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DevOpsDec 2025

Production n8n: Queue Workers, Metrics & Monitoring

At Woltex, we run n8n to automate our business operations. But running n8n in production isn't just spinning up a container. You need queue workers for reliability, metrics for visibility, and monitoring to catch issues before they become problems. Here's our complete production stack.

Why We Built This

n8n is powerful for workflow automation, but out-of-the-box it's missing production essentials. When a workflow fails at 3 AM, you need to know. When queue depth hits 500, you need visibility. When your automation infrastructure is business-critical, you need monitoring.

Reliable Execution

Queue workers handle workloads without blocking the main instance

Full Observability

Prometheus metrics expose every aspect of your n8n instance

Ready Dashboard

Pre-built Grafana dashboard with alerts and visualization

The Stack

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Production Stack                │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                   │
│  ┌──────────┐     ┌────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │   n8n    │────>│  PostgreSQL Database       │  │
│  │  Main    │     │  (workflows + executions)  │  │
│  └──────────┘     └────────────────────────────┘  │
│       │                                           │
│       │                                           │
│       v                                           │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│  │         Redis Queue                      │     │
│  │  (job distribution & coordination)       │     │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────┘     │
│       │                    │                      │
│       v                    v                      │
│  ┌──────────┐         ┌──────────┐                │
│  │  Worker  │         │  Worker  │                │
│  │   #1     │         │   #2     │                │
│  └──────────┘         └──────────┘                │
│       │                    │                      │
│       └────────┬───────────┘                      │
│                v                                  │
│        ┌───────────────┐                          │
│        │  Prometheus   │                          │
│        │   (metrics)   │                          │
│        └───────────────┘                          │
│                │                                  │
│                v                                  │
│        ┌───────────────┐                          │
│        │    Grafana    │                          │
│        │ (dashboards)  │                          │
│        └───────────────┘                          │
│                                                   │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  • n8n main instance: handles UI, webhooks, and schedules workflows
  • Queue workers: execute workflows independently, scale horizontally
  • Redis: job queue and coordination between main + workers
  • Prometheus: scrapes metrics from n8n, stores time-series data
  • Grafana: visualizes everything with pre-built dashboards

Step 1: Core Infrastructure

The foundation is a Docker Compose setup that orchestrates n8n with queue workers, Redis, PostgreSQL, and the monitoring stack.

version: '3.8'

services:
  prometheus:
    image: prom/prometheus:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./prometheus.yml:/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml
      - prometheus_data:/prometheus
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:9090:9090"  # Only localhost
    networks:
      - n8n-network

  grafana:
    image: grafana/grafana:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_PASSWORD: ${GRAFANA_PASSWORD}
      GF_PATHS_PROVISIONING: /etc/grafana/provisioning
    volumes:
      - grafana_data:/var/lib/grafana
      - ./grafana/provisioning/datasources:/etc/grafana/provisioning/datasources:ro
      - ./grafana/provisioning/dashboards:/etc/grafana/provisioning/dashboards:ro
      - ./grafana/dashboards:/var/lib/grafana/dashboards:ro
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      - prometheus
    networks:
      - n8n-network

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: n8n
      POSTGRES_USER: n8n
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD-SHELL', 'pg_isready -U n8n']
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '1'
          memory: 1G
        reservations:
          cpus: '0.5'
          memory: 512M
    networks:
      - n8n-network

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: redis-server --appendonly yes --maxmemory 512mb --maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD', 'redis-cli', 'ping']
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '0.5'
          memory: 512M
    networks:
      - n8n-network

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      # Database Configuration
      DB_TYPE: postgresdb
      DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST: postgres
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT: 5432
      DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_USER: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}

      # n8n Host Configuration
      N8N_HOST: ${N8N_HOST}
      N8N_PROTOCOL: https
      N8N_PORT: 5678
      WEBHOOK_URL: https://${N8N_HOST}/

      # Security
      N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ${N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY}
      N8N_USER_MANAGEMENT_JWT_SECRET: ${JWT_SECRET}

