Visualize n8n Subworkflow Dependencies, Auto-Tag for Clarity
Improve n8n instance clarity and maintainability by automatically tagging subworkflows, saving hours of manual documentation and dependency tracking effort.
Managing complex n8n instances with numerous interdependent workflows makes tracking dependencies and maintaining organization a significant challenge. This workflow automatically detects which workflows call others, builds an interactive dependency graph, and auto-tags subworkflows, drastically improving clarity and maintainability.
Documentation
n8n Subworkflow Dependency Graph & Auto-Tagging
This workflow is designed to enhance the clarity and maintainability of complex n8n instances by automating the identification, visualization, and tagging of workflow dependencies. It serves as an invaluable tool for n8n administrators and developers aiming for a deeper understanding of their automation landscape.
Key Features
- Automated Dependency Detection: Automatically scans your n8n instance to identify which workflows execute others (sub-workflows) through Execute Workflow nodes.
- Dynamic Auto-Tagging: Sub-workflows are automatically tagged with the IDs of their calling workflows, establishing a clear, always up-to-date reference for relationships.
- Interactive Dependency Graph: Generates a dynamic and interactive visual graph using Mermaid.js, accessible via a webhook, enabling rapid comprehension of complex interdependencies.
- Sub-workflow Usage Insights: Provides a QuickChart pie chart illustrating the most frequently called sub-workflows, helping to identify critical or highly reused components.
- Flexible Triggering: Configure the workflow to run on a weekly schedule, upon activation, or on-demand through a dedicated webhook endpoint.
How It Works
Upon activation or scheduled trigger, the workflow first retrieves a comprehensive list of all workflows in your n8n instance. A custom Code node then intelligently parses each workflow's structure, specifically looking for Execute Workflow or @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.toolWorkflow nodes to map out caller-subworkflow relationships. Workflows that are not called by others are filtered out, and the existence of all identified sub-workflows is verified. For each valid sub-workflow, the workflow calculates its total callers and identifies any new callers that haven't yet been added as tags. It then interacts with the n8n API to create any necessary new tags and updates the sub-workflow's existing tags to reflect all its current callers. In parallel, the workflow prepares data for two visualizations: a Mermaid.js diagram for an interactive browser-based dependency graph and a QuickChart pie chart for immediate insights into sub-workflow usage.