n8n

n8n is one of the most powerful workflow automation platforms available today, having risen to fame due to its extensive AI capabilities and agent-building features. With n8n, you can connect apps, build AI agents, and automate complex workflows with ease.

With the DocsAutomator community node, you can create documents, manage automations, and access DocsAutomator features directly from your n8n workflows.

Unlike other integrations, n8n offers full automation management capabilities, allowing you to programmatically create, update, and delete automations in addition to generating documents.

Key Benefits

• Self-hosted option: Run n8n on your own infrastructure for complete data control

• Generous free tier: n8n cloud offers a free plan for getting started

• Full automation management: Create, update, duplicate, and delete automations programmatically

• Flexible data transformation: Use n8n's powerful expression system to transform data before document generation

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Installation

The DocsAutomator node is available as an n8n community node. Installing it takes just a few clicks.

Install from the Nodes Panel (Recommended)

1. In your n8n workflow, click the + button to add a new node

2. Search for "DocsAutomator"

3. Click on the DocsAutomator node - n8n will prompt you to install it

4. Click Install to add it to your workspace

Alternative: Install from Settings

1. Go to Settings > Community Nodes

2. Click Install a community node

3. Enter n8n-nodes-docsautomator

4. Click Install

Self-hosted n8n

For self-hosted deployments, follow the n8n community nodes installation guide for your specific setup.

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Setting Up Credentials

Before using the DocsAutomator node, you need to configure your API credentials.

Step 1: Get Your API Key

1. Log in to your DocsAutomator account

2. Navigate to Settings > API Key

3. Copy your API key

Step 2: Add Credentials in n8n

1. In n8n, go to Credentials > Add Credential

2. Search for "DocsAutomator API"

3. Paste your API key into the API Key field

4. Click Save

Tip: You can also add credentials directly when configuring a DocsAutomator node by clicking on the credential dropdown and selecting "Create New".

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Creating Documents

The primary use case for the DocsAutomator node is generating documents from your automations.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Add the DocsAutomator Node

In your n8n workflow, click the + button to add a new node and search for "DocsAutomator".

2. Select Your Credentials

Choose your configured DocsAutomator API credentials from the dropdown.

3. Configure the Operation

• Resource: Select Document

• Operation: Select Create

4. Select an Automation

Choose the automation you want to use from the Automation dropdown.

Note: Only automations with API or n8n as the data source will appear in this list. Make sure your automation is configured with the correct data source in DocsAutomator.

5. Map Placeholder Values

For each placeholder in your template, provide a value. You can:

• Enter static text: Type a value directly

• Use n8n expressions: Click the expression button to map data from previous nodes

Example expressions:

{{ $json.customer_name }}
{{ $json.invoice.total }}
{{ $now.toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd') }}

6. Configure Line Items (Optional)

If your template includes line items, expand the Line Items section. See the Working with Line Items section below for details.

7. Set Processing Options

• Preview Mode: Enable to generate a preview document (doesn't count against your credits)

• Async Processing: Enable to return immediately with a job ID instead of waiting for the document

8. Test the Workflow

Click Test Step to generate a document and verify your configuration.

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Working with Line Items

Line items allow you to include repeating data in your documents, such as invoice line items, product lists, or table rows.

JSON Format

Line items must be provided as a JSON array of objects. Each object represents one row, with keys matching your placeholder names.

Example:

[
  {
    "item_name": "Widget A",
    "quantity": 2,
    "unit_price": 10.00,
    "total": 20.00
  },
  {
    "item_name": "Widget B",
    "quantity": 1,
    "unit_price": 25.50,
    "total": 25.50
  }
]

Multiple Line Item Sets

If your template has multiple line item sections (e.g., products and services separately), you can add multiple line item entries:

1. Click Add Line Item

2. Select the line item type (e.g., "Line Items 1", "Line Items 2")

3. Provide the JSON array for that section

Transforming Data for Line Items

If your source data isn't already in the correct format, use n8n's built-in nodes to transform it:

• Code node: Write JavaScript to transform complex data structures

• Split Out node: Convert arrays into individual items

• Aggregate node: Combine multiple items into an array

Example transformation in Code node:

const items = $input.all();

const lineItems = items.map(item => ({
  item_name: item.json.product.name,
  quantity: item.json.qty,
  unit_price: item.json.price,
  total: item.json.qty * item.json.price
}));

return { json: { lineItems: JSON.stringify(lineItems) } };

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Managing Automations

The n8n node provides full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations for managing your DocsAutomator automations programmatically.

