Error Alert Aggregator – Email and Jira

This workflow aggregates error logs arriving from multiple sources, deduplicates identical events within a configurable time-window, and sends a single consolidated notification via Email and Jira. It prevents alert fatigue by batching similar errors and guarantees that responsible teams are informed through both channels.

Pre-conditions/Requirements

Prerequisites

• n8n instance (self-hosted ≥ v1.0 or n8n.cloud account)
• Basic understanding of your log source’s payload structure
• SMTP server or n8n Email credentials configured
• Jira Cloud or Jira Server account with API access

Required Credentials

• Email (SMTP/IMAP or n8n Email node credential) — to dispatch alert emails
• Jira — Create issues automatically in the chosen project
• HTTP Request Auth (optional) — If your log endpoint requires authentication

Specific Setup Requirements

How it works

This workflow aggregates error logs arriving from multiple sources, deduplicates identical events within a configurable time-window, and sends a single consolidated notification via Email and Jira. It prevents alert fatigue by batching similar errors and guarantees that responsible teams are informed through both channels.

Key Steps:

• Schedule Trigger: Runs every X minutes to poll/collect new log items.
• HTTP Request: Pulls error events from your monitoring or log system.
• IF Node: Quickly filters out non-error or resolved events.
• Code Node (Deduplicator): Hashes & stores unique error signatures, skipping already-seen items.
• Wait Node: Holds processing for the batching period (e.g., 10 min).
• Merge Node: Combines all unique errors gathered during the window.
• Set Node: Formats the consolidated message for Email & Jira.
• Email Send: Dispatches the summary email.
• Jira Node: Creates (or updates) an issue with the same summary.
• Sticky Notes: Provide inline documentation right inside the workflow for easier maintenance.

Set up steps

Setup Time: 15-20 minutes

1. Import template: Download the JSON template and drag & drop it into your n8n editor.
2. Configure Schedule Trigger: Set polling interval (e.g., every 5 minutes).
3. HTTP Request Node:
   • Enter the URL of your log endpoint.
   • Add authentication if required.
4. Adjust IF filter: Modify the condition to match your log’s error severity field (status === "error").
5. Customize Code Node:
   • Replace error_id with the field that uniquely identifies an error.
   • Optionally tweak deduplication TTL.
6. Wait Node: Set the batch time (e.g., 600 seconds).
7. Set Node: Edit the email subject/body and Jira issue summary/description placeholders.
8. Credentials:
   • Add or select your Email credential in Email Send.
   • Add or select your Jira credential in Jira node.
9. Test run the workflow to verify that:
   • Duplicate events are collapsed.
   • Email and Jira tickets show combined information.
10. Activate the workflow to start production monitoring.

Node Descriptions

Core Workflow Nodes:

• Schedule Trigger – Initiates workflow on a fixed interval.
• HTTP Request – Retrieves fresh error logs from an external API.
• IF – Only lets true error events proceed.
• Code (Deduplicator) – Uses JavaScript to remove already-known errors via n8n static data.
• Wait – Creates a batching window for aggregation.
• Merge (Queue mode) – Joins events accumulated during the wait.
• Set – Crafts a human-readable report for Email & Jira.
• Email Send – Dispatches the consolidated message to stakeholders.
• Jira – Opens/updates an issue containing the same error digest.
• Sticky Note – Provides inline explanations for future maintainers.

Data Flow:

1. Schedule Trigger → HTTP Request → IF → Code
2. Code → Wait → Merge → Set
3. Set → Email Send & Jira

Customization Examples

Change Deduplication Strategy

// Code Node snippet
// Use error 'stacktrace' + 'service' for uniqueness
const signature = `${item.json.stacktrace}_${item.json.service}`;
if ($workflow.staticData.signatureCache?.includes(signature)) {
  // duplicate, skip
  return [];
}
$workflow.staticData.signatureCache = [
  ...( $workflow.staticData.signatureCache || [] ),
  signature
];
return item;

Update Existing Jira Issue Instead of Creating New

// Jira Node settings
// Search for an open ticket with the same summary
// If found, add a comment instead of creating
{
  "operation": "comment",
  "issueKey": "={{$node['Set'].json['jiraIssueKey']}}",
  "comment": "New occurrences: {{$json.errorCount}}"
}

Data Output Format

The workflow outputs structured JSON data:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "id": "ERR123",
      "message": "Database timeout",
      "count": 5,
      "firstSeen": "2024-03-14T10:12:00Z",
      "lastSeen": "2024-03-14T10:22:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "emailStatus": "success",
  "jiraStatus": "issue_created"
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. No data returned from HTTP Request – Verify endpoint URL, authentication headers, and that your monitoring tool actually has recent error events.
2. Duplicate alerts still coming through – Increase the Wait node’s batching window or refine the deduplication key in the Code node.

Performance Tips

• Cache HTTP responses if the log API supports it to reduce bandwidth.
• Use selective fields in the HTTP Request’s query parameters to limit payload size.

Pro Tips:

• Store a rolling hash list in external Redis or DB for large-scale deduplication.
• Add a second IF branch to auto-resolve Jira tickets when an error disappears for X hours.
• Use Slack or Microsoft Teams nodes in parallel to broaden alert coverage.

This is a community-contributed n8n workflow template provided “as-is.” Thoroughly test in a non-production environment before deploying to production.