Best Folder Structure and Naming Convention for n8n Projects

Organizing your n8n project well from the start will help you scale, onboard new developers faster, and maintain clarity over time. This guide outlines a clean folder structure and naming convention for self-hosted or collaborative n8n projects.

📁 Recommended Folder Structure

Here’s a basic directory layout for your n8n project (especially useful when exporting workflows and managing multiple automations):

n8n-projects/
├── README.md
├── workflows/
│   ├── crm/
│   │   ├── add-leads.json
│   │   └── follow-up-emails.json
│   ├── marketing/
│   │   ├── daily-newsletter.json
│   │   └── twitter-scheduler.json
│   └── internal-tools/
│       └── employee-onboarding.json
├── credentials/
│   └── README.md
├── shared-snippets/
│   ├── error-handler.json
│   └── log-to-database.json
└── .env.example

📛 Naming Conventions

🔹 Workflows

Use the format: action-target.json

Examples:

send-welcome-email.json
scrape-news-api.json
create-github-issue.json

For subfolders, group by domain or department:

crm/, marketing/, support/, etc.

🔹 Nodes

Use descriptive names inside the workflow for each node. Avoid generic ones like “Set1” or “HTTP Request 2”.

Examples:

✅ Get User Info from Stripe
✅ Format Response for Slack
❌ HTTP Request 3

✅ Best Practices

Keep one major workflow per file
Use consistent casing (kebab-case recommended)
Export often and store in Git for version control
Write a comment in workflows explaining the goal of the automation

🧪 Bonus: Git-Friendly Naming

Use lowercase and hyphens (-) to avoid issues with case-sensitive file systems
Avoid spaces and special characters
Include date suffix if necessary for versioning (e.g. sync-hubspot-contacts-2025-07.json)

📄 README Template (Optional)

You can include a README.md in each folder to describe the workflows it contains.

Example:

# CRM Workflows

This folder contains workflows used in the CRM process:

- `add-leads.json`: Captures leads from web form
- `follow-up-emails.json`: Sends automated emails based on lead score

🧠 Summary

A well-organized folder and naming structure saves time, reduces bugs, and improves collaboration. By following this guide, you make your n8n project easier to maintain, extend, and share.

🛠 Need Help Cleaning Up Your n8n Workspace?

If your workspace is disorganized or hard to scale, I offer:

Folder restructuring
Naming convention implementation
Workflow documentation

👉 Contact me here to streamline your automation stack.