n8n workflow setup: Triggers and variables

Not every n8n workflow is automatically compatible with Juma. You need to set up certain steps and add specific nodes to make your workflows executable from inside Juma. Here's how to build workflows that work seamlessly with your chats.

Adding a manual trigger node

The first step is to add a manual trigger node to your workflow. Juma connects to this manual trigger node to execute the workflow. You don't need to rename it, just keep it as is.

You can also have other trigger nodes (like a webhook node) in your workflow. You might have two different ways to start the same workflow. But for Juma to execute it, you need at least one manual trigger node.

Building a basic workflow

Once you've added your manual trigger node, you can build out your workflow with whatever actions you need. For example, you might add a Slack node to send a message, or connect to other tools to pull data or automate tasks.

At this point, if you add this workflow to a Juma Project, it will execute when triggered. However, it won't be very smart because all the values are hardcoded.

Making variables dynamic

To make your workflow flexible, you need to pass variables from your Juma chat to the workflow. This way, you can say things like "send a message to Mario saying 'Hey, how are you doing?'" and the workflow will use those specific values.

Here's how to set up variables:

• Go to your manual trigger node
• Click Set mock data
• This creates a list of items with sample variables

You can edit these variables to match what you want to pass from Juma. For example, you might have variables like "message" or "username." The actual values you put here are just placeholders. What matters is the variable name, because that's what Juma will look for in the chat.

Once you've set up your variables, connect the manual trigger node to the rest of your workflow and drag the variable values into the appropriate fields (like the message text field in a Slack node).

Click Save and your workflow is ready to use in Juma.

Checking detected variables

Back in Juma, you can see which variables were detected from your workflow:

• Go to your Project
• Click on Knowledge in the sidebar
• Scroll to Automations
• Hover over your workflow

You'll see the webhook variables that were detected (for example, "message: string"). If the variables don't appear, click Refresh workflow to update them.

Using your workflow in a chat

Once your workflow is connected and variables are set up, you can trigger it from a chat. The AI will understand what you're asking for, match the values in your message to the workflow variables, and execute the workflow.

For example, if you say "send a message and say 'Hey, what's up?'" the AI will understand that "Hey, what's up?" should be passed to the "message" variable in your workflow.

Debugging workflow errors

If your workflow hits an error, you'll see the error message in your Juma chat. To debug it:

• Go back to n8n
• Check the Executions tab
• Find the failed execution and see where the error occurred
• Fix the issue in your workflow
• Save the workflow

You don't need to refresh anything in Juma. The workflow is automatically updated with the last version. You can retry the message in your chat and it will use the fixed workflow.

What happens behind the scenes

When you trigger a workflow from Juma:

1. The AI semantically understands your request
2. It matches values in your message to the workflow variables
3. It executes the workflow and passes the variables
4. The workflow runs and returns output
5. You see the results in your chat (either success or error messages)

For longer workflows, you might see a loading message while the workflow executes.

Getting help

If you have questions about setting up workflows or need help with your n8n integration, reach out to mario@juma.ai for support with setup and troubleshooting.