Actions17
Overview
This node interacts with KoboToolbox, a platform for managing data collection forms and their submissions. Specifically, the Form - Get Many operation retrieves multiple form assets from KoboToolbox based on user-defined filters, sorting, and pagination options.
Typical use cases include:
- Fetching a list of all available forms or a subset matching certain criteria.
- Integrating KoboToolbox forms into workflows that require bulk processing or analysis.
- Automating reporting or synchronization tasks by retrieving updated form metadata regularly.
For example, you might use this node to get all survey-type forms owned by a specific user, sorted by the date they were last modified, to then trigger further processing or export.
Properties
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Return All | Whether to return all matching forms or limit the number of results. If set to true, all forms matching the query will be returned; if false, only up to the specified limit are returned. |
| Limit | The maximum number of form results to return when "Return All" is false. Defaults to 50. |
| Options | Additional options to customize the retrieval: - Sort: Defines how to order the results. You can specify: - Order By: one of Asset Type, Date Modified, Name, Owner Username, Subscribers Count. - Descending: whether to sort in descending order (default true). |
| Filters | A text search query string to filter forms based on their metadata. For example, "owner__username:meg AND name__icontains:quixotic" filters forms owned by "meg" whose names contain "quixotic". See KoboToolbox search docs for syntax details. |
Output
The output is an array of JSON objects representing the retrieved forms. Each object corresponds to a form asset with its metadata as provided by the KoboToolbox API under /api/v2/assets/.
The structure typically includes fields such as:
- Unique identifier of the form
- Name and description
- Asset type (e.g., survey)
- Owner information
- Date created and modified
- Number of subscribers
No binary data is output by this operation.
Dependencies
- Requires an active connection to the KoboToolbox API via an API key credential configured in n8n.
- The node uses the internal helper function to make authenticated HTTP requests to KoboToolbox endpoints.
- Network access to the KoboToolbox API server is necessary.
Troubleshooting
- Empty results: Check your filter query syntax and ensure that forms matching the criteria exist. Refer to the linked search documentation for correct query formatting.
- API errors (e.g., 401 Unauthorized): Verify that the API key credential is correctly configured and has sufficient permissions.
- Limit ignored or too few results: Ensure "Return All" is set appropriately. If false, the limit caps the number of returned forms.
- Sorting not applied: Confirm that the "Options > Sort" parameters are set correctly; invalid values may be ignored by the API.