n8n on Cloudflare Containers

Self-hosted n8n workflow automation running on Cloudflare Containers, backed by Neon PostgreSQL.

Architecture

Browser / Webhook
       │
       ▼
 Cloudflare Worker
       │  (proxies via Durable Object)
       ▼
 Container — n8n v2.27.3 (port 5678)
       │
       ▼
 Neon PostgreSQL  (workflows, credentials, executions)

A single Cloudflare Worker receives all traffic and forwards it to the n8n container through a Durable Object. The container sleeps after 1 hour of inactivity and wakes automatically on the next request. All persistent data lives in Neon, so restarts are lossless.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Wrangler CLI (npm install -g wrangler)
• A Cloudflare account with Containers access
• A Neon PostgreSQL database

Local development

npm install
cp .env.example .env   # fill in your values
npm run dev

Deploy

1. Set secrets

npx wrangler secret put DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST
npx wrangler secret put DB_POSTGRESDB_USER
npx wrangler secret put DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD
npx wrangler secret put DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE
npx wrangler secret put N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY   # openssl rand -hex 32

2. Deploy

npm run deploy

Wrangler will upload the Worker and register the Docker Hub image. The container provisions in a few minutes.

3. Update the webhook URL

After the first deploy, set N8N_HOST in wrangler.toml to your actual Workers URL:

[vars]
N8N_HOST = "n8n.<your-subdomain>.workers.dev"

Then redeploy:

npm run deploy

Configuration

Variable	Where	Description
N8N_HOST	wrangler.toml [vars]	Public hostname (used for webhooks)
GENERIC_TIMEZONE	wrangler.toml [vars]	Timezone for scheduled workflows
DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST	Secret	Neon PostgreSQL host
DB_POSTGRESDB_USER	Secret	Database user
DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD	Secret	Database password
DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE	Secret	Database name
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Secret	Encrypts stored credentials (keep safe)

Container settings (in src/index.js):

Setting	Value	Description
instance_type	basic	1/4 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM, 4 GB disk
sleepAfter	1h	Shuts down after 1 h of inactivity
max_instances	1	Single instance (n8n is not horizontally scalable)

Observability

Workers Logs and container logs are enabled. View them in the Cloudflare dashboard:

Cloudflare Dashboard → Workers & Pages → n8n → Logs

Or stream live:

npx wrangler tail

Notes

• Cold starts: after the container sleeps, the first request takes ~30–60 s while n8n boots and reconnects to Postgres.
• Scheduled workflows: n8n's internal scheduler only runs while the container is awake. If you need reliable cron jobs, add a Cloudflare Cron Trigger to keep the container warm during business hours.
• Webhooks during sleep: the container auto-wakes on the first webhook, but that initial request may time out. A keepalive ping avoids this.