      # Queue Mode Configuration (CRITICAL)
      EXECUTIONS_MODE: queue
      QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST: redis
      QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PORT: 6379
      QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_DB: 0

      # Worker Health Check
      QUEUE_HEALTH_CHECK_ACTIVE: "true"

      # Runners (for AI Agent workflows)
      N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN: ${N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN}

      # Execution Data Management
      EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR: all
      EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS: all
      EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_PROGRESS: "true"
      EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS: "true"
      EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE: "true"
      EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE: 336  # 14 days in hours

      # Offload manual executions to workers (recommended)
      OFFLOAD_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS_TO_WORKERS: ${OFFLOAD_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS_TO_WORKERS}

      # Binary Data Storage (IMPORTANT for queue mode)
      N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE: filesystem

      # Concurrency for Main Process (handles webhooks, UI, schedules)
      N8N_CONCURRENCY_PRODUCTION_LIMIT: 3

      # Payload Configuration
      N8N_PAYLOAD_SIZE_MAX: 16

      # Metrics & Monitoring
      N8N_METRICS: "true"
      N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_WORKFLOW_ID_LABEL: "true"
      N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_NODE_TYPE_LABEL: "true"
      N8N_METRICS_INCLUDE_CREDENTIAL_TYPE_LABEL: "true"

      # Proxy Settings (if using Cloudflare Tunnel or reverse proxy)
      N8N_TRUST_PROXY: ${N8N_TRUST_PROXY}
      N8N_SECURE_COOKIE: ${N8N_SECURE_COOKIE}

      # Logging
      N8N_LOG_LEVEL: info
      N8N_LOG_OUTPUT: console,file
      N8N_LOG_FILE_LOCATION: /home/node/.n8n/logs/
      N8N_LOG_FILE_MAX_COUNT: 7

      # Timezone
      GENERIC_TIMEZONE: Europe/London
      TZ: Europe/London

    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
      - n8n_files:/files
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_healthy
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost:5678/healthz || exit 1"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '2'
          memory: 2G
        reservations:
          cpus: '1'
          memory: 1G
    networks:
      - n8n-network

  # Worker 1 - Handles workflow executions from queue
  n8n-worker:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: worker
    environment:
      # Database Configuration
      DB_TYPE: postgresdb
      DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST: postgres
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT: 5432
      DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_USER: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}

      # Queue Mode Configuration
      EXECUTIONS_MODE: queue
      QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST: redis
      QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PORT: 6379
      QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_DB: 0

      # Worker Health Check
      QUEUE_HEALTH_CHECK_ACTIVE: "true"

      # Security
      N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ${N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY}

      # Runners (for AI Agent workflows)
      N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN: ${N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN}

      # Worker Concurrency (adjust based on your workload)
      N8N_CONCURRENCY_PRODUCTION_LIMIT: 10

      # Binary Data Storage
      N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE: filesystem

      # Logging
      N8N_LOG_LEVEL: info
      N8N_LOG_OUTPUT: console

      # Timezone
      GENERIC_TIMEZONE: Europe/London
      TZ: Europe/London

    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
      - n8n_files:/files
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_healthy
      n8n:
        condition: service_healthy
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost:5678/healthz || exit 1"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s
    deploy:
      replicas: 2  # Start with 2 workers
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '2'
          memory: 2G
        reservations:
          cpus: '1'
          memory: 1G
    networks:
      - n8n-network

volumes:
  postgres_data:
    driver: local
  redis_data:
    driver: local
  n8n_data:
    driver: local
  n8n_files:
    driver: local
  prometheus_data:
    driver: local
  grafana_data:
    driver: local

networks:
  n8n-network:
    driver: bridge

Key points:

  • Workers run the same n8n image, but with EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
  • Redis handles job distribution - QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST
  • Prometheus and Grafana are pre-configured with volumes for persistence
  • Environment variables configure queue mode and metrics endpoints

Step 2: Prometheus Scraping Configuration

Prometheus needs to know where to scrape metrics. n8n exposes metrics at /metrics when configured properly.

global:
  scrape_interval: 15s

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'n8n'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['n8n:5678']
    metrics_path: '/metrics'

What gets collected:

  • Workflow execution counts and duration
  • Queue depth and processing rate
  • Node.js memory and CPU metrics
  • HTTP request latency and throughput
  • Database connection pool stats

Step 3: Grafana Auto-Provisioning

Grafana provisioning means dashboards and data sources are automatically loaded when Grafana starts. No manual clicking through the UI.

