AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents
Go from the three ideas behind every automation to n8n AI agents that call APIs, ask a person before they email a customer, answer from your own documents and alert you when something fails.
AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents is a free, hands-on AI course for office, operations and marketing people who want AI to do real work between their apps: 10 short modules (about 2 hours in all) where you do each step yourself in a safe practice copy of Automation basics, n8n and Guardian, which checks your work. No coding, no cost, and you can start without signing up.
Who it’s for: Office, operations and marketing people who want AI to do real work between their apps. No coding; the later modules use an API key.
Why this course
Most teams try AI one chat at a time, then copy the answer into another app by hand. The time savings come when AI sits inside the workflow itself: an email arrives, AI reads it, a rule routes it, a person approves the draft, and the reply is waiting. n8n is the tool Stepthrough teaches for that, because its AI Agent node gives a model memory and tools in one place, and n8n counts one execution per run however many steps it has.
This course builds that skill in order. You start with triggers, actions and data mapping, build your first n8n workflow, route work with IF and Switch, and call any API with the HTTP Request node. Then you add an AI agent, connect a real data source through ProLevelMax, put a Guardian approval gate in front of customer emails, make the workflow tell you when it fails, and finish with RAG: an assistant that answers from your own handbook. Compare the tools first in n8n vs Make vs Zapier for AI automation, or read the course guide.
What you’ll build
- Module 1: You read the recipe behind a new client inquiry automation for Harbor Lane Bookkeeping (made up): one trigger and two actions. Then you map five fields from the form data into an "Add a row" action, fix a box that has words typed into it, run a test and check the new row.
- Module 2: A two-node workflow: On form submission (a hosted form with two questions) and Edit Fields, which writes "Dana Ortiz needs help with: Monthly bookkeeping for my design studio" from each submission.
- Module 3: A workflow where every request finds its own way. A Switch sends Emergency requests straight to the owner and Repair requests on to an If node, and anything else goes to a Fallback output. The If node sends budgets over $1,000 to the owner and everything else to the log.
- Module 4: A three-node workflow: a manual trigger, an HTTP Request that GETs one client from the CRM by username, and a second HTTP Request that POSTs a note with that client's email filled in by an expression.
- Module 5: A working n8n workflow for BrightPath Marketing: a chat box you can type to, an AI agent with a system prompt that knows the brand, a model to think with, memory so it remembers the conversation, and a Google Sheets tool so it can save its work.
- Module 7: You help Maya Chen, who runs Harbor Line Bookkeeping, a made-up firm whose n8n agent drafts about 60 invoice reminders a month.
- Module 8: An error workflow called Error alerts: an Error Trigger followed by a Gmail email that names the workflow, the step that broke, the error message and a link to the failed run.
- Module 1 · Automation basics · Beginner · ~6 min
Automation Basics: Triggers, Actions and Data Mapping
A new client fills in the contact form on your website. Someone copies the name, email and message into a spreadsheet, then emails the person who handles new clients. It takes five minutes, and on a busy day it does not happen at all.
- Module 2 · n8n · Beginner · ~8 min
n8n: What Is n8n? Build Your First Workflow
n8n is a workflow automation tool. It connects the apps a business already uses and does the repeat work between them: when a form comes in, log it; every Monday, send the reminder; when an email lands, summarise it. Each job is drawn as a workflow on a canvas, and n8n runs it the same way every time.
- Module 3 · n8n · Beginner · ~10 min
IF and Switch: Route Work by Rules
A form is easy to build. The hard part is what happens next. A $2,500 installation and a $90 repair should not land in the same place, and an emergency should reach the owner right away, whatever the budget.
- Module 4 · n8n · Intermediate · ~9 min
n8n: Call Any API with the HTTP Request Node
Every business runs on more apps than n8n has nodes for: a niche CRM, a booking tool, a supplier portal, the accounting add-on your bookkeeper likes. If an app has an API, the HTTP Request node lets n8n read from it and write to it anyway, so it stops being an island that someone copies data out of by hand.
- Module 5 · n8n · Intermediate · ~12 min
AI Social Media Idea Agent
A marketing agency wants fresh social post ideas every week that the whole team can review. Today someone asks ChatGPT, copies the answer, pastes it into a shared spreadsheet and tidies the columns. It takes half an hour, and it only happens when that person remembers.
