n8n tutorial: build your first workflow
Short answer
This n8n tutorial builds one workflow: a form entry is saved to Google Sheets, an AI step labels it, and an alert message is sent. It follows n8n’s own documentation read on 12 Oct 2026 and has not been hands-on tested. You need an n8n account or instance, a Google account and a messaging account. Steps that the documentation did not confirm are marked.
On this page
About this tutorial
- Based on
- n8n documentation, read 12 Oct 2026
- Hands-on tested
- No. The steps below come from the vendor documentation.
- n8n version
- The tutorial pages do not state one. The n8n docs list stable 2.42.6 and beta 2.43.3 on 12 Oct 2026. GitHub marks 2.42.6 as Latest, published 9 October 2026.
- Needs
- An n8n Cloud trial or a self-hosted instance, a Google account, a messaging or email account, an AI provider key
- Cost
- n8n Cloud has a free trial. Self-hosted Community Edition has no subscription listed. The AI provider bills for model use.
What you will build
The workflow has one job: when someone submits a short enquiry form, record it, label it and tell you.
- A form collects a name, an email address and a message.
- n8n writes each entry as a new row in a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
- An AI step reads the message and labels it, for example as a question, a quote request or a complaint.
- A Telegram message tells you a new entry arrived.
This is the same trigger, data, decision and action chain that the pillar guide describes. n8n’s own quickstart builds a different example: a weekly workflow that reads NASA solar flare data and posts reports to PostBin. The form example here is chosen because it uses the apps most small businesses already have.
Not hands-on tested. This page is based on the vendor documentation read on 12 Oct 2026. The editorial team did not build this workflow, so there are no screenshots, and no run results are reported. n8n’s interface changes between releases, so button names can differ from the text below. If a step does not match your screen, follow n8n’s own page linked in that step.
What you need
An n8n account or instance. n8n’s quickstart recommends n8n Cloud for new users and says a free trial is available, with an account sign-up. Self-hosting is the alternative; the self-hosting guide covers it. Plan prices are on the n8n pricing in PHP page.
A Google account. The Google Sheets node needs a Google credential. Per n8n’s Google credentials page, n8n Cloud users can use a managed sign-in for the listed Google nodes with no Google Cloud Console setup. Self-hosted users cannot use the managed sign-in and must set up their own OAuth2 app in the Google Cloud Console.
A messaging account. This tutorial uses Telegram. Creating a bot is done in Telegram with BotFather. If you prefer email, n8n has a Gmail node; the steps below do not cover it.
An AI provider key. The AI step in this tutorial uses an OpenAI key. The provider bills for use, separately from n8n. The OpenAI credentials page in n8n’s docs does not say how OpenAI bills API use, so check the provider’s own pricing page.
Create a spreadsheet in Google Sheets before you start. Put these headings in row 1: Name, Email, Message, Label. Keep the heading text simple, because the later steps match fields to these names.
Step 1, create the workflow and trigger
Open a new workflow
From the welcome screen choose Start from Scratch, or open the Workflows list on the Overview page and select Create Workflow.
Add the trigger
Add the n8n Form Trigger node. It generates a web page with a form and starts the workflow when someone submits it.
Add the fields
Add three fields: Name (Text), Email (Email) and Message (Textarea). n8n lists these among its form field types.
Note the two URLs
The node shows a Test URL and a Production URL. Use the Test URL while building.
The Test URL shows incoming data in the editor. The Production URL runs the workflow automatically, but only after you save and publish the workflow, and its submissions appear in the Executions tab, not in the editor. The Form Trigger page also lists authentication choices: Basic Auth, n8n User Auth or none. A public enquiry form uses none; a form for staff only can use an option that asks for a login.
Click Execute Workflow, open the Test URL in a browser tab, fill in the form and submit. The node should now show your entry. Having a real sample entry in the editor makes every later step easier, because each node can read the fields from it.
Documentation: n8n Form Trigger, n8n quickstart.