Dashboard Configuration

Save as: grafana/provisioning/dashboards/dashboards.yml

apiVersion: 1

providers:
  - name: 'default'
    orgId: 1
    folder: ''
    type: file
    disableDeletion: false
    editable: true
    options:
      path: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards

Data Source Configuration

Save as: grafana/provisioning/datasources/prometheus.yml

apiVersion: 1

datasources:
  - name: Prometheus
    type: prometheus
    access: proxy
    url: http://prometheus:9090
    isDefault: true
    editable: false

Pre-Built Dashboard

Complete production-ready dashboard with real-time monitoring of n8n performance, memory usage, event loop lag, garbage collection, and more.

Save as: grafana/dashboards/n8n.json

{
  "title": "n8n Production Monitoring",
  "uid": "n8n-prod",
  "timezone": "browser",
  "schemaVersion": 38,
  "version": 2,
  "refresh": "10s",
  "time": {
    "from": "now-6h",
    "to": "now"
  },
  "tags": ["n8n", "production"],
  "panels": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "Active Workflows",
      "gridPos": {"h": 6, "w": 4, "x": 0, "y": 0},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_active_workflow_count",
          "refId": "A"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "thresholds"},
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null},
              {"color": "yellow", "value": 5},
              {"color": "red", "value": 10}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "short"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "colorMode": "value",
        "graphMode": "area",
        "justifyMode": "auto",
        "orientation": "auto",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "",
          "values": false
        },
        "textMode": "auto"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "Leader Status",
      "gridPos": {"h": 6, "w": 4, "x": 4, "y": 0},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_instance_role_leader",
          "refId": "A",
          "instant": true
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "thresholds"},
          "mappings": [
            {
              "type": "value",
              "options": {
                "0": {"text": "Follower", "color": "yellow"},
                "1": {"text": "Leader", "color": "green"}
              }
            }
          ],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "gray", "value": null}
            ]
          }
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "colorMode": "background",
        "graphMode": "none",
        "justifyMode": "center",
        "orientation": "auto",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "",
          "values": false
        },
        "textMode": "value_and_name"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "n8n Version",
      "gridPos": {"h": 6, "w": 4, "x": 8, "y": 0},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_version_info",
          "refId": "A",
          "instant": true,
          "format": "table"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "fixed", "fixedColor": "blue"},
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "blue", "value": null}
            ]
          }
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "colorMode": "background",
        "graphMode": "none",
        "justifyMode": "center",
        "orientation": "auto",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "/^version$/",
          "values": true
        },
        "textMode": "value"
      },
      "transformations": [
        {
          "id": "organize",
          "options": {
            "excludeByName": {
              "Time": true,
              "Value": true,
              "major": true,
              "minor": true,
              "patch": true
            },
            "indexByName": {},
            "renameByName": {}
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": 4,
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "Memory Usage",
      "gridPos": {"h": 6, "w": 4, "x": 12, "y": 0},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_process_resident_memory_bytes / 1024 / 1024",
          "refId": "A"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "thresholds"},
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null},
              {"color": "yellow", "value": 1024},
              {"color": "red", "value": 1536}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "decmbytes"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "colorMode": "value",
        "graphMode": "area",
        "justifyMode": "auto",
        "orientation": "auto",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "",
          "values": false
        },
        "textMode": "auto"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "CPU Usage",
      "gridPos": {"h": 6, "w": 4, "x": 16, "y": 0},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "rate(n8n_process_cpu_seconds_total[1m]) * 100",
          "refId": "A"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "thresholds"},
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null},
              {"color": "yellow", "value": 60},
              {"color": "red", "value": 80}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "percent"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "colorMode": "value",
        "graphMode": "area",
        "justifyMode": "auto",
        "orientation": "auto",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "",
          "values": false
        },
        "textMode": "auto"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 6,
