n8n MCP server: connect AI agents to n8n from the EU

n8n is a workflow automation tool made by n8n GmbH in Berlin. Teams use it to connect hundreds of apps and APIs into workflows, either on n8n Cloud or self-hosted on their own infrastructure, which many European companies prefer.

n8n has a built-in MCP server at instance level. Its URL is your instance address followed by /mcp-server/http. Workflows are not exposed automatically: you enable MCP access for each workflow you want agents to see. Separately, n8n offers an MCP Server Trigger node for publishing a single workflow as its own MCP server, and a community server, czlonkowski/n8n-mcp, helps agents build workflows using node documentation.

n8n turns your existing automations into tools. An agent that handles new customer requests can call a workflow that creates the customer in your ERP, opens a folder in your document system and sends a welcome email, instead of needing a connector for each system.

Operations teams can ask an agent to run a reporting workflow and explain the figures. Automation builders can have an agent draft a new workflow from a description, which a person then reviews and activates in the n8n editor.

In n8n, enable the instance MCP server in the settings and turn on MCP access for the workflows agents may use. Then add the n8n connector on inference.eu with your instance URL and connect with OAuth, which n8n recommends, or with an n8n API key.

Credentials are stored encrypted in the EU and used only by the agents you allow. In n8n you can see connected MCP clients and revoke them at any time. Self-hosted instances must be reachable from the internet over HTTPS for the agent to connect.

When an agent runs a workflow, n8n executes it on your instance, and the workflow then sends data to whichever apps it connects, exactly as when it is triggered any other way. With a self-hosted instance, workflow execution stays on your own servers.

On inference.eu, the model that decides which workflow to call and reads the results runs in EU data centres, and your n8n credentials are stored encrypted in the EU. The credentials your workflows use for other apps stay inside n8n; the agent never sees them.

A single workflow can do a lot: send emails, write to an ERP or move files. Exposing a workflow to MCP gives an agent all of that in one call, so expose only workflows whose effects you understand.

On inference.eu you can let workflow searches run on their own and require a person's approval before an agent runs a workflow or creates and edits one. The approval shows the workflow and its inputs. Keep agent-built workflows inactive until a person has checked them in the n8n editor.