n8n-docs/docs/reference/configuration.md

# Configuration

It is possible to change some of the n8n defaults via special environment variables.
The ones that currently exist are:


## Publish

Sets how n8n should be made available.

```bash
# The port n8n should be made available on
N8N_PORT=5678

# This ones are currently only important for the webhook URL creation.
# So if "WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL" got set they do get ignored. It is however
# encouraged to set them correctly anyway in case they will become
# important in the future.
N8N_PROTOCOL=https
N8N_HOST=n8n.example.com

# The IP address n8n should listen on
N8N_LISTEN_ADDRESS=1.1.1.1
```


## Base URL

::: warning 💡 Keep in mind
This variable only gets used when the `n8n-editor-ui` package gets built manually. Hence,
it does not get used in combination with the default n8n docker image. By default, `/`
gets used, meaning that it uses the root-domain.
:::


Tells the frontend how to reach the REST API of the backend.

```bash
export VUE_APP_URL_BASE_API=https://n8n.example.com/
```


## Security

You can find information about securing your n8n instance [here](security.md).


## Encryption Key

n8n creates a random encryption key automatically on the first launch and saves
it in the `~/.n8n` folder. That key is used to encrypt the credentials before
they get saved to the database. It is also possible to overwrite that key and
set it via an environment variable.

```bash
export N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=<SOME RANDOM STRING>
```


## Execution Data Manual Runs

Normally executions which got started via the Editor UI will not be saved as
they are normally only for testing and debugging. That default can be changed
with this environment variable.

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS=true
```

This setting can also be overwritten on a per workflow basis in the workflow
settings in the Editor UI.


## Execution Data Error/Success

When a workflow gets executed, it will save the result in the database. That's
the case for executions that succeeded and for the ones that failed. The
default behavior can be changed like this:

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR=none
export EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS=none
```

Possible values are:
 - **all**: Saves all data
 - **none**: Does not save anything (recommended if a workflow runs very often and/or processes a lot of data, set up "Error Workflow" instead)

These settings can also be overwritten on a per workflow basis in the workflow
settings in the Editor UI.


## Execute In Same Process

All workflows get executed in their own separate process. This ensures that all CPU cores
get used and that they do not block each other on CPU intensive tasks. Additionally, this makes sure that
the crash of one execution does not take down the whole application. The disadvantage is, however,
that it slows down the start-time considerably and uses much more memory. So in case the
workflows are not CPU intensive and they have to start very fast, it is possible to run them
all directly in the main-process with this setting.

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_PROCESS=main
```


## Execution Timeout

A workflow times out and gets canceled after this time (in seconds). If the workflow is executed in the main process, a soft timeout is executed (takes effect after the current node finishes). If a workflow is running in its own process, a soft timeout is tried first. The process is killed after waiting for an additional fifth of the given timeout duration.

By default `EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT` is set to `-1`. For example, if you want to set the timeout to one hour:

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT=3600
```

You can also set maximum execution time (in seconds) for each workflow individually. For example, if you want to set maximum execution time to two hours:

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT_MAX=7200
```


## Prune Data

It is possible to prune the execution data. This prevents exceeding the database's capacity and keeping its size moderate. The execution data gets pruned regularly (default: 1-hour interval). All saved execution data older than the max-age will be deleted. To delete data of past executions on a rolling basis:

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true
```

You can also set how old (in hours) the execution data has to be to get deleted.

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE=672
```

You can also set the timeout (in seconds) after execution data has been pruned.

```bash
export EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_TIMEOUT=7200
```


## Exclude Nodes

It is possible to not allow users to use nodes of a specific node type. For example, if you
do not want that people can write data to the disk with the "n8n-nodes-base.writeBinaryFile"
node and that they cannot execute commands with the "n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand" node, you can
set the following:

```bash
export NODES_EXCLUDE="[\"n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand\",\"n8n-nodes-base.writeBinaryFile\"]"
```

## Include Nodes
It is possible to include only specific nodes. For example, if you want to use only the Webhook node and the HTTP Request node, you can set the following:

```bash
export NODES_INCLUDE="[\"n8n-nodes-base.start\", \"n8n-nodes-base.webhook\",\"n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest\"]"
```

**Note:** If you have workflows that do not use Trigger nodes, make sure to include the Start node.

## Custom Nodes Location

Every user can add custom nodes that get loaded by n8n on startup. The default
location is in the subfolder `.n8n/custom` of the user who started n8n.
Additional folders can be defined with an environment variable.