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "Open File Descriptors",
      "gridPos": {"h": 6, "w": 4, "x": 20, "y": 0},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_process_open_fds",
          "refId": "A"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "thresholds"},
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null},
              {"color": "yellow", "value": 200},
              {"color": "red", "value": 400}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "short",
          "max": 524288
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "colorMode": "value",
        "graphMode": "area",
        "justifyMode": "auto",
        "orientation": "auto",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "",
          "values": false
        },
        "textMode": "auto"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 7,
      "type": "timeseries",
      "title": "Event Loop Lag",
      "gridPos": {"h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 0, "y": 6},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_eventloop_lag_seconds * 1000",
          "refId": "A",
          "legendFormat": "Current Lag"
        },
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_eventloop_lag_p99_seconds * 1000",
          "refId": "B",
          "legendFormat": "P99"
        },
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_eventloop_lag_p90_seconds * 1000",
          "refId": "C",
          "legendFormat": "P90"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "palette-classic"},
          "custom": {
            "axisCenteredZero": false,
            "axisColorMode": "text",
            "axisLabel": "",
            "axisPlacement": "auto",
            "barAlignment": 0,
            "drawStyle": "line",
            "fillOpacity": 10,
            "gradientMode": "none",
            "hideFrom": {
              "tooltip": false,
              "viz": false,
              "legend": false
            },
            "lineInterpolation": "linear",
            "lineWidth": 1,
            "pointSize": 5,
            "scaleDistribution": {
              "type": "linear"
            },
            "showPoints": "never",
            "spanNulls": false,
            "stacking": {
              "group": "A",
              "mode": "none"
            },
            "thresholdsStyle": {
              "mode": "off"
            }
          },
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null},
              {"color": "yellow", "value": 50},
              {"color": "red", "value": 100}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "ms"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "legend": {
          "calcs": ["last", "max"],
          "displayMode": "table",
          "placement": "bottom",
          "showLegend": true
        },
        "tooltip": {
          "mode": "multi",
          "sort": "none"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 8,
      "type": "timeseries",
      "title": "Memory Usage Over Time",
      "gridPos": {"h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 12, "y": 6},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_process_resident_memory_bytes / 1024 / 1024",
          "refId": "A",
          "legendFormat": "Resident Memory"
        },
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_heap_size_used_bytes / 1024 / 1024",
          "refId": "B",
          "legendFormat": "Heap Used"
        },
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_heap_size_total_bytes / 1024 / 1024",
          "refId": "C",
          "legendFormat": "Heap Total"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "palette-classic"},
          "custom": {
            "axisCenteredZero": false,
            "axisColorMode": "text",
            "axisLabel": "",
            "axisPlacement": "auto",
            "barAlignment": 0,
            "drawStyle": "line",
            "fillOpacity": 10,
            "gradientMode": "none",
            "hideFrom": {
              "tooltip": false,
              "viz": false,
              "legend": false
            },
            "lineInterpolation": "linear",
            "lineWidth": 1,
            "pointSize": 5,
            "scaleDistribution": {
              "type": "linear"
            },
            "showPoints": "never",
            "spanNulls": false,
            "stacking": {
              "group": "A",
              "mode": "none"
            },
            "thresholdsStyle": {
              "mode": "off"
            }
          },
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "decmbytes"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "legend": {
          "calcs": ["last", "max"],
          "displayMode": "table",
          "placement": "bottom",
          "showLegend": true
        },
        "tooltip": {
          "mode": "multi",
          "sort": "none"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 9,
      "type": "timeseries",
      "title": "Garbage Collection Duration",
      "gridPos": {"h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 0, "y": 14},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "rate(n8n_nodejs_gc_duration_seconds_sum{kind="major"}[1m])",
          "refId": "A",
          "legendFormat": "Major GC"
        },
        {
          "expr": "rate(n8n_nodejs_gc_duration_seconds_sum{kind="minor"}[1m])",
          "refId": "B",
          "legendFormat": "Minor GC"
        },
        {
          "expr": "rate(n8n_nodejs_gc_duration_seconds_sum{kind="incremental"}[1m])",
          "refId": "C",
