n8n-nodes-s3-execution-backup

n8n community node for automated daily backups of execution data to AWS S3.

Features

• ✅ Smart Deduplication - Two-layer strategy (HeadObject + state file)
• ✅ Long-Running Workflows - Daily re-snapshots for waiting executions
• ✅ Relationship Tracking - Parent-child executions and retry chains
• ✅ Scalable - Designed for 100,000+ executions/day
• ✅ Debug-Optimized - JSON with error summaries at the top
• ✅ Production-Ready - Rate limiting, error logging, encryption

Installation

npm install n8n-nodes-s3-execution-backup

Quick Start

1. Add credentials:

   • n8n API Key (from your n8n instance settings)
   • AWS S3 credentials (Access Key ID, Secret Access Key)

2. Create workflow:

   Schedule Trigger (cron: 0 1 * * *)
     └─> S3 Execution Backup
           - dateMode: yesterday
           - s3Bucket: my-n8n-backups
           - includeFullData: true
   

3. Run manually first to verify setup

Configuration

Required Parameters

Parameter	Description
n8n API	Credential with API key
n8n Base URL	Your n8n instance URL (e.g., https://n8n.example.com)
AWS S3	Credential with AWS keys
S3 Bucket	Target S3 bucket name

Optional Parameters

Parameter	Default	Description
Date Mode	yesterday	Which executions to back up
Timezone	UTC	Timezone for date boundaries
S3 Prefix	n8n-backups	S3 key prefix
S3 Partitioning	hour	Folder organization
Include Full Data	true	Include node input/output
Compress Output	false	Gzip compression
Manifest Format	jsonl	Streaming JSONL format

See PLAN-FINAL.md for complete parameter reference.

S3 Structure

s3://your-bucket/n8n-backups/
  2026-03-01/
    executions/
      10/  ← Hour-based partitions
        execution_12345_success.json
        execution_12346_error.json
        execution_12347_waiting_snapshot.json
    workflows/
      workflow_abc123.json
    manifest.jsonl
    manifest-summary.json
    .state/
      backup-state.json

Performance & Cost

At 100,000 executions/day:

• Backup time: ~2.5 hours
• Storage: ~$69/month (with lifecycle: ~$55/month)
• API costs: ~$16/month
• Total: ~$85/month

Smaller deployments (1,000/day): ~$5-10/month

Known Limitations

Parent-Child Execution Relationships

Current Implementation (v1.0):

• Each execution is backed up as a separate file
• Parent execution IDs are recorded in child execution metadata
• Child execution IDs are listed in parent execution metadata
• Execution tree depth is calculated and stored

Not Yet Implemented:

• Full recursive tree resolution across multiple backup dates
• Automatic cross-linking of parent-child files when they span different backup runs
• Deep execution tree visualization beyond shallow metadata

Workaround:

• Parent and child execution IDs are stored in the metadata
• You can manually reconstruct relationships by matching IDs across backup files
• For workflows with complex sub-workflow chains, consider running backups more frequently to keep related executions in the same backup run

Planned for v2.0:

• Full recursive tree resolution
• Cross-date parent-child linking
• Execution graph export format

Retry Chain Tracking

Retry chains are fully tracked via retryOf, retriedBy, and retryChainRoot fields. This limitation only affects parent-child sub-workflow relationships.

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Documentation

• PLAN-FINAL.md - Complete technical specification
• SUMMARY.md - Executive summary
• CHANGELOG.md - Version history

Supported n8n Versions

• n8n >= 1.0.0
• Node.js >= 18.0.0

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Lint
npm run lint

# Format
npm run format

License

MIT

Support

• Report issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md first.

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