Speed Run: Connect Hermes Agent to n8n in 10 Minutes

June 18, 2026 speed-run hermes

Introduction

n8n is the most widely used open-source workflow automation platform, and its official skill repository on GitHub (n8n-io/skills) contains 13 expert skills covering the full workflow lifecycle — expressions, sub-workflows, error handling, AI agents, Data Tables, loops, and more. This speed run shows you how to load those skills into your Hermes Agent, connect it to your n8n instance, and have your agent build, validate, and manage automation workflows.

No coding, no plugins to build — just clone the repo, point your agent at the skills, and paste your n8n instance credentials via the dashboard. To follow along, grab a free trial at derez.ai and make sure you have an n8n instance running (any plan, Cloud or self-hosted).

We could have done it 90 seconds faster — we initially hit the wrong API endpoint (/api/v2) and had to regroup. Once we switched to /api/v1, everything clicked. Still had 1:36 left on the clock when the agent was live and pulling workflows.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have your n8n instance credentials ready:

Integration — n8n Workflow Automation

n8n URL — https://n8n.your-instance.com/
n8n API Key — n8n_api_2a3b4c5d6e7f8g9h0i1j

Prompt

You configure two prompts on the agent's dashboard at app.derez.ai. The first connects your agent to the n8n API and loads the official skill set. The second asks for real work.

Prompt 1 — n8n Integration

Generated by the Derez Dashboard. The integration settings pass your n8n URL and API key to the agent so it can authenticate against the n8n REST API and MCP server.

Prompt 2 — Hello World — Summarize focus.de

Create a hello world n8n workflow with two nodes: an RSS Feed Read node that reads https://www.focus.de/ and an AI Agent node that summarizes the first article. Use the official n8n skills from n8n-io/skills — load n8n-workflow-lifecycle, n8n-agents, and n8n-node-configuration before you start building. Validate the workflow with validate_workflow, then check the connections object with get_workflow_details. Show me the final node configuration.

The first prompt authenticates using the credentials you entered in the dashboard integration settings. The second prompt then has your agent build a simple hello world n8n workflow — read the latest headlines from focus.de and summarize them with an AI Agent node. Two nodes, one workflow, real output.

Wrap Up

In under 10 minutes you connected your Hermes Agent to n8n and loaded the 13 official n8n skills — giving your agent expert-level knowledge of workflow lifecycle, sub-workflow reuse, expression syntax, error handling, credential security, and AI agent patterns. Your agent now builds n8n workflows that follow the same standards the n8n team ships internally.

The same approach works for any of the 13 skills: have your agent load n8n-subworkflows when you need reusable patterns, n8n-agents when building LangChain agents in n8n, or n8n-debugging when a workflow breaks. The skill repository is the authoritative reference — your agent reads the actual rules every time.

derez.ai dashboard showing speed-run timer at 1 minute 36 seconds remaining — n8n agent connected with time to spare

We hit the wrong endpoint first (/api/v2), regrouped, and still had 1:36 left. Could have been 90 seconds faster.

Pro tip: The n8n-io/skills repo is designed for any coding agent — not just n8n's own Claude Code plugin. Clone it to your Hermes Agent's filesystem and use hermes skill import from the skills directory to register them as local skills. Your agent then loads them automatically when you mention n8n, without needing to reference the GitHub URL each time.

As a bonus, try this prompt after your agent is connected: "Load the n8n-credentials-and-security skill and audit the credentials on my n8n instance — list every credential by name and type, check for any that are expired or use weak auth methods, and suggest improvements." Your agent reads the official security skill and runs a full audit of your n8n credentials in seconds.

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Deploy your n8n-connected agent now.

Standalone n8n Prompt for Hermes Agent

Copy this entire prompt into any Hermes agent (derez.ai or self-hosted) to give it direct n8n integration skills — REST API access, skill library awareness, and workflow execution management. Replace the API key with your own n8n instance key.

## Integrations

### N8N Skills
Create a skill that integrates with n8n's skill library and REST API.

## Configuration
N8N_URL=https://n8n.derez.ai/

N8N_API_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJhOTY0NDQ1Ni1hZGUxLTRlZjUtYmE0NC03MjRiZjhhY2JmNGUiLCJpc3MiOiJuOG4iLCJhdWQiOiJwdWJsaWMtYXBpIiwianRpIjoiZTExMTY3YjUtMGU1Yy00MTNhLWI0YzAtNGU5MGYyODFiMzk2IiwiaWF0IjoxNzgxNzcyNzE3LCJleHAiOjE3ODIzNTY0MDB9.g-SG9u7g9sD0lhD6fr6PZKcBs38Eq3p14Yf8yiPXO-U

## Skill library
You have access to n8n's official skill library at https://github.com/n8n-io/skills

At the start of every task, clone or pull the latest version of this repo to discover available skills.

if [ ! -d /tmp/n8n-skills ]; then

              git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/n8n-io/skills /tmp/n8n-skills

            else

              cd /tmp/n8n-skills && git pull --ff-only

            fi

Read the README.md and INDEX.md files in that repo to understand what skills are available. Each skill has a dedicated directory with a README.md describing its purpose and usage. Choose the most relevant skill(s) for the user's request.

## API basics
All calls go to {N8N_URL}/rest/... with the header:
X-N8N-API-KEY: {N8N_API_KEY}

The n8n REST API documentation is available at {N8N_URL}/api/v1/openapi.json — fetch it if you need to discover available endpoints.

### Common operations

List workflows:
curl -s -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' '{N8N_URL}/rest/workflows'

Get a workflow by ID:
curl -s -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' '{N8N_URL}/rest/workflows/<id>'

List executions:
curl -s -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' '{N8N_URL}/rest/executions'

List credentials:
curl -s -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' '{N8N_URL}/rest/credentials'

List tags:
curl -s -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' '{N8N_URL}/rest/tags'

## Workflow skill execution pattern

When a skill from the library maps to a workflow to run:

1. Read the skill's README.md to understand the inputs, outputs, and workflow structure.
2. Check if a matching workflow already exists in n8n (use the list endpoint).
3. If it does, create an execution:

curl -s -X POST '{N8N_URL}/rest/workflows/<id>/run' \

              -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' \

              -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \

              -d '{"data": <input_data>}'

4. If it doesn't, create a new workflow using the skill's specification:

curl -s -X POST '{N8N_URL}/rest/workflows' \

              -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' \

              -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \

              -d '{"name": "<skill-name>", "nodes": [...], "connections": {...}}'

5. Poll execution status:

curl -s -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: {key}' '{N8N_URL}/rest/executions/<id>' | jq '.data'

## Solved cases log
After every successful n8n task, append to ~/n8n_solutions.md:

## <short title>  (<date>)

            Goal: <one sentence>

            Skill used: <skill path in the library>

            Key commands: <the curl | jq pipelines that worked>

            Gotchas: <anything non-obvious>

Read ~/n8n_solutions.md at task start — if a matching case exists, reuse it directly.

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