Using an API playground#

This documentation site provides a playground to test out calls. Self-hosted users also have access to a built-in playground hosted as part of their instance.

Documentation playground#

You can test API calls from this site's API reference. You need to set your server's base URL and instance name, and add an API key.

n8n uses Scalar's open source API platform to power this functionality.

Exposed API key and data

Use a test API key with limited scopes and test data when using a playground. All calls from the playground are routed through Scalar's proxy servers.

Real data

You have access to your live data. This is useful for trying out requests. Be aware you can change or delete real data.

Built-in playground#

Feature availability

The API playground isn't available on Cloud. It's available for all self-hosted pricing tiers.

The n8n API comes with a built-in Swagger UI playground in self-hosted versions. This provides interactive documentation, where you can try out requests. The path to access the playground depends on your hosting.

n8n constructs the path from values set in your environment variables:

1	`N8N_HOST:N8N_PORT/N8N_PATH/api/v<api-version-number>/docs`

The API version number is 1. There may be multiple versions available in the future.

Real data

If you select Authorize and enter your API key in the API playground, you have access to your live data. This is useful for trying out requests. Be aware you can change or delete real data.

The API includes built-in documentation about credential formats. This is available using the credentials endpoint:

N8N_HOST:N8N_PORT/N8N_PATH/api/v<api-version-number>/credentials/schema/{credentialTypeName}

How to find credentialTypeName

To find the type, download your workflow as JSON and examine it. For example, for a Google Drive node the {credentialTypeName} is googleDriveOAuth2Api:

{
    ...,
    "credentials": {
        "googleDriveOAuth2Api": {
        "id": "9",
        "name": "Google Drive"
        }
    }
}

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