Step 2, connect Google Sheets
Credentials
Add a Google Sheets node after the trigger. The node reference lists the operation Append Row, which creates a new row, and Append or Update Row, which adds a row or updates a matching one. Choose Append Row.
When the node asks for a credential, create one. n8n’s docs recommend OAuth2 because it is more widely available and easier to set up than a service account. On n8n Cloud, the managed sign-in lets you sign in with Google directly. On a self-hosted instance, you create your own OAuth2 app in the Google Cloud Console and connect it to n8n.
The Google credentials page that was read does not list the Google Cloud Console steps, test-mode behavior or token expiry. Follow the linked single-service OAuth2 page in n8n’s documentation for the exact steps. Not confirmed from the official documentation on 12 Oct 2026: the exact Console steps and whether any Google verification step applies to your account.
Mapping fields
Select your spreadsheet and its sheet in the node. Then map the columns: set Name, Email and Message to the matching fields from the Form Trigger. You can drag a field from the left panel into a column box, or write an expression that points to it.
The Google Sheets common-issues page gives one useful rule. If the column names in the sheet change after you set up the node, re-select Mapping Column Mode so the node fetches the names again, then update the node. The same page says the node needs data as key and value pairs, not a raw array.
Run the node with Execute Workflow and check the spreadsheet for the new row.
Documentation: Google Sheets node, Google credentials.
Step 3, send the alert
Add a Telegram node and choose its Send Message operation.
Create the bot
In Telegram, open a chat with BotFather and send the command /newbot. Give the bot a display name and a username that ends in bot.
Copy the token
BotFather returns a bot token. Copy it.
Add the credential in n8n
Create a Telegram credential in the node and paste the token into the Access Token field.
Write the message
In the node’s text field, combine fixed text with fields from the form, for example the name and the message.
The Telegram node page says that to post in a channel, you add your bot to that channel first. Not confirmed from the official documentation on 12 Oct 2026: how to find the chat ID that the Send Message operation needs. The Telegram credentials page and node page that were read do not cover it. Check the node’s Common Issues page.
Documentation: Telegram credentials, Telegram node.
Step 4, add an AI step
Place the AI step between the Google Sheets node and the Telegram node, so the label can appear in the alert. Reorder the connections on the canvas as needed.
Classify or summarize the entry
Add the Basic LLM Chain node. Per n8n’s node page, it sets the prompt that a model uses. In its prompt field you can write static text or an expression. Write a short instruction and pass the form message into it. For example:
Label this message as one of: question, quote request, complaint, other. Reply with the label only. Message: [the Message field from the form]
The node page says you can turn on Require Specific Output Format and attach an output parser, which is useful when you need an exact label. The page does not document the name of the node’s output field, so read it from the node’s output panel after a test run.
The model comes from a separate connection. For OpenAI, create a credential: log in to your OpenAI account, open the API keys page, choose Create new secret key, copy the key and enter it as the API Key in n8n. The Organization ID is only needed if you belong to several organizations.
Not confirmed from the official documentation on 12 Oct 2026: which chat model sub-node the Basic LLM Chain requires in your n8n version. The editor shows the connection points on the node. The OpenAI node is an alternative; its Text operations are documented on its own page.
An AI label can be wrong. For a first workflow it is fine for labels that you read yourself. If the label will route a customer to a different person, keep a human check, as the human-in-the-loop entry describes.
Update the Telegram message to include the label. Update the Google Sheets node to write the label to the Label column, if you placed the AI step before it.
Documentation: Basic LLM Chain, OpenAI credentials.
Step 5, test with real entries
Reading the execution log
An execution is one run of a workflow. n8n separates two kinds. A manual execution starts when you click Execute Workflow, usually while building. A production execution runs from a trigger or a schedule after you publish. n8n’s page says only production executions count toward plan quotas.
Submit three or four real entries through the form, including one with a long message and one with an empty optional field. For each run:
- Open the workflow’s execution list. It shows runs for the workflow open on the canvas. A second list shows runs across all workflows. Both can be filtered.
