Verified n8n community node
Automate the hosted backends your AI agents and applications run on. The package ships two nodes: a trigger that starts workflows from signed row-change webhooks, and an action node with 16 operations to create projects, shape schemas, set row policies, mint API keys and manage your team, all through your own OAuth-connected account.
Updated October 23, 2026. Links: npm, GitHub, product docs.
What you can automate
MCPBackend hosts a SQLite database, generated REST API, end-user auth and MCP server per project. With n8n, the setup work that usually happens in a dashboard or an agent session becomes a repeatable, reviewable workflow.
Provision on demand
Create a project, its tables and a scoped API key the moment a customer, tenant or environment appears.
Keep schemas in sync
Read the live schema, compare it with what your repo says, and add only the missing tables or columns.
Watch usage and limits
Pull current-month usage for every project on a schedule and route it to Sheets, Slack or your data warehouse.
React to row changes
Start a workflow from the MCPBackend Trigger when rows are created, updated or deleted, then fan out to email, CRM or billing.
Automate team access
Invite, rescope and remove team members from an HR or ticketing trigger instead of by hand.
Equip an AI Agent
Attach the node to the n8n AI Agent so it can inspect and change a backend inside an agent run.
Setup
The same package works on n8n Cloud and on self-hosted n8n.
Add the node on n8n Cloud
The MCPBackend node is available on n8n Cloud as a verified node. Open the node panel, search for MCPBackend and add it to the canvas; no installation step is required.
Or install it on self-hosted n8n
Go to Settings > Community Nodes > Install, enter n8n-nodes-mcpbackend, accept the community-node notice and install. Both the MCPBackend and MCPBackend Trigger nodes appear in the node panel afterwards.
Connect your MCPBackend account
Add either node, create a MCPBackend OAuth2 API credential and click Connect my account. n8n registers itself with the MCPBackend authorization server and opens the consent screen; sign in, review the permissions and approve. The flow uses PKCE, expiring access tokens and refresh tokens.
Pick an operation and run it
On the action node pick a Resource, then an Operation such as List Projects, fill the required fields and execute. For write operations, enable Confirm Write Operation after you have checked the inputs. On the trigger node enter a Project ID and the events to subscribe to, then activate the workflow.
# Self-hosted n8n (Settings > Community Nodes > Install)
n8n-nodes-mcpbackend
# n8n Cloud: open the node panel and search for "MCPBackend"The n8n credential does not use an API key; it uses OAuth so your workflows never hold a long-lived secret. API keys are the machine credential for a project's data API, the one your application or an n8n HTTP Request node calls at data.mcpbackend.com/v1/{projectId}/db/{table}. Create one in the dashboard by opening a project and choosing API keys in the Configure group, or let a workflow mint one with the Create API Key operation. Either way the secret (eb_…) is shown once, so store it in n8n credentials or your secret manager immediately. Keys bypass row-level security and should stay server-side.
To disconnect n8n later, revoke the connection in the MCPBackend connected-app settings or delete the credential in n8n.
Triggers and operations
Version 3.1.0 ships two nodes. The MCPBackend Trigger starts a workflow from signed row-change webhooks; the MCPBackend action node exposes every operation below, grouped by the Resource selector in the node.
Receive signed MCPBackend webhooks. Set a Project ID and an Events JSON array; activating the workflow registers a webhook on that project at your n8n webhook URL, and deactivating removes only that subscription. Each delivery is checked for an HMAC-SHA256 signature over the raw body, a timestamp within five minutes, the subscribed project id and a matching delivery id before the workflow runs. The event payload, including the row, is emitted as one item.
| Event pattern | Fires when | Example |
|---|---|---|
| <table>.created | A row was inserted into that table through the data API | contacts.created |
| <table>.updated | A row in that table was updated | orders.updated |
| <table>.deleted | A row was deleted from that table | sessions.deleted |
| <table>.* | Any change to one table | posts.* |
| *.created, *.updated, *.deleted | That operation on any table (the node's default subscription) | *.deleted |
| * | Every row event in the project | * |
["contacts.created", "orders.*", "*.deleted"]Operations are created, updated and deleted; the table part is a table name or *. A public HTTPS n8n webhook URL and a plan that includes webhooks are required. Deliveries are a single attempt with no retries, so keep the workflow idempotent on the delivery id if it must not double-process.
