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Automatic Workflow Backups to GitLab with GPT-4.1 Documentation Generation

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Created by: Shohani || shohani

Shohani

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Last update 5 days ago

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Auto backup n8n workflows to GitLab with AI-generated documentation

This n8n template automatically backs up your workflows to a GitLab repository whenever they're updated or activated, and generates README documentation using AI.
This workflow can be aslo added as a sub-workflow to any existing workflow to enable backup functionality.

Who's it for

This template is perfect for n8n users who want to:

  • Maintain version control of their workflows
  • Create automatic backups in Git repositories
  • Generate documentation for their workflows using AI
  • Keep their workflow library organized and documented

How it works

The workflow monitors n8n for workflow updates and activations, then automatically saves the workflow JSON to GitLab and generates a README file using OpenAI:

  1. Trigger Detection: Uses n8n Trigger to detect when workflows are updated or activated
  2. Workflow Retrieval: Fetches the complete workflow data using the n8n API
  3. Repository Check: Lists existing files in GitLab to determine if the workflow already exists
  4. Smart File Management: Either creates a new file or updates an existing one based on the repository state
  5. AI Documentation: Generates a README.md file using OpenAI's GPT model to document the workflow
  6. GitLab Storage: Saves both the workflow JSON and README to organized folders in your GitLab repository

Requirements

  • GitLab account with API access and a repository named "all_projects"
  • n8n API credentials for accessing workflow data
  • OpenAI API key for generating documentation
  • GitLab personal access token with repository write permissions

How to set up

  1. Configure GitLab credentials: Add your GitLab API credentials in the GitLab nodes
  2. Set up n8n API: Configure your n8n API credentials for the workflow retrieval node
  3. Add OpenAI credentials: Set up your OpenAI API key in the "Message a model" node
  4. Update repository details: Modify the owner and repository name in GitLab nodes to match your setup
  5. Test the workflow: Save and activate the workflow to test the backup functionality

How to customize the workflow

  • Change repository structure: Modify the file path expressions to organize workflows differently
  • Customize commit messages: Update the commit message templates in GitLab nodes
  • Enhance AI documentation: Modify the OpenAI prompt to generate different styles of documentation
  • Add file filtering: Include conditions to backup only specific workflows
  • Extend triggers: Add webhook or schedule triggers for different backup scenarios
  • Multiple repositories: Duplicate GitLab nodes to backup to multiple repositories simultaneously