n8n Data Tables Agent Skill

Use when working with n8n's built-in Data Tables, designing schemas, inserting/updating/upserting rows, deduping, or querying.

Context cost
8.4k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
4 files · 33.6 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence
Apache-2.0the author’s own terms
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Use when working with n8n's built-in Data Tables, designing schemas, inserting/updating/upserting rows, deduping, or querying. Triggers on "Data Table", "data table", `n8n-nodes-base.dataTable`, "dedup", "idempotency", "lookup", "persistent state", "store across executions", or any schema design discussion inside n8n.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

database
Filed under

Databases

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md11.4 kB · preview
--- name: n8n-data-tables-official ---
6# n8n Data Tables
7
8Data Tables are n8n's **built-in tabular storage**: real tables inside the n8n instance with columns, types, rows, and CRUD via the dataTable node and data-table MCP tools.
9
10Use them for local persistent state: lookup tables, recent events, per-session inventories, counters, idempotency tracking, dedup state when there's row-level logic or external visibility (plain "have I seen this value?" dedup belongs in the Remove Duplicates node). Small-to-moderate volume (tens of thousands of rows fine, millions belong in a real DB).
11
12## Non-negotiables
13
141. **System-managed columns + external IDs.** Three columns auto-exist on every table: id (bigserial), createdAt, updatedAt. Don't declare them in create_data_table (errors or shadows the system column). Don't write them on insert. For domain identifiers from outside (arxivId, stripeCustomerId, requestId), add a separate column and key dedup/lookup on that.
152. **Only primitives in columns, nested data uses string + _object postfix.** No JSON/object/array column types exist. For nested data (arrays, parsed objects), use a string column with JSON.stringify(...) on write and JSON.parse(...) on read. Mark the column with _object (e.g., keyInsights_object). The postfix is the contract that tells readers to parse. See references/SCHEMA_DESIGN.md.
16
17## Strong defaults
18
19- **Don't add a Set node before a Data Table node to modify fields.** The Data Table node's per-column expression slots are just as powerful as Set fields, so the Set node is doing zero work the Data Table node can't do itself. (Same Set-node antipattern called out in n8n-expressions-official.)
20- **Match n8n's column casing: camelCase.** The auto-managed columns are camelCase (createdAt, updatedAt), so user columns read more cleanly when they match: arxivId, paperId, taxRate. Mixed casing in the same query (createdAt >= ... AND arxiv_id eq ...) reads as a typo. Keep the _object postfix on stringified-blob columns regardless (keyInsights_object), the underscore is a contract marker, not casing.
21<!-- TEMPORARY: remove when the data tables node quirk is fixed -->
22- **Verify the columns parameter via get_workflow_details after create/update.** The UI has a display quirk in manual mapping mode ("Currently no items exist" with no actual data loss). Checking the JSON confirms what's persisted.
23- **Relational design works when the shape calls for it.** For genuine parent-child data (papers → summaries, customers → orders), reference parents by id, name columns explicitly (paperId, customerId), and enforce integrity in workflow logic. Don't force it on flat use cases (dedup, lookup, audit) where there's no relationship to model.
24- **Storage format is not interface format.** Parse _object fields *before* returning them from a sub-workflow. Callers should never receive stringified shells they have to parse themselves. See references/SCHEMA_DESIGN.md "Storage format ≠ interface format".
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md1,681 words
Files4
LicenceApache-2.0
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈90
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
8,310
on trigger
The instruction body and 3 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
4.2%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 42% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

8.4k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Heavy. Teams tend to install this one per project rather than globally, and load it only when the job comes up.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

4 files, 33.6 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in.

  • SKILL.md11.4 kB
  • references/DEDUP_PATTERNS.md5.3 kB
  • references/OPERATIONS.md5.8 kB
  • references/SCHEMA_DESIGN.md11.1 kB
What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the bundle is 4 files you can review in full before installing. The Apache-2.0 licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# n8n Data Tables · 8.4k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/n8n-data-tables/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/n8n-data-tables" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/n8n-data-tables ] || { mv .claude/skills/n8n-data-tables "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/n8n-data-tables" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/n8n-data-tables"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add n8n-io/n8n-data-tables

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/n8n-data-tables/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/n8n-data-tables/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/n8n-data-tables" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/n8n-data-tables ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/n8n-data-tables "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/n8n-data-tables" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/n8n-data-tables" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/n8n-data-tables/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where. It appears as n8n-data-tables-official in Gemini CLI, Codex, Copilot and Grok (its own name); Claude Code lists it by the folder name, n8n-data-tables.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referencen8n-io/n8n-data-tables

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

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