n8n on Google Cloud Run

n8n is a fair-code workflow automation platform that connects APIs, databases, and services with a visual node editor. This module deploys n8n on Cloud Run v2 on top of the App_CloudRun foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services n8n uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics common to every Cloud Run application — service identity, ingress and load balancing, scaling and concurrency, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_CloudRun foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

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1. Overview

n8n runs as a Node.js container on Cloud Run v2. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	Cloud Run v2	Node.js service, 1 vCPU / 1 GiB by default, always-on (instance-based billing, min_instance_count = 1) so cron/schedule triggers and queue execution fire without an inbound request
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — n8n uses PostgreSQL for all workflow and credential data
Shared files	Filestore (NFS)	Binary file data shared across all instances; also serves as the default Redis endpoint
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A dedicated data bucket
Queue & coordination	Redis	Enabled by default; enables n8n queue mode for horizontal scaling
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated encryption key and SMTP password placeholder
Ingress	Cloud Run URL / Cloud Load Balancing	Default run.app URL, optional external HTTPS load balancer + custom domain

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed; selecting any other engine or NONE breaks startup.
• Redis is enabled by default. Queue mode allows multiple n8n instances to distribute workflow execution. Without Redis, only one instance can run reliably.
• The encryption key is irreplaceable. N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY is generated once and stored in Secret Manager. All workflow credentials are encrypted with it. If the key is rotated or deleted, every saved credential becomes permanently unreadable.
• min_instance_count defaults to 1. n8n keeps one instance warm so webhooks and the scheduler/queue trigger without cold-start delay. Set it to 0 only if occasional webhook latency on cold start is acceptable.
• WEBHOOK_URL and N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL are pre-set to the predicted Cloud Run service URL so webhooks resolve correctly from first start. If a custom domain is added later, redeploy to update these values.
• Gen2 execution environment is required for NFS mounts. execution_environment defaults to "gen2".
• The SMTP password secret is seeded with a dummy value; update it in Secret Manager before configuring email sending.

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2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume PROJECT and REGION are set. Service and resource names are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. Cloud Run — the n8n service

n8n runs as a Cloud Run v2 service that autoscales by request load between the minimum and maximum instance counts. Each deployment creates an immutable revision; traffic can be split across revisions for safe rollouts.

• Console: Cloud Run → select the service for revisions, traffic, logs, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services list --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run revisions list --service <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"

See App_CloudRun for scaling, concurrency, execution environment, and traffic splitting.

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

n8n stores all workflow definitions, execution history, and encrypted credentials in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. The service connects privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy over a Unix socket (no public IP). The entrypoint.sh script translates the platform-injected DB_* variables to n8n-native DB_POSTGRESDB_* variables at runtime. On first deploy an initialization Job creates the application database and user.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database, user, and password secret are in the Outputs. See App_CloudRun for the connection model, backups, and password rotation.

C. Filestore (NFS) and Cloud Storage

Binary files uploaded to or produced by workflows are written to a Filestore (NFS) share mounted into the service so all instances share the same data (N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE=filesystem). The NFS host IP also serves as the default Redis endpoint when no explicit redis_host is configured. A dedicated Cloud Storage bucket is provisioned for broader data persistence.

• Console: Filestore → Instances; Cloud Storage → Buckets.
• CLI:

  gcloud filestore instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage buckets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage ls gs://<data-bucket>/        # bucket name is in the Outputs

See App_CloudRun for the NFS mount, GCS Fuse, and CMEK.

D. Redis queue

Redis enables n8n's queue mode, distributing workflow executions across multiple instances using Bull. In queue mode one or more "worker" instances pick up executions from the queue while the main instance handles the editor and webhook registration. When no external Redis host is configured and NFS is enabled, the NFS host IP is used as the Redis endpoint.

• Console: Memorystore → Redis (if using a managed instance).
• CLI:

  redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping
  redis-cli -h <redis-host> info keyspace

E. Secret Manager

The n8n encryption key and the SMTP password placeholder are stored in Secret Manager and injected into the service at runtime.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  # Update the SMTP password with the real credential:
  echo -n "my-real-smtp-password" | \
    gcloud secrets versions add <smtp-secret-name> --data-file=- --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun for injection and rotation details.

F. Networking & ingress

The service is reachable at its run.app URL by default. An external HTTPS load balancer with a custom domain, Cloud CDN, and Cloud Armor can be layered on; ingress settings and VPC egress control connectivity.

• Console: Cloud Run (service URL); Network services → Load balancing.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" --format='value(status.url)'
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun.

G. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Container logs flow to Cloud Logging; Cloud Run and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring, with optional uptime checks and alert policies.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services logs read <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION" --limit 50

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3. n8n Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job (db-init) uses postgres:15-alpine to create the n8n database and user before the service starts. It is idempotent.
• Environment variable translation. entrypoint.sh maps DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER, and DB_PASSWORD (injected by the platform) to the n8n-native DB_POSTGRESDB_* equivalents at container startup.
• Queue mode operation. With enable_redis = true (the default), n8n starts in queue mode. The main instance handles webhook registration, the editor UI, and execution coordination; additional instances act as workers.
• Webhook URL stability. WEBHOOK_URL and N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL are set to the predicted Cloud Run service URL before deployment. Adding a custom domain later requires a redeploy to update these values.
• Scale-to-zero and webhooks. min_instance_count defaults to 1, keeping an instance warm for webhook workloads. Setting it to 0 means no instance is running when idle — external services calling webhooks will experience cold-start latency and timeouts if the calling service has a short timeout.
• Binary data storage. N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE=filesystem directs n8n to write binary files to the NFS-mounted filesystem rather than the database, which is required for multi-instance deployments.
• Health path. Startup and liveness probes target the n8n root (/), which returns HTTP 200 only once the application is fully initialised. The startup probe uses a 120-second initial delay for first-boot setup.
• Encryption key criticality. N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY encrypts all workflow credentials. If it changes, all saved credentials become permanently unreadable.

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4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for n8n are listed; every other input is inherited from App_CloudRun with its standard behaviour.

Group 1 — Project & Identity

Variable	Default	Description
project_id	(required)	Target Google Cloud project.
region	us-central1	Region for the service and regional resources.
tenant_deployment_id	demo	Short suffix that makes resource names unique per environment.
support_users	[]	Emails granted project access and monitoring alerts.
resource_labels	{}	Labels applied to all resources.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	n8n	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
display_name	N8N Workflow Automation	Friendly name shown in the Console.
description	(set)	Cloud Run service description.
application_version	2.4.7	n8n image version tag.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only without deploying the container.
cpu_limit	1000m	CPU per instance.
memory_limit	1Gi	Memory per instance.
min_instance_count	1	Minimum instances. Keeps an instance warm for webhook workloads by default; set 0 to scale to zero.
cpu_always_allocated	true	CPU allocated at all times (instance-based billing) — n8n's cron/schedule triggers and queue execution fire without an inbound request.
max_instance_count	1	Maximum instances (cost ceiling).
container_port	5678	n8n listens on port 5678.
execution_environment	gen2	Cloud Run execution generation. Gen2 required for NFS mounts.
timeout_seconds	300	Max request duration in seconds.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy for socket connections.
enable_image_mirroring	true	Mirror the n8n image into Artifact Registry.
traffic_split	[]	Split traffic across revisions for staged rollouts.
max_revisions_to_retain	7	Number of old Cloud Run revisions to keep.

Group 5 — Access & Ingress Control

Variable	Default	Description
ingress_settings	all	Which networks may reach the service (all / internal / internal-and-cloud-load-balancing).
vpc_egress_setting	PRIVATE_RANGES_ONLY	How outbound traffic is routed through the VPC connector.
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in via Identity-Aware Proxy.
iap_authorized_users / iap_authorized_groups	[]	Who may access through IAP.

Group 6 — Environment Variables & Secrets

Variable	Default	Description
environment_variables	SMTP placeholder defaults	Extra non-secret settings. Core N8N_* and DB_TYPE values are set automatically. The default map includes SMTP_HOST, SMTP_PORT, SMTP_USER, SMTP_PASSWORD, SMTP_SSL, and EMAIL_FROM ready to override.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name.
secret_propagation_delay / secret_rotation_period	(set)	Replication wait / rotation cadence.

Group 7 — Backup & Restore

Variable	Default	Description
backup_schedule	0 2 * * *	Automated backup cron (UTC).
backup_retention_days	7	Retention; raise for production/compliance.
enable_backup_import / backup_source / backup_uri / backup_format	restore options	Restore from a backup on deploy.

Group 8 — CI/CD & Binary Authorization

Standard App_CloudRun Cloud Build / Cloud Deploy integration — see App_CloudRun. Key inputs: enable_cicd_trigger, github_repository_url, github_token, enable_cloud_deploy, enable_binary_authorization.

Group 9 — Custom SQL

Variable	Default	Description
enable_custom_sql_scripts / custom_sql_scripts_bucket / custom_sql_scripts_path / custom_sql_scripts_use_root	off	Run SQL from a GCS bucket after provisioning.

