The very quick quickstart

This quickstart gives you a very quick taste of n8n. Its aim is to allow you to try out the UI, and introduce you to two key features: workflow templates and expressions. It doesn't include detailed explanations or explore concepts.

You will:

Install the desktop app
Load a workflow from the workflow templates library
Add a node and configure it using expressions.
Run your first workflow

Step one: Install and run n8n

--8<-- "_snippets/try-it-out/install-run-n8n.md"

Step two: Open a workflow template

n8n provides a quickstart template using training nodes. This allows you to work with fake data, and avoids setting up credentials.

On the Workflow templates view, search for Very quick quickstart.
Select the Very quick quickstart template to preview it.
Select Use this workflow to open the template in your own editor.

This is a basic workflow. It:

Gets example data from the Customer Datastore node.
Uses the Set node to extract just the data you want, and assign that data to variables. In this example, you use the customer name, ID, and description.

Double click a node to explore its settings and how it processes data.

Step three: Run the workflow

Run the workflow to check it's working, and load in data for the next steps: select Execute workflow.

Step four: Add a node

Add a third node to message each customer and tell them their description. TheCustomer Messenger node allows you to send a message to fake recipients.

Select the Add node connector on the Set node.
Search for Customer Messenger. n8n shows a list of nodes that match the search.
Select Customer Messenger (n8n training) to add the node to the canvas. n8n opens the node automatically.
You're going to use expressions to map in the Customer ID and create the Message:
1. Next to Customer ID, select Parameter options > Add Expression. n8n opens the expressions editor for this field.
2. Select Current Node > Input Data > JSON > customer_ID. n8n adds the expression to the Expression editor, and displays a sample output.
3. Close the expressions editor.
4. Next to Message, select Parameter options > Add Expression. n8n opens the expressions editor for this field.
5. Copy this expression into the editor:
```
Hi {{$json.customer_name}},  Your description is {{$json.customer_description}}
```
Close the expressions editor, then close the Customer Messenger node.
Select Execute workflow. n8n runs the workflow.

The complete workflow should look like this:

Next steps

Read n8n's longer try it out tutorial for a more complex workflow, and an introduction to more features and n8n concepts.
Take the courses.

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