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N8N backup flow to Nextcloud (7-day retention)

This workflow automates the daily backup of all your n8n workflows to a designated folder in Nextcloud. It ensures that you always have the last 7 days of backups available while automatically deleting older ones to save space.

đź”§ Features

Scheduled Trigger: Runs automatically once per day (can be executed manually as well). Directory Management: Creates the /N8N-Backup directory in Nextcloud if it doesn't already exist. Backup Collection: Retrieves all workflows from the n8n instance. JSON Conversion: Converts each workflow into a JSON file. Upload to Nextcloud: Saves each backup file into the specified backup directory. Retention Control: Keeps only the latest 7 backups and deletes the rest from Nextcloud.

📌 Notes

Make sure to manually create the /N8N-Backup directory in your Nextcloud account before using this flow. Update the Backup Path node if you wish to change the upload directory. Ideal for teams using n8n with self-hosted instances and requiring offsite backup via Nextcloud.

đź”’ Requirements

n8n instance with access to the Nextcloud node. Valid credentials for your Nextcloud account with API access.

Update: 08/11/2025 “Backup Flows to Nextcloud” – Import format fixed

Summary:
The workflow now exports one clean JSON object per workflow (no arrays, no backup/meta fields), so files can be imported 1:1 via the n8n UI.

What changed:

Switched from “Convert to File” to a Set node that builds the JSON in binary data. Enabled filters.include = "all" on Get many workflows to include nodes, connections, settings, pinData, and tags. Sanitized filenames and removed IDs/metadata that can break UI imports. Fixed Nextcloud path and binary property mapping (data).

Verification:

Generated multiple backups and imported each via UI (“Import from file”) without errors. Each file begins with { (single object) and loads with full workflow structure.

Notes:

Keep “Binary Property” set to data in the Nextcloud node. Filenames are sanitized to avoid special-character issues.