Group 10 — Domain, CDN, Cloud Armor & Image Retention

Variable	Default	Description
application_domains	[]	Custom hostnames for the external load balancer.
enable_cdn	false	Enable Cloud CDN on the LB backend.
enable_cloud_armor / admin_ip_ranges	off	Attach a WAF policy / restrict privileged access.
max_images_to_retain / delete_untagged_images / image_retention_days	(set)	Artifact Registry cleanup policy.

Group 11 — Storage & Filesystem

Variable	Default	Description
enable_nfs	true	Shared Filestore volume for binary file data. Requires gen2.
nfs_mount_path	/mnt/nfs	Mount path inside the container.
nfs_instance_name / nfs_instance_base_name	(set)	Existing NFS instance / base name for an inline one.
create_cloud_storage / storage_buckets / gcs_volumes	(set)	Data bucket / additional buckets / GCS Fuse mounts.
manage_storage_kms_iam / enable_artifact_registry_cmek	false	CMEK options.

Group 12 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed — do not change.
db_name	n8n_db	PostgreSQL database name. Immutable after first deploy.
db_user	n8n_user	Application user. Immutable after first deploy.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length (16–64).
enable_auto_password_rotation / rotation_propagation_delay_sec	off	DB password rotation.
db_host_env_var_name / db_name_env_var_name / db_user_env_var_name / db_port_env_var_name / service_url_env_var_name	(set)	Names under which connection details are injected.

Group 13 — Jobs & Scheduled Tasks

Variable	Default	Description
initialization_jobs	[]	Leave empty to use the built-in db-init database setup job.
cron_jobs	[]	Recurring jobs triggered by Cloud Scheduler. n8n's built-in scheduler handles workflow triggers; use these for external operations.

Group 14 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe / startup_probe_config	HTTP GET /, 120s initial delay	Startup probe targets the n8n root.
liveness_probe / health_check_config	HTTP GET /, 30s initial delay	Liveness probe.
uptime_check_config	{ enabled=false, path="/" }	Optional Cloud Monitoring uptime check.
alert_policies	[]	Metric alert policies.

Group 21 — Redis Queue

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	true	Use Redis for queue-mode workflow execution.
redis_host	""	Redis endpoint. Leave empty to use the NFS host IP.
redis_port	6379	Redis port.
redis_auth	""	Optional Redis auth password (sensitive).

Group 22 — VPC Service Controls & Audit Logging

Variable	Default	Description
enable_vpc_sc	false	Enforce a VPC-SC perimeter (requires organization_id).
vpc_cidr_ranges / vpc_sc_dry_run	(set)	Access level CIDRs / dry-run mode.
enable_audit_logging	false	Detailed Cloud Audit Logs.

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5. Outputs

Returned on a successful deployment — the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Cloud Run service name.
service_url	Default run.app URL of the service.
service_location	Region the service runs in.
stage_services	Stage-specific service URLs (Cloud Deploy).
load_balancer_ip / load_balancer_url	External HTTPS load balancer IP / URL (when enabled).
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name / database_user	Application database name / user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets.
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels / uptime_check_names	Monitoring status, channels, uptime checks.
initialization_jobs	Names of the setup jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

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6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY	(auto-generated, never rotate)	Critical	Rotating or deleting this key destroys all saved workflow credentials permanently.
db_name / db_user	set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/user and destroys all workflow data.
enable_nfs	true	Critical	Without shared storage, binary files are not shared across instances and filesystem binary mode fails.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_uri fails the import job.
enable_redis	true	High	Without Redis queue mode, running more than one instance causes workflow execution conflicts.
redis_host	"" (NFS) or explicit	High	No valid endpoint if Redis is on but NFS is off and no host is set.
min_instance_count	1 (default) for webhook workloads	High	Setting 0 causes cold-start timeouts on webhook calls from services with short timeouts.
execution_environment	gen2 (default)	High	NFS mounts require Gen2; Gen1 instances cannot mount NFS volumes.
memory_limit	4Gi	High	Too little memory causes OOM during large workflow execution batches.
enable_iap / enable_cloud_armor	enable for production	Medium	The n8n editor is otherwise publicly reachable and exposes all saved credentials.
backup_retention_days	7 (raise for prod)	Medium	Too short for compliance retention.

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For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — service identity, scaling and concurrency, ingress and load balancing, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_CloudRun. n8n-specific application configuration shared with the GKE variant is described in N8N_Common.