n8n

Cognee gives your n8n workflows a memory. Store notes, documents, and messages, let Cognee organize them, and then ask questions about them in plain English — all from n8n’s visual editor, without writing any code. A few things people build with it:

A support bot that answers questions from your help docs
A research assistant that remembers everything you feed it from RSS feeds or web pages
A sales helper that recalls what you know about a customer before a call

Install the Cognee node

The Cognee node is a free n8n community node:

Log in to your self-hosted n8n
Go to Settings → Community Nodes
Click Install, search for n8n-nodes-cognee, and confirm

Don’t have n8n yet? Follow n8n’s Docker setup guide, then open n8n at localhost:5678.

Connect your Cognee account

Sign in to Cognee Cloud and copy your Base URL and API key from the API Keys page
In n8n, add the Cognee node to a workflow (click + and search for “cognee”)
When asked for credentials, create a new Cognee API credential and paste in your Base URL and API key

Enter the Base URL exactly as shown in your dashboard (for example https://tenant-xxx.aws.cognee.ai) — don’t add anything after it.

Your first memory workflow

A memory workflow has three steps: store something, let Cognee organize it, then ask a question about it. Each step is one Cognee node.

1. Add Data — store something

Resource: Add Data
Dataset Name: my-dataset (a dataset is like a folder for related content)
Text Data: any text you want Cognee to remember

2. Cognify — organize it into memory

Resource: Cognify
Datasets: my-dataset

This is where Cognee reads what you stored and connects the facts inside it, so it can answer questions later.

3. Search — ask a question

Resource: Search
Search Type: GraphCompletion
Datasets: my-dataset
Query: a plain-English question, like “Tell me about NLP”

Run the workflow, and the Search node returns an answer based on what you stored.

Everything you add from n8n also appears in your Cognee Cloud workspace, and n8n can search data you’ve already added there.

Start from a template

Prefer not to build it by hand? Copy the template below, click an empty spot on your n8n canvas, and paste (Cmd+V / Ctrl+V). The three connected nodes appear, ready to run — you don’t need to read or edit the JSON, just copy and paste it.

Copy the template (use the copy button in the corner of the block)
Paste it onto your n8n canvas
Open each Cognee node once and select your Cognee API credential
Click Execute workflow, then check the Search node’s output for the answer

Copy-paste workflow template

{
  "name": "Cognee memory quickstart",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Start",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.manualTrigger",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [0, 0],
      "parameters": {}
    },
    {
      "name": "Add Data",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-cognee.cognee",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [220, 0],
      "parameters": {
        "resource": "addData",
        "operation": "add",
        "datasetName": "my-dataset",
        "textData": [
          "FAQ: You can reset your password from the account settings page.",
          "Guide: To export your data, open the dashboard and choose Export as CSV."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Cognify",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-cognee.cognee",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [440, 0],
      "parameters": {
        "resource": "cognify",
        "operation": "cognify",
        "datasets": ["my-dataset"]
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Search",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-cognee.cognee",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [660, 0],
      "parameters": {
        "resource": "search",
        "operation": "search",
        "searchType": "GRAPH_COMPLETION",
        "datasets": ["my-dataset"],
        "query": "How do I export my data?",
        "topK": 10
      }
    }
  ],
  "connections": {
    "Start": {
      "main": [[{ "node": "Add Data", "type": "main", "index": 0 }]]
    },
    "Add Data": {
      "main": [[{ "node": "Cognify", "type": "main", "index": 0 }]]
    },
    "Cognify": {
      "main": [[{ "node": "Search", "type": "main", "index": 0 }]]
    }
  }
}

The template stores two short support answers, organizes them into memory, and asks “How do I export my data?” — swap in your own text and questions once it runs.

What each operation does

Operation	What it does
Add Data	Stores text in a dataset
Cognify	Organizes stored data into searchable memory
Search	Answers questions about your data in plain English
Delete	Removes a dataset or a single item
Skill	Advanced: manages self-improving agent skills (requires a self-hosted Cognee server)

Picking a search type

Search type	When to use it
GraphCompletion	The best all-round choice — start here
ChainOfThought	Complicated questions that need step-by-step reasoning (slower, more thorough)
RagCompletion	Quick lookups of simple facts

Learn more about how search works in the search basics guide.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
”Unauthorized” error	Your API key is copied correctly and still active
Can’t connect	The Base URL matches your dashboard exactly, and your n8n instance has internet access
Search returns nothing	You ran Cognify after adding data

GitHub Repository

View source code and contribute

n8n Documentation

Learn more about n8n community nodes

Overview

Cloud LLM Providers

Observability

Evaluation

Data Ingestion

Agent Frameworks

Coding Agents

No-Code & Low-Code

Team Chat

Install the Cognee node

Connect your Cognee account

Your first memory workflow

1. Add Data — store something

2. Cognify — organize it into memory

3. Search — ask a question

Start from a template

What each operation does

Picking a search type

Troubleshooting

GitHub Repository

n8n Documentation

​Install the Cognee node

​Connect your Cognee account

​Your first memory workflow

​1. Add Data — store something

​2. Cognify — organize it into memory

​3. Search — ask a question

​Start from a template

​What each operation does

​Picking a search type

​Troubleshooting

GitHub Repository

n8n Documentation

Install the Cognee node

Connect your Cognee account

Your first memory workflow

1. Add Data — store something

2. Cognify — organize it into memory

3. Search — ask a question

Start from a template

What each operation does

Picking a search type

Troubleshooting