n8n-mcp/docs/report.md

n8n-MCP Implementation Report

Summary

Successfully implemented the n8n-MCP Enhancement Plan v2.1 Final, delivering a functional MVP that provides accurate n8n node documentation through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Achievements

Week 1: Core Implementation ✅

1. Node Loader (src/loaders/node-loader.ts)

   • Loads nodes from both n8n-nodes-base and @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain
   • Handles both array and object formats for node configurations
   • Successfully loads 457 out of 458 nodes

2. Simple Parser (src/parsers/simple-parser.ts)

   • Parses both declarative and programmatic nodes
   • Detects versioned nodes (both VersionedNodeType and inline versioning)
   • Extracts node metadata, properties, and operations
   • Handles instantiation of nodes to access instance properties

3. Documentation Mapper (src/mappers/docs-mapper.ts)

   • Maps nodes to their documentation files
   • Handles both file and directory documentation structures
   • Includes known fixes for problematic node names
   • Achieves 89% documentation coverage (405/457 nodes)

4. Database Schema (src/database/schema.sql)

   • Simple SQLite schema optimized for the MVP
   • Stores all essential node information
   • Includes indexes for performance

5. Rebuild Script (src/scripts/rebuild.ts)

   • One-command database rebuild (npm run rebuild)
   • Provides clear progress and error reporting
   • Completes in under 30 seconds

Week 2: Testing and Integration ✅

1. Validation Script (src/scripts/validate.ts)

   • Tests critical nodes (HTTP Request, Code, Slack, Agent)
   • Validates documentation coverage
   • Provides database statistics
   • 3 out of 4 critical nodes pass all tests

2. MCP Server Updates (src/mcp/server-update.ts)

   • Implements all planned MCP tools:
     • list_nodes - Filter and list nodes
     • get_node_info - Detailed node information
     • search_nodes - Full-text search
     • list_ai_tools - List AI-capable nodes
     • get_node_documentation - Fetch node docs
     • get_database_statistics - Database stats

Key Metrics

• Nodes Loaded: 457/458 (99.8%)
• Documentation Coverage: 405/457 (88.6%)
• Versioned Nodes Detected: 46
• AI Tools: 0 (none marked with usableAsTool flag)
• Triggers: 10
• Packages Supported: 2

Known Limitations

1. Slack Operations: Unable to extract operations from some versioned nodes due to complex structure
2. AI Tools Detection: No nodes currently have the usableAsTool flag set
3. One Failed Node: One node from langchain package fails to load due to missing dependency

Usage

# Setup
git clone https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-docs.git n8n-docs
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Rebuild database
npm run rebuild

# Validate
npm run validate

# Start MCP server
npm start

Next Steps (Post-MVP)

1. Improve operations extraction for complex versioned nodes
2. Add real-time monitoring capabilities
3. Implement version history tracking
4. Add support for community nodes
5. Create web UI for browsing documentation

Conclusion

The implementation successfully achieves the MVP goals:

• ✅ Accurate node-to-documentation mapping
• ✅ Coverage of official n8n packages
• ✅ Fast rebuild process (<30 seconds)
• ✅ Simple one-command operations
• ✅ Reliable processing of standard nodes
• ✅ Working MCP server with documentation tools

The system is ready for use and provides a solid foundation for future enhancements.