Based on a tutorial by N8N Official
Are you struggling to make sense of all the different nodes in N8N and wondering how to clean up your workflow data? You're not alone! Many automation beginners get overwhelmed when trying to organize and process data efficiently.
In this article, I've summarized Video #6 of the N8N beginner course, which covers some incredibly useful nodes that will take your workflow automation skills to the next level.
Quick Navigation
Overview of Essential Nodes
In this sixth video of the N8N beginner course, we continue building on the workflow from previous videos while exploring some incredibly useful nodes that will become essential in your automation journey.
Key Points:
- So far in the course, we've covered Google Sheets nodes, If nodes, and Schedule Trigger nodes
- This video introduces Edit Fields, Aggregate, and Webhook nodes
- These nodes help with data management, processing multiple items, and external integrations
My Take:
Understanding these fundamental nodes is crucial for creating efficient workflows in N8N. The Edit Fields node in particular will save you countless headaches by keeping your data clean and focused.
The Edit Fields Node
The Edit Fields (or Set) node is one of the most useful tools in N8N for managing the data in your workflow items. It allows you to clean, format, modify, or restructure your data before passing it to subsequent nodes.
Key Points:
- The Edit Fields node can be used to clean up data within your workflow
- You can add, format, reduce, or manipulate any data in your items
- Two main options: keep only fields you're setting or include all input fields
- Helps keep your workflow items clean and focused on necessary data
My Take:
I always recommend using the Edit Fields node early in your workflows to strip away unnecessary data. This makes your workflows more maintainable and easier to troubleshoot when things go wrong. It's much easier to work with 3-4 relevant fields than trying to manage dozens of unused properties.
Using the Aggregate Node
The Aggregate node is part of a category that helps deal with multiple items in your workflow. It allows you to combine data across multiple items into a single output item.
Key Points:
- Aggregates data across all items in your workflow
- Can transform multiple input items into a single output item
- Example: Collecting all emails from separate user items into one list
- Similar nodes include Remove Duplicates and Item Limits
My Take:
The Aggregate node becomes particularly valuable when you need to send summary information or create reports. Instead of processing each item individually (and potentially sending multiple notifications), you can consolidate everything into a single, comprehensive output.
Building Upon Our Workflow
In this section, we continue building on the workflow from previous videos by implementing the Edit Fields node to clean up our data structure.
Key Points:
- Using Edit Fields to keep only necessary data (full name, email, company)
- Creating a combined "full name" field from first and last name
- Using expressions to format the last name in uppercase
- Removing unnecessary fields to simplify workflow data
// Expression used to combine first and last name with uppercase
{{$item.firstName}} {{$item.lastName.toUpperCase()}}
My Take:
Notice how strategic use of the Edit Fields node helps maintain clean data throughout the workflow. By creating properly formatted fields early on, we avoid having to repeat transformations in multiple places later.
Sending Slack Notifications
After processing our data, we now want to send notifications to Slack with information about new signups that meet our conditions.
Key Points:
- Using the Aggregate node to collect all matching emails and companies
- Configuring the Slack node to send messages to specific users
- Two approaches: sending a single aggregated message vs. individual notifications
- For larger datasets, aggregated messages are recommended
// Aggregated message format
Recap of signups this week:
{{$node["Aggregate"].json.email}}
Companies that signed up this week:
{{$node["Aggregate"].json.company}}
// Individual message format (alternative)
New signup from {{$item.email}}, Company: {{$item.company}}
My Take:
The choice between sending individual notifications versus aggregated summaries depends on your use case. For high-volume workflows, aggregation is almost always better to prevent notification fatigue. For critical or low-volume events, individual notifications might be more appropriate.
Working with Webhook Nodes
The final section introduces the powerful Webhook node, which allows external services to trigger your N8N workflows by sending data to a specific URL.
Key Points:
- Webhook nodes provide test and production URLs
- Can receive data from external systems to trigger workflows
- Practical example: Handling different types of events (account creation, team invitations)
- Using If nodes to route different event types to appropriate actions
// Example webhook payload structure
{
"firstName": "John",
"lastName": "Doe",
"company": "Acme Inc",
"email": "john@example.com",
"domain": "example.com",
"event": "invited_team_member"
}
My Take:
Webhooks open up endless possibilities for your N8N workflows. Any system that can make HTTP requests can now become a trigger for your automations. This is particularly valuable for integrating with legacy systems or services that don't have dedicated N8N nodes.
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