Send and verify events with n8n workflow telemetry
Use n8n workflow telemetry where your app knows the final result. Collect only the fields you need, then verify a test event before building charts.
- 1
Choose the outcome
Workflow completion monitoring
- 2
Define the contract
execution_id, workflow_name, workflow_version, trigger_type, schedule_name, and release
- 3
Log the final result
Use separate explicit success and error branches so the HTTP Request node receives a final workflow outcome rather than an intermediate node result.
- 4
Check the stored event
Exercise a known fixture, then inspect n8n_workflow_completed for one correctly typed terminal row.
Before you start
Before you start
- An n8n HTTP Request node placed on an explicit success or error branch
- A header-auth credential containing the Telemetry API key rather than a value embedded in the workflow
- A Set node that selects the approved workflow fields and final status
Delivery setup
Install and initialize server-side
Send the documented JSON shape to the Log API with a server-side key and bounded HTTP timeouts. Keep ingestion credentials out of browser bundles, client-visible environment variables, source control, logs, and exception messages.
- 1Create one reusable server-side client. Set its timeout and retry limit.
- 2Log an event when the operation succeeds, fails, retries, or times out.
- 3Send test events with known results and inspect the stored rows before enabling an alert.
Snippet
Start with one structured event
Add this shape where the workflow completes, fails, or retries. Then build the dashboard from real fields.
n8n workflow telemetry event
{
"method": "POST",
"url": "https://api.telemetry.sh/log",
"authentication": "predefined-header-credential",
"timeout_ms": 2000,
"body": {
"table": "n8n_workflow_completed",
"data": {
"execution_id": "={{ $json.execution_id }}",
"workflow_name": "={{ $json.workflow_name }}",
"workflow_version": "={{ $json.workflow_version }}",
"trigger_type": "={{ $json.trigger_type }}",
"status": "={{ $json.status }}",
"duration_ms": "={{ $json.duration_ms }}",
"retry_count": "={{ $json.retry_count }}",
"item_count": "={{ $json.item_count }}",
"error_type": "={{ $json.error_type }}",
"release": "={{ $json.release }}"
}
}
}Event schema
execution_id, workflow_name, workflow_version, trigger_type, schedule_name, and release
status, duration_ms, retry_count, item_count, failed_step, and error_type
account_id, integration_name, delivery_status, environment, and region when approved
Check your setup
Checkpoint 1
Use separate explicit success and error branches so the HTTP Request node receives a final workflow outcome rather than an intermediate node result.
Checkpoint 2
Configure bounded timeouts and Continue On Fail according to whether observability delivery is allowed to affect the automation outcome.
Checkpoint 3
Do not send source-item bodies, credentials, tokens, expressions containing private data, arbitrary error messages, or full n8n execution data.
Verification
Prove the event arrived
Run this after exercising known success and failure cases. Replace the fallback table name if your final event contract differs from the snippet.
n8n workflow telemetry verification query
SELECT *
FROM n8n_workflow_completed
ORDER BY timestamp_utc DESC
LIMIT 20;Implementation references
Review the event contract, data-safety guidance, and upstream primary documentation before enabling a new production path.
Where to log
Keep the outcome event small and recoverable
This pattern provides
- Record the outcome as an event you can query with SQL.
- Stable fields for dashboards, alerts, and cross-event correlation.
- Test events for checking success, failure, retries, and timeouts.
This pattern does not provide
- An OTLP exporter, automatic collection pipeline, or replacement for detailed traces and diagnostic logs.
- Exactly-once delivery merely because the payload contains an event ID.
- Permission to collect raw provider payloads, user content, credentials, or regulated data.
Example event schemas
Event schemas for this workflow
Check what each event records, when to send it, and which field types it needs. Review the example payload and privacy checklist before using it in production.
Use these queries in Telemetry
Learn about Alerts
Add a threshold and recipients to your reliability query to get alerts.
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More SQL recipes
Run the query using this workflow's event fields and check the example result. Save the result to a dashboard or set up an alert.
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