          "legendFormat": "Incremental GC"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "palette-classic"},
          "custom": {
            "axisCenteredZero": false,
            "axisColorMode": "text",
            "axisLabel": "",
            "axisPlacement": "auto",
            "barAlignment": 0,
            "drawStyle": "line",
            "fillOpacity": 10,
            "gradientMode": "none",
            "hideFrom": {
              "tooltip": false,
              "viz": false,
              "legend": false
            },
            "lineInterpolation": "linear",
            "lineWidth": 1,
            "pointSize": 5,
            "scaleDistribution": {
              "type": "linear"
            },
            "showPoints": "never",
            "spanNulls": false,
            "stacking": {
              "group": "A",
              "mode": "none"
            },
            "thresholdsStyle": {
              "mode": "off"
            }
          },
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "s"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "legend": {
          "calcs": ["last", "max"],
          "displayMode": "table",
          "placement": "bottom",
          "showLegend": true
        },
        "tooltip": {
          "mode": "multi",
          "sort": "none"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 10,
      "type": "timeseries",
      "title": "Active Resources",
      "gridPos": {"h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 12, "y": 14},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_active_resources_total",
          "refId": "A",
          "legendFormat": "Total Active Resources"
        },
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_active_handles_total",
          "refId": "B",
          "legendFormat": "Active Handles"
        },
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_active_requests_total",
          "refId": "C",
          "legendFormat": "Active Requests"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "palette-classic"},
          "custom": {
            "axisCenteredZero": false,
            "axisColorMode": "text",
            "axisLabel": "",
            "axisPlacement": "auto",
            "barAlignment": 0,
            "drawStyle": "line",
            "fillOpacity": 10,
            "gradientMode": "none",
            "hideFrom": {
              "tooltip": false,
              "viz": false,
              "legend": false
            },
            "lineInterpolation": "linear",
            "lineWidth": 1,
            "pointSize": 5,
            "scaleDistribution": {
              "type": "linear"
            },
            "showPoints": "never",
            "spanNulls": false,
            "stacking": {
              "group": "A",
              "mode": "none"
            },
            "thresholdsStyle": {
              "mode": "off"
            }
          },
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "short"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "legend": {
          "calcs": ["last", "max"],
          "displayMode": "table",
          "placement": "bottom",
          "showLegend": true
        },
        "tooltip": {
          "mode": "multi",
          "sort": "none"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 11,
      "type": "bargauge",
      "title": "Heap Space Usage",
      "gridPos": {"h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 0, "y": 22},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "n8n_nodejs_heap_space_size_used_bytes / n8n_nodejs_heap_space_size_total_bytes * 100",
          "refId": "A",
          "legendFormat": "{{space}}"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "thresholds"},
          "mappings": [],
          "max": 100,
          "min": 0,
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "green", "value": null},
              {"color": "yellow", "value": 70},
              {"color": "red", "value": 90}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "percent"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "displayMode": "gradient",
        "minVizHeight": 10,
        "minVizWidth": 0,
        "orientation": "horizontal",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "",
          "values": false
        },
        "showUnfilled": true
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 12,
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "Process Uptime",
      "gridPos": {"h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 12, "y": 22},
      "targets": [
        {
          "expr": "(time() - n8n_process_start_time_seconds)",
          "refId": "A"
        }
      ],
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": {"mode": "thresholds"},
          "mappings": [],
          "thresholds": {
            "mode": "absolute",
            "steps": [
              {"color": "red", "value": null},
              {"color": "yellow", "value": 3600},
              {"color": "green", "value": 86400}
            ]
          },
          "unit": "s"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "colorMode": "value",
        "graphMode": "area",
        "justifyMode": "center",
        "orientation": "auto",
        "reduceOptions": {
          "calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
          "fields": "",
          "values": false
        },
        "textMode": "auto"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Dashboard includes: Active workflows, leader status, version info, memory/CPU usage, event loop lag (P90/P99), garbage collection metrics, heap space usage, and process uptime.

