stack, integrate niche South African tools, and even showcase your work to the global n8n community. This is especially relevant now, with “workflow automation” and “no-code automation tools” among the most searched topics in the automation and SaaS space this month. By learning how to build custom n8n nodes and publishing them, South African developers, agencies, and startups can create reusable integrations that unlock new business value and reduce manual work.

Why build custom n8n nodes?

Building custom n8n nodes and publishing them allows you to integrate services that are not yet covered by the default library, such as local CRMs, payment gateways, or internal APIs common in South African businesses. Instead of relying on generic HTTP nodes for every bespoke integration, a well-designed node abstracts the complexity and makes workflows easier to manage and hand over to teams.

For South African agencies and SaaS founders, building custom n8n nodes and publishing them can also position your brand as an automation leader, especially if you target use cases like lead management, WhatsApp engagement, or local payment rails. Once published, your nodes can be reused across clients, which compounds your effort and creates a growing library of automation building blocks.

Prerequisites for building custom nodes

Before building custom n8n nodes and publishing them, make sure you have a solid base environment: Node.js, npm or pnpm, Git, and a running n8n instance (local Docker or a self-hosted server). You should also be comfortable with TypeScript or JavaScript, as n8n nodes are defined in code and rely on strongly typed properties for stability and maintainability.

From a planning perspective, clearly define the API or service you want to integrate, including authentication, core operations, and expected input/output fields. This planning step is essential; it will guide the structure of your node, ensure a smoother experience in the n8n UI, and make building custom n8n nodes and publishing them significantly more predictable.

Project structure and setup

A typical project for building custom n8n nodes and publishing them uses a simple, clean folder structure so that each node and its credentials are easy to maintain. At minimum, you will work with a package.json, a tsconfig.json, and a nodes directory that holds your node implementation files and any credentials definition.

my-n8n-nodes/
  package.json
  tsconfig.json
  nodes/
    MyCustomNode/
      MyCustomNode.node.ts
      MyCustomNode.credentials.ts

You can start from an official or community starter template and then rename it for your use case. When building custom n8n nodes and publishing them, follow the community naming conventions (for example, using n8n-nodes- as a prefix) so that your package is easy to discover and complies with n8n’s ecosystem guidelines.

Defining your first custom n8n node

At the heart of building custom n8n nodes and publishing them is the node definition file, which describes how the node appears and behaves inside the editor. This includes display name, description, icon, default settings, and, most importantly, the properties that represent inputs, operations, and resources.

Below is a simplified TypeScript example showing the skeleton of a node that calls an external REST API. This pattern works well for South African services such as CRMs, SMS gateways, or internal line-of-business systems hosted on your own infrastructure.

import {
  IExecuteFunctions,
} from 'n8n-workflow';

export class MyCustomNode {
  description = {
    displayName: 'My Custom Node',
    name: 'myCustomNode',
    group: ['transform'],
    version: 1,
    description: 'Example node for a custom integration',
    defaults: {
      name: 'My Custom Node',
    },
    inputs: ['main'],
    outputs: ['main'],
    properties: [
      {
        displayName: 'API Endpoint',
        name: 'endpoint',
        type: 'string',
        default: '/contacts',
        description: 'Relative path of the endpoint',
      },
    ],
  };

  async execute(this: IExecuteFunctions) {
    const items = this.getInputData();
    const returnData = [];

    for (let i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
      const endpoint = this.getNodeParameter('endpoint', i) as string;
      // Add your HTTP call here
      returnData.push({ json: { success: true, endpoint } });
    }

    return [returnData];
  }
}

Handling authentication and credentials

When building custom n8n nodes and publishing them, authentication is often the most sensitive and business-critical part. n8n supports multiple auth methods, such as API keys, OAuth2, basic auth, and more, all encapsulated within .credentials.ts files that safely store secrets and inject them at runtime.

For South African use cases, this could mean connecting to secure fintech APIs, government systems, or private B2B platforms. Properly configured credentials allow your node to plug into n8n’s built-in credential store, so users never hardcode keys inside workflows, which is crucial for security and team collaboration.

Local testing and debugging

Before thinking about publishing, invest time in testing while building custom n8n nodes and publishing them for production scenarios. Run your node inside a local n8n instance, attach debuggers if necessary, and verify that all operations, error messages, and outputs behave predictably across a variety of inputs.

In practice, this means iteratively changing your node, rebuilding, and reloading your custom extensions. Use clear error handling and descriptive messages so that business users in your organisation can troubleshoot issues without needing to inspect raw stack traces or server logs.

Packaging your node for deployment

The key packaging steps when building custom n8n nodes and publishing them are: setting a proper name, version, and keywords in package.json, and ensuring that your build script outputs compiled JavaScript to a dist or similar directory. This build output is what n8n will actually load.

In Docker-based deployments, you typically mount a volume containing your compiled nodes and set an environment variable (commonly N8N_CUSTOM_EXTENSIONS) that points to this directory. This simple pattern works well for South African hosting providers and self-hosted setups on local VPS or bare-metal servers.

Deploying custom nodes in production

Once your project is packaged, the next part of building custom n8n nodes and publishing them is to deploy it into your production environment. For many South African teams, this will be a Dockerised n8n running on an affordable VPS or in a private cloud, where automation flows might connect CRMs, billing systems, and communication tools.

A typical deployment workflow involves copying your build artifacts to the server, updating Docker configuration to include the custom extensions directory, and restarting the n8n service. After that, your node should appear in the editor, ready to be used by your team in new and existing workflows.

Publishing to npm and the n8n community

Publishing to npm is the natural extension of building custom n8n nodes and publishing them if you want your integration to be discoverable globally. By pushing your package under a well-structured name and adding relevant keywords like “n8n”, “automation”, and your integration’s brand, you open the door for others to install and use it.

You can also submit your package to the official n8n community ecosystem, where it may be reviewed, verified, and eventually listed in the main node library. This is particularly valuable for South African SaaS products that want to reach international users while still supporting local customers and use cases.

SEO tips for “Building custom n8n nodes and publishing them”

To maximise search visibility, weave the exact phrase “Building custom n8n nodes and publishing them” into your titles, meta descriptions, and key content blocks, but always in a natural, human-readable way. Complement it with trending, high-intent queries like “workflow automation” and “no-code automation tools” so that your article can rank for broader industry searches.

Focus on readability: use clear headings, short paragraphs, and descriptive subheadings that reflect real questions developers and business users are asking. Including relevant code snippets, practical examples, and locally-relevant use cases (like South African CRMs and payment tools) makes your article a strong candidate for rich search results and higher engagement.

Inbound links for South African users

If you are using n8n to orchestrate sales and service processes, you can connect your custom nodes directly to your CRM workflows. A platform like