{"product_id":"workflow-watchdog","title":"Workflow Watchdog","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAutomations don't always break loudly. Sometimes they just stop.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorkflow Watchdog keeps an eye on your other workflows:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWhen one fails,\u003c\/strong\u003e you get one email: which workflow, which step failed, the error, and a button that opens the failed run.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWhen one goes quiet,\u003c\/strong\u003e 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.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEvery Monday,\u003c\/strong\u003e a summary: runs and failures per workflow, anything failing or overdue, and any published workflow that isn't connected yet.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImport it, connect the workflows you rely on, and the next failure lands in your inbox instead of an executions list nobody opens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFeatures\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFailure alerts for every workflow you connect (one setting per workflow)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEach alert names the workflow, the failed step and the error, with a link to the run\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"Gone quiet\" checks every 15 minutes, with your own time window for each workflow\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne email per problem and one when it's resolved, built not to repeat while a workflow keeps failing\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBuilt to hold failure emails to an hourly limit; any extra failures arrive together in one email\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTells you if it can't reach the n8n API, and keeps sending failure alerts meanwhile\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWeekly summary of runs, failures and anything overdue\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOptional heartbeat URL, so an outside monitoring service can tell you if n8n itself goes down\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEmail by default; swap in Slack, Discord, Teams or SMS with n8n's own nodes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat's included\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e3 workflow JSON files (Watchdog, plus two small sub-workflows it calls)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eREADME with step-by-step setup, configuration and test steps\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDocker self-hosting guide\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLicense for one business\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFAQ\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDoesn't n8n already do this?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003en8n 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eWill it flood me during an outage?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt'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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eWhat does \"gone quiet\" catch?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eA 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eHow quickly will I know?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eA 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eWhat if n8n itself goes down?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eWatchdog 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eDo I have to connect every workflow?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eWhat does it do with my API key?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eWatchdog 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eCan it alert somewhere other than email?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes. Replace the email node with n8n's Slack, Discord, Teams or SMS node.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eIs it in the n8n Workflow Bundle?\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes. The bundle has five workflows, Watchdog included, for $149, and Watchdog can watch the other four like any workflow you connect.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Halter Home Labs","offers":[{"title":"One business","offer_id":53552831529272,"sku":"workflow-watchdog-standard","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1020\/3578\/3992\/files\/workflow-watchdog_eaff04e7-3220-4819-8291-0f4dcf43cc64.png?v=1792784407","url":"https:\/\/shop.halterhomelabs.com\/products\/workflow-watchdog","provider":"Halter Home Labs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}