Each project is a hosted backend: its own SQLite database, generated REST API and MCP tools.
| Operation | Access | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Create Project | Write | Provision a new project with a dedicated database. Returns the project id and canonical API URLs; optional EU data residency. |
| List Projects | Read | List the projects your account can reach, each with its data-plane API URLs. |
| Get Project | Read | Fetch one project by id, including its canonical data-plane API URLs. |
| Get Project API | Read | Return the exact runtime contract: route templates, security guidance and the generated OpenAPI document. |
| Get Usage | Read | Current-month usage and plan limits for a project. |
| Set Auth Enabled | Write | Turn end-user email and password authentication on or off for a project. |
Define the storage schema. Every table immediately gets CRUD endpoints.
| Operation | Access | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Get Schema | Read | Read the live tables and columns of a project before changing anything. |
| Create Table | Write | Create a table with typed columns, references and indexes. An integer id primary key is added unless you define one. |
| Add Column | Write | Add a column to an existing table. NOT NULL columns require a default value. |
| Set Table RLS | Write | Set row-level security per table: public, authenticated or owner-only. Owner mode adds the owner column for you. |
Mint the server-side credentials your application uses for the project data API.
| Operation | Access | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Create API Key | Write | Create a server-side key for the project's data API with per-table permissions. The secret is returned once. |
Register webhooks for systems other than this workflow. For n8n itself, use the MCPBackend Trigger node below.
| Operation | Access | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Create Webhook | Write | Register a URL that receives a signed POST on row events such as posts.created, *.deleted or *. The signing secret is returned once. |
Manage who on your team can operate which projects.
| Operation | Access | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| List Team Members | Read | List members, their access scope and the projects available for assignment. |
| Add Team Member | Write | Invite a member by email with full access or access to selected projects. |
| Update Team Member | Write | Switch a member between full access and selected-project access. |
| Remove Team Member | Write | Remove a member and revoke all shared project access. |
Recipes
Each recipe uses standard n8n nodes around the MCPBackend node. Swap the trigger for whichever system already knows about the event.
Stripe: new customer or subscription
When a customer signs up, create a project in their name, create the starter tables, set owner-only row policies and mint a scoped API key. Pass the project id and API URL to your onboarding email.
GitHub: push to main
Keep a migrations folder in your repo. On push, read the live schema with Get Schema, diff it against the committed definition in a Code node, then run Create Table or Add Column only for what is missing.
MCPBackend Trigger: errors.created
Have your application write failures to an errors table, then subscribe the MCPBackend Trigger to errors.created for that project. Each signed event carries the new row, so an IF node can filter by severity before Slack posts the message, table and project id to your on-call channel.
Schedule: every Monday
List Projects, split the array into items, call Get Usage for each, and append rows, requests, storage and plan limits to a sheet. Add an IF node to flag projects close to a cap.
Chat message or form
The node is marked usable as a tool, so you can attach it to the n8n AI Agent node. The agent can then inspect schemas, create tables or set row policies from a natural-language request, while n8n keeps the OAuth credential out of the prompt.
Schedule: first of the month
Create a fresh key with the same per-table permissions, write the secret to your secret manager with an HTTP Request node, then revoke the previous key in the dashboard. Confirm Write Operation must be enabled on the node.
A ready-to-import account check workflow ships in the package under examples/account-check.json. It runs List Projects once from a manual trigger; replace the trigger with a schedule to turn it into a report.
Why n8n
Self-hostable and open source
Run n8n on your own infrastructure next to the applications that use your MCPBackend projects, or use n8n Cloud. The node works in both.
OAuth, not pasted secrets
The credential uses OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration. n8n stores and refreshes the token; nothing from your dashboard session goes into a workflow field.
Code when you need it
Use Code, IF and Split Out nodes around the MCPBackend operations to diff schemas, filter projects or branch on usage thresholds.
Typed fields, explicit writes
Required inputs are form fields, optional fields are opt-in, and every write operation asks for Confirm Write Operation so a scheduled run cannot silently change account data.
Agent-ready
The action node is marked usable as a tool for the n8n AI Agent node, so a workflow can combine deterministic steps with an agent that reasons about the backend.
One service, clearly scoped
Both nodes talk only to the MCPBackend REST API. Your account roles, project ownership, plan limits and credits apply exactly as they do in the dashboard.
FAQ
Yes. Version 3.1.0 ships the MCPBackend Trigger node. Give it a project id and a JSON array of event patterns such as ["contacts.created"]; activating the workflow registers a signed webhook on that project and deactivating removes it. Payloads are verified with HMAC-SHA256 before the workflow runs.
No. The MCPBackend node authenticates with OAuth, so you click Connect my account and approve in the browser. API keys are for your application's calls to the project data API; create them in the dashboard under API keys or with the Create API Key operation.
Version 3 calls the MCPBackend REST API at mcpbackend.com/v1 with its own OAuth audience. Create a new MCPBackend OAuth2 API credential and reconnect before running existing workflows; operation and field names are unchanged.
Nothing changes. Write operations may consume credits, and account permissions and plan limits are enforced by the MCPBackend server on every call.
Get started
Create a free MCPBackend project, add the n8n node, connect your account and run List Projects. The whole loop takes a few minutes.