- Module 6 · n8n · Advanced · ~9 min
ProLevelMax in n8n: Keep Your Reddit Workflow Alive After the RSS Shutdown
Reddit switches off its RSS feeds on November 13. Swap the RSS Read node in your n8n workflow for one HTTP Request node that pulls the newest subreddit posts from ProLevelMax, then let AI sum up what people are asking.
- Module 7 · Guardian · Intermediate · ~14 min
Guardian: Make Your n8n AI Agent Ask Before It Emails a Customer
An n8n AI agent that reads, sorts and drafts saves real time. The risk starts when it sends: a wrong amount or a clumsy line goes straight to a client, and an email cannot be unsent. So many owners still check every draft by hand, which takes back most of the time the agent saved.
- Module 8 · n8n · Intermediate · ~10 min
Get Alerted When an Automation Fails, and Let It Retry by Itself, using n8n
Maple Lane Florist has a workflow that runs every morning at 6, gets the day’s wholesale prices from its flower supplier and updates the price sheet. One morning the supplier’s server was busy, the run failed, and nobody noticed.
- Module 9 · n8n · Advanced · ~14 min
Make Your Handbook Searchable for an AI Helpdesk using Pinecone + n8n
Create a free Pinecone index, then build an n8n workflow that reads your handbook from Google Drive, cuts it into chunks, turns them into embeddings and stores them in Pinecone.
- Module 10 · n8n · Advanced · ~13 min
Answer Staff Questions from Your Own Docs using n8n + Pinecone
Build an n8n chat agent that searches your handbook in Pinecone before every answer, cites the page it came from, and says "I don't know" instead of guessing.
Prerequisites
- For the practice: a web browser. Each module runs in a copy of the real tool’s screens, so you need no account and no sign-up to start module 1.
- Helpful first: AI Automation with Zapier.
- To do it for real: an n8n account, an OpenAI API key, a Google account and a Guardian account. Each module says which one it uses.
Time to complete
About 2 hours of hands-on practice across 10 modules (342 steps in all). Modules take 6 to 14 minutes each, so you can do one in a sitting and come back for the next.
Take it with you
Glossary
Trigger Field mapping n8n IF node Switch node HTTP Request node API key Bearer token AI Agent node Human in the loop Error workflow RAG Vector database
- n8n vs Make vs Zapier for AI automation · Which tool to pick, and how each one adds an AI step.
- n8n AI automation course guide · What each module covers and what you need in your own account.
Questions about this course
Is AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents free?
Yes. All 10 modules of AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents are free, and you can start module 1 without signing up.
How long does AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents take?
About 2 hours of hands-on practice across 10 modules, beginner to advanced. Each module takes 6 to 14 minutes, so you can do one at a time.
Which tools will I practice in?
Automation basics, n8n and Guardian. You practice in a copy of each tool's real screens that checks every step, so nothing touches your real accounts, and no coding is needed.
Who is AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents for?
Office, operations and marketing people who want AI to do real work between their apps. No coding; the later modules use an API key.
Where do I start?
Start with module 1, Automation Basics: Triggers, Actions and Data Mapping. The modules are in order, so each one builds on the last.
Is this n8n AI automation course free?
Yes. Every module and every practice is free and runs in your browser. To repeat the modules in your own account you need n8n (Cloud has a free trial, the self-hosted Community Edition is free software) and, from the AI modules on, an OpenAI API key, which is billed separately from any ChatGPT plan.
Do I need to code?
No. Every module is point and click. You will paste an API key into an n8n credential and drag fields into boxes, but you never write a program.
Which modules use partner tools?
Module 6 uses ProLevelMax to read Reddit posts through one HTTP Request node, and module 7 uses Guardian to make an AI agent ask a person before it emails a customer. Both lessons were built from the real apps.
What do I need before I start AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents?
Only a web browser for the practice: it runs in a copy of each tool's screens, so you need no account and no sign-up to start module 1. To repeat a module in your own tools afterwards, the modules list an n8n account, an OpenAI API key, a Google account and a Guardian account. It helps to take AI Automation with Zapier first.
What will I build in AI Automation with n8n: From First Workflow to AI Agents?
A finished result in 7 of the 10 modules, for example: A two-node workflow: On form submission (a hosted form with two questions) and Edit Fields, which writes "Dana Ortiz needs help with: Monthly bookkeeping for my design studio" from each submission; A workflow where every request finds its own way; A three-node workflow: a manual trigger, an HTTP Request that GETs one client from the CRM by username, and a second HTTP Request that POSTs a note with that client's email filled in by an expression.