```bash
export N8N_CUSTOM_EXTENSIONS="/home/jim/n8n/custom-nodes;/data/n8n/nodes"
```


## Use built-in and external modules in Function-Nodes

For security reasons, importing modules is restricted by default in the Function-Nodes.
It is, however, possible to lift that restriction for built-in and external modules by
setting the following environment variables:
- `NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN`: For builtin modules
- `NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL`: For external modules sourced from n8n/node_modules directory. External module support is disabled when env variable is not set.

```bash
# Allows usage of all builtin modules
export NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=*

# Allows usage of only crypto
export NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=crypto

# Allows usage of only crypto and fs
export NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=crypto,fs

# Allow usage of external npm modules.
export NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL=moment,lodash
```


## SSL

It is possible to start n8n with SSL enabled by supplying a certificate to use:


```bash
export N8N_PROTOCOL=https
export N8N_SSL_KEY=/data/certs/server.key
export N8N_SSL_CERT=/data/certs/server.pem
```



## Timezone

The timezone is set by default to "America/New_York". For instance, it is used by the
Cron node to know at what time the workflow should be started. To set a different
default timezone, set `GENERIC_TIMEZONE` to the appropriate value. For example,
if you want to set the timezone to Berlin (Germany):

```bash
export GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin
```

You can find the name of your timezone here:
[https://momentjs.com/timezone/](https://momentjs.com/timezone/)


## User Folder

User-specific data like the encryption key, SQLite database file, and
the ID of the tunnel (if used) gets saved by default in the subfolder
`.n8n` of the user who started n8n. It is possible to overwrite the
user-folder via an environment variable.

```bash
export N8N_USER_FOLDER=/home/jim/n8n
```


## Webhook URL

The webhook URL will normally be created automatically by combining
`N8N_PROTOCOL`, `N8N_HOST` and `N8N_PORT`. However, if n8n runs behind a
reverse proxy that would not work. That's because n8n runs internally
on port 5678 but is exposed to the web via the reverse proxy on port 443. In
that case, it is important to set the webhook URL manually so that it can be
displayed correctly in the Editor UI and even more important is that the correct
webhook URLs get registred with the external services.

```bash
export WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL=https://n8n.example.com/
```

## Prometheus

In order to collect and expose metrics, n8n uses the [prom-client](https://www.npmjs.com/package/prom-client) library.

The `/metrics` endpoint is disabled by default, but it is possible to enable it using the `N8N_METRICS` environment variable.

```bash
export N8N_METRICS=true
```

It is also possible to overwrite the prefix of the metric names by setting the `N8N_METRICS_PREFIX` environment variable.

```bash
export N8N_METRICS_PREFIX=n8n_
```

**Note:** At the moment, n8n does not support metrics for webhooks.


## Overwrites for credentials

It is also possible to set default values for credentials. These credentials get automatically prefilled. To set default credentials, use the following format.

```bash
export CREDENTIALS_OVERWRITE_DATA={CREDENTIAL_NAME:{ PARAMATER: Value }}
```

## Maximum payload limit

The default maximum incoming payload limit is **16MB**. To increase the maximum payload limit, the following format.

```bash
export N8N_PAYLOAD_SIZE_MAX=VALUE
```

The value should be in megabytes. For example, if you want to set the limit to 32MB, use `N8N_PAYLOAD_SIZE_MAX=32`.

## Configuration via file

It is also possible to configure n8n using a configuration file.

It is not necessary to define all values but only the ones that should be
different from the defaults.

If needed multiple files can also be supplied to. For example, have generic
base settings and some specific ones depending on the environment.

The path to the JSON configuration file to use can be set using the environment
variable `N8N_CONFIG_FILES`.

```bash
# Single file
export N8N_CONFIG_FILES=/folder/my-config.json

# Multiple files can be comma-separated
export N8N_CONFIG_FILES=/folder/my-config.json,/folder/production.json
```

A possible configuration file could look like this:
```json
{
	"executions": {
		"process": "main",
		"saveDataOnSuccess": "none"
	},
	"generic": {
		"timezone": "Europe/Berlin"
	},
	"security": {
		"basicAuth": {
			"active": true,
			"user": "frank",
			"password": "some-secure-password"
		}
	},
	"nodes": {
		"exclude": "[\"n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand\",\"n8n-nodes-base.writeBinaryFile\"]"
	}
}
```

All possible values which can be set and their defaults can be found here:

[https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/packages/cli/config/index.ts](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/packages/cli/config/index.ts)