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Automatic workflow backups to GitLab with GPT-4.1 documentation generation

ShohaniShohani
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2/3/2026
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Auto backup n8n workflows to GitLab with AI-generated documentation

This n8n template automatically backs up your workflows to a GitLab repository whenever they're updated or activated, and generates README documentation using AI. This workflow can be aslo added as a sub-workflow to any existing workflow to enable backup functionality.

Who's it for

This template is perfect for n8n users who want to:

  • Maintain version control of their workflows
  • Create automatic backups in Git repositories
  • Generate documentation for their workflows using AI
  • Keep their workflow library organized and documented

How it works

The workflow monitors n8n for workflow updates and activations, then automatically saves the workflow JSON to GitLab and generates a README file using OpenAI:

  1. Trigger Detection: Uses n8n Trigger to detect when workflows are updated or activated
  2. Workflow Retrieval: Fetches the complete workflow data using the n8n API
  3. Repository Check: Lists existing files in GitLab to determine if the workflow already exists
  4. Smart File Management: Either creates a new file or updates an existing one based on the repository state
  5. AI Documentation: Generates a README.md file using OpenAI's GPT model to document the workflow
  6. GitLab Storage: Saves both the workflow JSON and README to organized folders in your GitLab repository

Requirements

  • GitLab account with API access and a repository named "all_projects"
  • n8n API credentials for accessing workflow data
  • OpenAI API key for generating documentation
  • GitLab personal access token with repository write permissions

How to set up

  1. Configure GitLab credentials: Add your GitLab API credentials in the GitLab nodes
  2. Set up n8n API: Configure your n8n API credentials for the workflow retrieval node
  3. Add OpenAI credentials: Set up your OpenAI API key in the "Message a model" node
  4. Update repository details: Modify the owner and repository name in GitLab nodes to match your setup
  5. Test the workflow: Save and activate the workflow to test the backup functionality

How to customize the workflow

  • Change repository structure: Modify the file path expressions to organize workflows differently
  • Customize commit messages: Update the commit message templates in GitLab nodes
  • Enhance AI documentation: Modify the OpenAI prompt to generate different styles of documentation
  • Add file filtering: Include conditions to backup only specific workflows
  • Extend triggers: Add webhook or schedule triggers for different backup scenarios
  • Multiple repositories: Duplicate GitLab nodes to backup to multiple repositories simultaneously

Automatic Workflow Backups to GitLab with GPT-4 Documentation Generation

This n8n workflow automates the process of backing up your n8n workflows to GitLab and generating comprehensive documentation for them using OpenAI's GPT-4. It ensures your workflows are version-controlled and well-documented without manual effort.

What it does

  1. Trigger: Manually triggered to initiate the backup process.
  2. List Workflows: Retrieves a list of all active workflows from your n8n instance.
  3. Filter Workflows: Excludes the current backup workflow itself from being backed up, preventing infinite loops.
  4. Iterate Workflows: Processes each selected workflow individually.
  5. Get Workflow Details: Fetches the JSON definition of each workflow.
  6. Generate Documentation (OpenAI GPT-4): Sends the workflow JSON to OpenAI's GPT-4 model to generate a detailed README.md file.
  7. Format Documentation: Uses a Code node to format the generated documentation and prepare it for GitLab.
  8. GitLab Commit: Commits the workflow JSON and its generated README.md to a specified GitLab repository. Each workflow gets its own directory.

Prerequisites/Requirements

  • n8n Instance: A running n8n instance.
  • GitLab Account: Access to a GitLab repository where backups will be stored.
  • GitLab API Token: A GitLab Personal Access Token with api scope for n8n to interact with your GitLab repository.
  • OpenAI API Key: An OpenAI API key with access to GPT-4 (or a compatible model).
  • n8n Credential for GitLab: Configured in n8n with your GitLab API token.
  • n8n Credential for OpenAI: Configured in n8n with your OpenAI API key.

Setup/Usage

  1. Import the workflow: Download the JSON definition and import it into your n8n instance.
  2. Configure Credentials:
    • Set up your GitLab credential with your Personal Access Token.
    • Set up your OpenAI credential with your API Key.
  3. Configure GitLab Node (Node 56):
    • Specify your GitLab Project ID (the numeric ID of the repository where backups will be stored).
    • Adjust the Branch name if you don't want to commit to the default branch (e.g., main or master).
    • Ensure the File Path expression correctly constructs the path for each workflow's JSON and README. For example, workflows/{{ $json.name | slugify }}/workflow.json and workflows/{{ $json.name | slugify }}/README.md.
  4. Configure OpenAI Node (Node 1250):
    • Ensure the Model is set to a GPT-4 variant (e.g., gpt-4, gpt-4-turbo-preview).
    • Review and adjust the System Message and User Message to guide GPT-4 in generating the desired documentation format and content.
  5. Activate the workflow: Once configured, activate the workflow.
  6. Execute Manually: Run the workflow manually to perform an immediate backup. You can also schedule it to run periodically using a "Cron" trigger node (not included in this JSON but easily added).

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