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Overview

To authenticate with n8n, you need:
  1. Base URL - Your n8n instance’s base URL.
  2. API Key - A key that grants access to the n8n API for your instance.
On n8n Cloud, the API isn’t available on the free trial — your instance must be on a paid Cloud plan. Self-hosted instances have API access by default, regardless of plan.
This guide will walk you through finding your Base URL and generating your API Key in n8n.

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Prerequisites

  • A self-hosted n8n instance, or an n8n Cloud account on a paid plan.

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Instructions

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Step 1: Finding your base URL

Your Base URL is your n8n instance’s root URL — don’t include /api:
  • n8n Cloud: https://<your-name>.app.n8n.cloud, where <your-name> is your Cloud subdomain.
  • Self-hosted: https://<your-instance-url>.

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Step 2: Generating your API key

  1. Log in to n8n.
  2. Go to Settings > n8n API.
  3. Select Create an API key.
  4. Choose a Label and set an Expiration for the key.
  5. If you’re on an Enterprise plan, choose the Scopes to grant the key.
Non-enterprise API keys have full access to all of the account’s resources and capabilities — there’s no way to scope them down.

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Step 3: Enter credentials in the Connect UI

Once you have your Base URL and API Key:
  1. Open the form where you need to authenticate with n8n.
  2. Enter your Base URL and API Key in their field provided.
  3. Submit the form, and you should be successfully authenticated.
You are now connected to n8n.