Available Operations

Operation	Description
Get Many	List all automations in your workspace
Get	Retrieve a single automation by ID
Create	Create a new automation
Update	Modify an existing automation's settings
Duplicate	Create a copy of an automation
Delete	Remove an automation

Get Many (List Automations)

Retrieve all automations in your workspace. Useful for:

• Building dynamic workflows that iterate over automations

• Creating dashboards or reports

• Syncing automation data with other systems

Get (Single Automation)

Retrieve detailed information about a specific automation by its ID.

Create Automation

Create a new automation programmatically. Required fields:

• Title: A name for the automation

• Data Source: Choose from Airtable, API, ClickUp, Glide, Google Sheets, n8n, Noloco, SmartSuite, or Zapier

Use case: Automatically set up automations for new clients or projects.

Update Automation

Modify an existing automation's settings:

• Locale (language/region)

• PDF expiration

• Template link

• And more

Duplicate Automation

Create a copy of an existing automation. The new automation will have all the same settings and field mappings.

Use case: Create templates that can be quickly duplicated for new use cases.

Delete Automation

Remove an automation from your workspace.

Warning: This action cannot be undone. The automation and all its settings will be permanently deleted.

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Discovering Placeholders

Before creating documents, you may want to discover what placeholders are available in an automation's template.

Using the List Placeholders Operation

1. Set Resource to Placeholder

2. Set Operation to List

3. Select the Automation you want to inspect

Understanding the Response

The response includes a structured list of placeholders:

{
  "placeholders": {
    "main": ["customer_name", "invoice_number", "invoice_date", "total_amount"],
    "line_items_1": ["item_name", "quantity", "unit_price", "line_total"]
  }
}

• main: Regular placeholders in the document body

• line_items_1, line_items_2, etc.: Placeholders within line item sections

Building Dynamic Workflows

Use placeholder discovery to build workflows that automatically adapt to different automations:

1. Get automation details using Automation > Get

2. List placeholders using Placeholder > List

3. Build a form or interface dynamically based on available placeholders

4. Create documents with the collected data

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Template Management

The DocsAutomator node includes a template operation for duplicating Google Doc templates.

Duplicate Google Doc

Create a copy of a Google Doc template. This is useful when you want to:

• Create variations of a template for different use cases

• Set up new automations with pre-configured templates

• Backup templates before making changes

Parameters:

• Template URL: The Google Docs URL of the template to copy

• New Name (optional): Name for the copied document

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Tips & Best Practices

Use Preview Mode for Testing

When developing and testing your workflows, enable Preview Mode to:

• Verify placeholder mapping is correct

• Check document formatting

• Avoid using credits during development

Error Handling

Use n8n's built-in error handling features:

• Enable Continue On Fail to prevent the workflow from stopping on errors

• Use an Error Trigger workflow to handle failures gracefully

• Check the error output for detailed error messages

Async Processing for Large Documents

For documents that take longer to generate:

1. Enable Async Processing to receive a job ID immediately

2. Use a Wait node to pause for processing

3. Check the job status using the DocsAutomator API

Expression Tips

Common n8n expressions for DocsAutomator:

// Format dates
{{ $now.toFormat('MMMM d, yyyy') }}

// Access nested data
{{ $json.customer.address.city }}

// Conditional values
{{ $json.discount > 0 ? $json.discount + '%' : 'None' }}

// Format currency
{{ '$' + $json.amount.toFixed(2) }}

// Join array values
{{ $json.tags.join(', ') }}

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FAQs

Which automations appear in n8n?

Only automations with API or n8n as the data source will appear in the automation dropdown when creating documents. To use an automation with n8n:

1. Go to DocsAutomator

2. Open your automation settings

3. Change the Data Source to "API" or "n8n"

4. Save the automation

How do I handle errors in my workflow?

There are several ways to handle errors:

1. Continue On Fail: Enable this option on the DocsAutomator node to prevent workflow failure

2. Error Trigger: Create a separate workflow that triggers when errors occur

3. IF node: Check for error conditions and handle them appropriately

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Resources

• n8n Documentation

• n8n Community Nodes Guide

• DocsAutomator API Documentation