Overview
Writing effective prompts is the key to getting high-quality workflow generations from n8n Wizard. A well-crafted prompt helps the AI understand exactly what you want to accomplish, resulting in workflows that need minimal adjustments after import.
Golden Rule: Write your prompt as if you're explaining the workflow to a colleague who knows n8n but doesn't know your specific use case.
Essential Elements of a Good Prompt
Every effective prompt should include these core components:
1. Trigger Type
Specify how the workflow should start:
- •Schedule (e.g., "every day at 9 AM", "every hour")
- •Webhook (e.g., "when a webhook receives data")
- •Event-based (e.g., "when a new email arrives", "when a form is submitted")
- •Manual (e.g., "trigger manually")
2. Apps & Services
Use specific app names that n8n supports:
- ✓Good: "Gmail", "Google Sheets", "Slack", "Airtable"
- ✗Avoid: "email", "spreadsheet", "chat app", "database"
3. Actions & Operations
Clearly describe what should happen at each step:
- •"Get new emails from Gmail"
- •"Extract the sender's email address and subject line"
- •"Add a new row to Google Sheets with the extracted data"
- •"Send a notification to Slack"
4. Data Flow
Explain how data should be transformed or filtered as it moves through the workflow. Mention any conditions, formatting, or calculations needed.
Examples: Bad vs. Good Prompts
❌ Bad Prompt
"Automate my email"
✓ Good Prompt
"Create a workflow that triggers when a new email arrives in Gmail from the domain '@customer.com'. Extract the sender's email address and the subject line, then add this information as a new row in a Google Sheet named 'Customer Emails' with columns for 'Email', 'Subject', and 'Date Received'."
❌ Bad Prompt
"Send data from one app to another"
✓ Good Prompt
"Build a workflow that runs every day at 8 AM. It should fetch all new records from Airtable table 'Leads' created in the last 24 hours, format each record into a Slack message with the person's name, email, and source, and post it to the #new-leads Slack channel."
❌ Bad Prompt
"Webhook thing with API"
✓ Good Prompt
"Create a webhook workflow that receives JSON data containing 'name', 'email', and 'message' fields. Validate that the email field is not empty, then make a POST request to 'https://api.example.com/contacts' with the data, and finally send a confirmation email using Gmail."
Power User Tips
- •Use action verbs: "fetch", "filter", "transform", "send", "update", "create", "delete"
- •Specify data fields: Mention the exact field names or data points you want to work with
- •Include conditions: "only if", "when", "filter by", "exclude"
- •Mention timing: Be specific about schedules, delays, or time-based conditions
- •Reference error handling: If you want specific error behaviors, mention them
Template Structure
Use this template as a starting point:
[TRIGGER] + [TRIGGER DETAILS]
[ACTION 1] + [SPECIFIC DETAILS]
[ACTION 2] + [DATA TRANSFORMATION]
[ACTION 3] + [DESTINATION/OUTPUT]
[OPTIONAL: CONDITIONS OR ADDITIONAL LOGIC]
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- ✗Being too vague: "Automate my business" doesn't give enough information
- ✗Using generic terms: Replace "database" with specific names like "Airtable" or "Google Sheets"
- ✗Omitting the trigger: Always specify how the workflow should start
- ✗Skipping data details: Mention what data fields you need to extract or pass along
- ✗Making it too complex: If your workflow is very complicated, break it into smaller parts
Quick Checklist
Before generating, verify your prompt includes:
- ☑Clear trigger type (schedule, webhook, event, manual)
- ☑Specific app names from the n8n ecosystem
- ☑Step-by-step actions the workflow should perform
- ☑Data fields or information to extract/transform
- ☑Output destination or final action