Workflow Watchdog
Workflow Watchdog
One license, one business. Install it on your own n8n and use it across your own operations. Includes free updates for 12 months from purchase.
Setting it up for a client? You can, as long as that client's business has its own license. Each business that runs it needs one purchase.
Not allowed: reselling or redistributing the workflow files themselves, or publishing them as your own template. Full terms are in the license in the download.
Requirements
- Self-hosted n8n 2.x (tested on 2.42.6)
- An n8n API key (Settings → n8n API; the API is on by default)
- An SMTP mail account (or another n8n alert node)
What setup looks like
Condensed from the README that comes with the download.
1. Import the three workflow files (Watchdog, State and API) and, if you used the UI import, re-link the sub-workflow nodes to the imported copies.
2. Create an n8n API key and save it as a Header Auth credential on the three request nodes in Workflow Watchdog – API.
3. Add an SMTP credential to the alert email, or swap that node for Slack, Discord, Teams, or SMS.
4. Open the Config node and list the workflows that must keep running, with how many hours each may go without a successful run, plus your alert and from addresses.
5. In each workflow you want failure alerts for, set its error workflow to Workflow Watchdog, then publish all three Watchdog workflows and run the failure test in the README.
Want this adapted to your systems? Custom Automation from $3,000.
Automations don't always break loudly. Sometimes they just stop.
You built a workflow, it ran for months, and you stopped thinking about it. That's the point of automation. It's also how a nightly backup can stop for weeks before anyone notices, or how an invoice sync can fail on every run in the background while everyone assumes it's fine. Out of the box, n8n records a failed run and tells no one: unless someone opens the executions list, the failure just sits there.
Workflow Watchdog keeps an eye on your other workflows:
- When one fails, you get one email: which workflow, which step failed, the error, and a button that opens the failed run.
- When one goes quiet, you hear about that too. List the workflows that must keep running and how long each may go without a successful run. If one misses its window, Watchdog tells you, even though nothing errored.
- Every Monday, a summary: runs and failures per workflow, anything failing or overdue, and any published workflow that isn't connected yet.
You get one email when something goes wrong and one when it's fixed. It's built not to repeat itself while a workflow keeps failing, so the alerts stay worth reading.
Import it, connect the workflows you rely on, and the next failure lands in your inbox instead of an executions list nobody opens.
Features
- Failure alerts for every workflow you connect (one setting per workflow)
- Each alert names the workflow, the failed step and the error, with a link to the run
- "Gone quiet" checks every 15 minutes, with your own time window for each workflow
- One email per problem and one when it's resolved, built not to repeat while a workflow keeps failing
- Built to hold failure emails to an hourly limit; any extra failures arrive together in one email
- Tells you if it can't reach the n8n API, and keeps sending failure alerts meanwhile
- Weekly summary of runs, failures and anything overdue
- Optional heartbeat URL, so an outside monitoring service can tell you if n8n itself goes down
- Email by default; swap in Slack, Discord, Teams or SMS with n8n's own nodes
What's included
- 3 workflow JSON files (Watchdog, plus two small sub-workflows it calls)
- README with step-by-step setup, configuration and test steps
- Docker self-hosting guide
- License for one business
Questions
Doesn't n8n already do this?
n8n lets each workflow name an "error workflow", but you have to build what that workflow does. And n8n has no built-in alert for a workflow that simply stops running (checked on n8n 2.42.6). Watchdog is that error workflow, plus the "gone quiet" check and the weekly summary, ready to import.
Will it flood me during an outage?
It's built not to: one email per problem and one when it's fixed, and alerts past your hourly limit arrive together in one email. Failures that land at exactly the same moment, such as a webhook hit by several calls at once, can each send an alert, so a sudden burst can still bring a few.
What does "gone quiet" catch?
A workflow that hasn't finished a successful run in the time you allow: a schedule that stopped, a form or webhook nobody is sending to any more, a workflow someone unpublished. It checks every 15 minutes.
How quickly will I know?
A failure alert goes out when the failed run ends. If you've reached your hourly limit, it waits for the next 15-minute check. A workflow that has gone quiet is reported at the first 15-minute check after its window passes.
What if n8n itself goes down?
Watchdog runs inside n8n, so it can't email you then. Give it a heartbeat URL from an outside monitoring service: Watchdog calls it after every check, and that service alerts you if the calls stop.
Do I have to connect every workflow?
For failure alerts, yes: one setting in each workflow, and the weekly summary lists any you've missed. For "gone quiet", list only the workflows that matter.
What does it do with my API key?
Watchdog uses it only to read your workflows and their run history. It never changes, runs or deletes anything through the API. The key is kept in n8n's own encrypted credential store, not in the workflow file. On n8n plans without API key scopes (anything but Enterprise), a key has full access to your n8n account, so treat it like a password.
Can it alert somewhere other than email?
Yes. Replace the email node with n8n's Slack, Discord, Teams or SMS node.
Is it in the n8n Workflow Bundle?
Yes. The bundle has five workflows, Watchdog included, for $149, and Watchdog can watch the other four like any workflow you connect.
Can I set this up for a client?
Yes, as long as that client's business has its own license. One license covers one business, for unlimited use in its own operations, so each business that runs it needs one purchase.
Do you run these yourselves?
They're based on patterns from automations we've built for real projects, rebuilt from scratch as general-purpose templates and tested end to end before release.
What updates do I get?
Free updates for 12 months from purchase: bug fixes and compatibility with newer n8n 2.x releases.