Pro tip: Export dashboards from Grafana as JSON, commit them to git, and they'll load automatically on every new deployment.

What You'll See in the Dashboard

Execution Metrics

  • Total executions per hour/day/week
  • Success vs failure rate
  • Average execution time by workflow
  • Slowest workflows (P95, P99 latency)

Queue Health

  • Active jobs in queue
  • Waiting jobs (backlog)
  • Processing rate (jobs/minute)
  • Worker utilization

System Resources

  • Memory usage (heap + external)
  • CPU utilization per container
  • Database connection pool
  • Redis memory and connections

Running It in Production

1. Environment Variables

Don't hardcode credentials in docker-compose.yml. Create a .env file in the same directory:

# Generate secure keys with: openssl rand -hex 32
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-64-char-hex-key-here
JWT_SECRET=your-64-char-hex-key-here

# Database password (generate with: openssl rand -base64 24)
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-secure-db-password

# Domain configuration
N8N_HOST=n8n.yourdomain.com

# Runners authentication token (generate with: openssl rand -base64 48)
N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN=your-runners-token-here

# Move manual executions to workers (recommended)
OFFLOAD_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS_TO_WORKERS=true

# Proxy settings (if using Cloudflare Tunnel or reverse proxy)
N8N_TRUST_PROXY=true
N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false

# Grafana admin password (generate with: openssl rand -base64 24)
GRAFANA_PASSWORD=your-grafana-password

Quick setup: Run these commands to generate all secrets at once:

echo "N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)" >> .env
echo "JWT_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)" >> .env
echo "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -base64 24)" >> .env
echo "N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -base64 48)" >> .env
echo "GRAFANA_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -base64 24)" >> .env
echo "N8N_HOST=n8n.yourdomain.com" >> .env
echo "OFFLOAD_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS_TO_WORKERS=true" >> .env
echo "N8N_TRUST_PROXY=true" >> .env
echo "N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false" >> .env

2. Scaling Workers

Start with 2 workers. Monitor queue depth in Grafana. If jobs back up, scale horizontally:

docker-compose up -d --scale n8n-worker=4

3. Alerting

Configure Grafana alerts for critical conditions:

  • Queue depth > 100 for 5 minutes
  • Workflow failure rate > 10%
  • Memory usage > 90%
  • Worker down (no metrics scraped)

4. Backups

Your workflows and execution history live in PostgreSQL. Automate backups:

# Daily backup cron
0 2 * * * docker exec n8n-postgres pg_dump -U n8n n8n > /backups/n8n-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

5. Securing Access

Don't expose ports directly to the internet. Put everything behind a reverse proxy (nginx, Traefik) with TLS, or use a tunnel solution like Cloudflare Tunnel.

Get Started

  1. Create a directory: mkdir n8n-production && cd n8n-production
  2. Create and paste the docker-compose.yml (from Step 1 above)
  3. Create the Prometheus config directory and paste prometheus.yml (from Step 2):
    mkdir -p prometheus
# Paste prometheus.yml content here
  4. Set up Grafana provisioning structure and paste the config files (from Step 3):
    mkdir -p grafana/provisioning/dashboards
mkdir -p grafana/provisioning/datasources
mkdir -p grafana/dashboards
# Paste dashboards.yml into grafana/provisioning/dashboards/
# Paste prometheus.yml into grafana/provisioning/datasources/
# Paste n8n.json into grafana/dashboards/
  5. Generate your .env file with secrets (use the quick setup commands from "Running It in Production" section above)
  6. Start the stack: docker-compose up -d
  7. Access Grafana at http://localhost:3000 (login with the password from your .env file)
  8. Access n8n at http://localhost:5678

First time? Give it 30 seconds to fully start up. Check logs with docker-compose logs -f if something doesn't load.

Learn More

n8n Queue Mode

Official docs on queue workers

Prometheus Config

Scraping and alerting setup

Grafana Provisioning

Automate dashboard deployment

💡 This is how we run n8n at Woltex. Full visibility, reliable execution, zero surprises. Copy the configs, adjust for your needs, and ship it.

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