AI Workflow Builder Prompts

Centralized prompts for the n8n AI Workflow Builder. This directory contains all prompts used by agents and chains.

Directory Structure

src/prompts/
├── index.ts                      # Central exports
├── README.md                     # This file
│
├── builder/                      # PromptBuilder utility
│   ├── prompt-builder.ts         # Fluent builder class
│   └── types.ts                  # Type definitions
│
├── agents/                       # Multi-agent system prompts
│   ├── supervisor.prompt.ts      # Routes requests to specialists
│   ├── discovery.prompt.ts       # Finds nodes & categorizes techniques
│   ├── builder.prompt.ts         # Creates workflow structure and configures parameters
│   └── responder.prompt.ts       # Generates user responses
│
└── chains/                       # Chain-level prompts
    ├── categorization.prompt.ts  # Workflow technique classification
    ├── compact.prompt.ts         # Conversation summarization
    ├── workflow-name.prompt.ts   # Workflow name generation
    │
    └── parameter-updater/        # Dynamic prompt system for node updates
        ├── registry.ts           # Pattern-matching registry
        ├── types.ts              # Type definitions
        ├── parameter-updater.prompt.ts  # Base prompts
        ├── guides/               # Node & parameter guides
        └── examples/             # Few-shot examples

PromptBuilder Utility

A type-safe, fluent builder for composing LLM prompts with conditional sections.

Basic Usage

typescript

const systemPrompt = prompt()
  .section('role', 'You are an assistant')
  .sectionIf(hasContext, 'context', () => buildContext())
  .examples('examples', data, (ex) => `${ex.input} → ${ex.output}`)
  .build();

Key Features

Fluent API: Chain methods for readable prompt composition
Conditional sections: sectionIf() and examplesIf() for dynamic content
Lazy evaluation: Factory functions evaluated only at build time
Output formats: XML tags (default) or Markdown headers
LangChain integration: buildAsMessageBlocks() with cache_control support

Multi-Agent Prompts

The agents/ directory contains prompts for the multi-agent workflow builder system. Each agent has a specialized role:

Agent	Purpose
Supervisor	Routes user requests to the appropriate specialist
Discovery	Identifies relevant n8n nodes and categorizes techniques
Builder	Creates workflow structure and configures node parameters
Responder	Generates user-facing responses

All agent prompts use PromptBuilder for consistent composition.

Chain Prompts

The chains/ directory contains prompts for specific LLM chain operations:

Chain	Purpose
Categorization	Analyzes user prompts to identify workflow techniques
Compact	Summarizes conversations for context management
Workflow Name	Generates descriptive workflow names
Parameter Updater	Builds context-aware prompts for node parameter updates

Parameter Updater System

A registry-based system that automatically selects relevant guides and examples based on node type patterns.

How It Works

Pattern Matching: Guides and examples declare patterns they match against
Context-Based Selection: Registry filters content based on node type and conditions
Dynamic Assembly: PromptBuilder combines base prompts with matched content

Pattern Types

Pattern	Example	Matches
Exact match	`n8n-nodes-base.set`	Only that specific node
Suffix wildcard	`*Tool`	`gmailTool`, `slackTool`, etc.
Prefix wildcard	`n8n-nodes-base.*`	Any n8n-nodes-base node
Substring	`.set`	Any node containing `.set`

Adding a New Guide

Create a file in guides/ with the guide content and patterns
Export from guides/index.ts
Add to the registry array in registry.ts

Example guide structure:

typescript

export const MY_NODE_GUIDE: NodeTypeGuide = {
  patterns: ['n8n-nodes-base.myNode'],  // Which nodes to match
  condition: (ctx) => true,              // Optional: extra conditions
  content: `Your guide content here...`,
};

Conditional Guides

Some guides only apply in certain contexts. Use the condition property:

typescript

export const RESOURCE_LOCATOR_GUIDE: NodeTypeGuide = {
  patterns: ['*'],  // Matches all nodes
  condition: (ctx) => ctx.hasResourceLocatorParams === true,
  content: `...`,
};

Current Guides

Guide	Pattern	Purpose
Set Node	`n8n-nodes-base.set`	Assignment structure & types
IF Node	`n8n-nodes-base.if`	Filter conditions & operators
Switch Node	`n8n-nodes-base.switch`	Rules and routing
HTTP Request	`n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest`	URL, headers, body, auth
Tool Nodes	`*Tool`	$fromAI expressions
Resource Locator	`*` (conditional)	__rl structure & modes
System Message	`*` (conditional)	AI node message separation
Text Fields	`*` (conditional)	Expression embedding

Current Examples

Examples	Pattern	Purpose
Set Node	`n8n-nodes-base.set`	Set node examples
IF Node	`n8n-nodes-base.if`	IF node examples
Switch Node	`n8n-nodes-base.switch`	Switch node examples
Tool Nodes	`*Tool`	Tool node examples
Resource Locator	`*` (conditional)	ResourceLocator examples
Simple Updates	`*`	Generic fallback examples