- Open a failed run to see which node stopped it and what data it held.
- Use the debug option to copy data from a past execution into the current workflow, then fix the node against that data.
Check that the spreadsheet row, the label and the alert all match the entry. If a field is wrong, fix the mapping, not the sample.
Documentation: Understand executions.
Step 6, schedule and activate
This workflow starts from a form, so it has no schedule. It only needs to be published. Save the workflow, then publish it. After that, the Production URL of the Form Trigger accepts live submissions.
To add a scheduled workflow later, use the Schedule Trigger node. It supports seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or a custom cron expression. It uses the workflow’s timezone if one is set, and otherwise the instance timezone. n8n states that self-hosted instances default to America/New York, and for a Philippine team you would set Asia/Manila in the workflow or instance settings. A workflow with a Schedule Trigger must be saved and published for the schedule to run.
Each run adds one execution to your plan’s count. n8n’s own estimate is that a schedule every five minutes uses about 8,600 to 8,900 executions in a month, so choose the interval with your plan in mind. See the pricing page.
To be told when a published workflow fails, build an error workflow. It must start with the Error Trigger node, which receives the execution ID, error message, last node executed and workflow name. Save it, then in each workflow you want covered open Options and Settings, choose it under Error workflow, and save. Add a Telegram node to the error workflow so failures reach you.
Documentation: Schedule Trigger, Handle errors gracefully.
Common errors and their fixes
Credentials
A node that cannot sign in usually has a credential that is missing, expired or set up for another account. Open the credential, reconnect it and run the node again. For Google on a self-hosted instance, the OAuth2 app belongs to you, so check the Google Cloud Console project too.
Field names
If the Google Sheets node shows empty values, the mapping may point to a field name that no longer exists. Re-run the trigger with a fresh sample and re-select the field. If you renamed a sheet column, re-select Mapping Column Mode, as the Google Sheets common-issues page advises.
Rate limits
Not confirmed from the official documentation on 12 Oct 2026: the Google Sheets common-issues page that was read does not cover rate limits. If the form receives many entries at once, check Google’s and your AI provider’s own limit pages, and build the workflow to wait or retry.
Where to go next
- More about n8n. The n8n overview explains editions, the licence and what to plan for.
- Running it yourself. The self-hosting guide covers Docker, backups and the running cost, and says plainly what is free.
- Costs. The pricing page converts the vendor’s euro prices to pesos.
Frequently asked questions
How does a beginner start with n8n?
Create an n8n Cloud trial account or install n8n yourself, then open a new workflow and add a trigger. n8n’s own quickstart builds a small weekly workflow as a first exercise.
What is the simplest n8n workflow to build first?
A form that writes each entry to Google Sheets and sends one alert message. It has one trigger, two actions and a clear result to check.
How is Google Sheets connected to n8n?
Through a Google credential. On n8n Cloud there is a managed sign-in for the listed Google nodes. On a self-hosted instance you create your own OAuth2 app in the Google Cloud Console.
How is an AI step added to an n8n workflow?
Add an AI node such as Basic LLM Chain, write the prompt, and connect a model with the provider’s credential, for example an OpenAI API key.
Why did the workflow fail, and where is the error shown?
Open the workflow’s execution list, open the failed run and look at the node that stopped it. An error workflow starting with the Error Trigger node can also send you an alert.
Sources
All sources were read on 12 Oct 2026. The n8n documentation site was reorganized, so some pages named in older articles now sit at new addresses.
- n8n documentation, Quickstart.
- n8n documentation, n8n Form Trigger.
- n8n documentation, Google Sheets node and Google credentials.
- n8n documentation, Telegram node and Telegram credentials.
- n8n documentation, Basic LLM Chain and OpenAI credentials.
- n8n documentation, Understand executions.
- n8n documentation, Schedule Trigger and Handle errors gracefully.
- n8n on GitHub, Releases: version 2.42.6 marked Latest, published 9 October 2026.
- n8n, Plans and pricing.