n8n on DigitalOcean App Platform

Deploy the powerful workflow automation platform n8n to DigitalOcean App Platform.

Choose Your Deployment Tier

🚀 Simple Mode (Recommended Start)

Best for: Personal use, testing, small workloads

• ✅ One-click deployment
• ✅ Single instance (UI + API + execution)
• ✅ PostgreSQL database
• ✅ SSL/TLS included

Prerequisites: (⚠️ MUST DO)

• Generate n8n encryption key: openssl rand -base64 32. Replace N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY env variable in template(doctl) or app(UI)

📖 Simple Mode Guide | 📄 Spec

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⚡ Queue Mode (Production Ready)

Best for: Teams, scalability, growing workloads

• 🔄 Main + Worker architecture
• 🔴 Redis job queue
• 📈 Horizontal scaling (add workers)
• 💪 PostgreSQL + Redis databases

Prerequisites: (⚠️ MUST DO)

• Generate n8n encryption key: openssl rand -base64 32. Replace N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY env variable in template(doctl) or app(UI)
• Create PostgreSQL: doctl databases create n8n-postgres --engine pg --version 17 --region <region> --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb
• Create Redis: doctl databases create n8n-redis --engine valkey --version 8 --region <region> --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb

📖 Deploy Queue Mode | 📄 Spec

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🔒 With Task Runners

Best for: JavaScript/Python code execution, security

• 🏃 Code execution in sandbox
• 🛡️ Secure isolation for Code nodes
• ⚙️ Single instance + runners

Prerequisites: (⚠️ MUST DO)

• Generate n8n encryption key: openssl rand -base64 32. Replace N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY env variable in template(doctl) or app(UI)
• Generate n8n runner token: openssl rand -base64 32. Replace N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN env variable in template(doctl) or app(UI)
• Create PostgreSQL: doctl databases create n8n-postgres --engine pg --version 17 --region <region> --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb

📖 Deploy With Runners | 📄 Spec

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🏢 Production (Enterprise Scale)

Best for: Enterprise workloads, code-heavy, HA

• 🎯 Queue + Workers + Runners
• 📊 Auto-scaling capable
• 🔄 High availability
• 💪 Full production stack

Prerequisites: (⚠️ MUST DO)

• Generate n8n encryption key: openssl rand -base64 32. Replace N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY env variable in template(doctl) or app(UI)
• Generate n8n runner token: openssl rand -base64 32. Replace N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN env variable in template(doctl) or app(UI)
• Create PostgreSQL: doctl databases create n8n-postgres --engine pg --version 17 --region <region> --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb
• Create Redis: doctl databases create n8n-redis --engine valkey --version 8 --region <region> --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb

📖 Deploy Production | 📄 Spec

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Pricing

For detailed pricing information based on instance sizes and resources, visit the DigitalOcean App Platform Pricing page.

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Deployment Method

Simple Mode (Deploy Button)

1. Click "Deploy to DO" button above
2. Generate encryption key: openssl rand -base64 32
3. Replace N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY in app env variables
4. Click "Create App", wait for app to deploy
5. Access at your app URL

Advanced Modes (CLI)

# Queue Mode
doctl apps create --spec .do/examples/queue-mode.yaml

# With Runners
doctl apps create --spec .do/examples/with-runners.yaml

# Production
doctl apps create --spec .do/examples/production.yaml

Need help deciding? See SCALING.md

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⚠️ Production Storage Consideration

Important for Production Deployments:

App Platform uses ephemeral storage - files are lost on container restart. For production use:

• ✅ Database stores: workflows, credentials, execution history (persistent)
• ❌ Container stores: binary files, custom nodes, uploads (ephemeral)

Recommendation: Configure DigitalOcean Spaces ($5/month) for persistent file storage if:

• Workflows handle file uploads/downloads
• Using custom community nodes
• Processing binary data (images, PDFs, etc.)

Quick Setup (5 minutes):

1. Create a Space via DigitalOcean Control Panel
2. Generate access keys: doctl spaces keys create n8n-storage-key
3. Add credentials to your app spec - see PRODUCTION.md for full config

📖 Full guide: Persistent Storage Setup

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What is n8n?

n8n is a fair-code licensed workflow automation tool - an open-source alternative to Zapier that you can self-host.

• 🔌 400+ integrations (Google, Slack, GitHub, etc.)
• 🎨 Visual workflow builder
• 🤖 AI capabilities with LangChain
• 🔐 Self-hosted - you own your data
• 💰 Free for personal use

Documentation

Getting Started

• Deployment Guide - Step-by-step deployment
• Environment Variables - Configuration reference

Scaling & Production

• Scaling Guide - When and how to scale
• Production Setup - Security & best practices
• Version Info - Updates & versioning

Mode-Specific Guides

• Simple Mode - Default deployment
• Queue Mode - Scalable architecture
• Production Setup - Enterprise deployment

What's Included

• n8n v1.122.2 (latest stable)
• PostgreSQL 17 database (persistent storage)
• SSL/TLS encryption
• Automated backups
• Health monitoring
• Optional: Spaces for persistent file storage ($5/month)

Example Use Cases

• Automate repetitive tasks
• Sync data between apps
• Build custom API integrations
• Schedule automated reports
• Create webhook listeners
• Build AI-powered workflows

Support

• n8n Docs: docs.n8n.io
• Community: community.n8n.io
• Templates: n8n.io/workflows
• Issues: GitHub

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Ready to automate? Choose your tier above and start building workflows! 🚀