Overview

The MCP Node Discovery node lists all available nodes, including community nodes, in the n8n instance via the MCP (MCP likely stands for a node management or discovery protocol/service). It is useful for workflows that need to dynamically discover or list node types available in the current n8n environment. For example, it can be used to build dynamic UIs or automate workflows that adapt based on available nodes.

Use Case Examples

1. A workflow that queries the MCP Node Discovery node to get a list of all nodes and then uses that list to present options to a user.
2. A monitoring workflow that logs or audits the available nodes in an n8n instance for compliance or documentation purposes.

Output

JSON

• json - Contains the list of known node types or an error message if retrieval fails

Dependencies

• Requires access to the n8n workflow's nodeTypes service to retrieve known node types.

Troubleshooting

• If the nodeTypes service or its getKnownTypes method is not available on the workflow object, the node will return an error message indicating this issue.
• If an error occurs while accessing the node types, the node logs the error and either continues with an error output (if continueOnFail is enabled) or throws a NodeOperationError.
• Common error messages include 'Could not retrieve node types.' and 'nodeTypes service or getKnownTypes method not found on workflow object.' which indicate issues with accessing the node type registry in the n8n instance.