Workflow Overview and Issue Summary
This n8n workflow is designed to isolate newly posted RFPs from the Food System Network website and create new AITable records for them. To do this, the workflow consists of two parallel paths:
- Retrieving recent RFP records from AITable: This path fetches the RFPs that have already been processed and stored.
- Scraping RFPs from the Food System Network website: This path collects the most recent RFPs available on the website.
These paths converge at a Merge node, followed by a Code node for final processing. The critical task here is to compare the newly scraped RFPs against the existing AITable records to identify truly new entries. This comparison is essential to prevent duplicating RFPs that have already been processed.
The main challenge lies in configuring these final two nodes to:
- Correctly combine the data streams from both paths (Merge node).
- Efficiently compare the combined data to identify new RFPs (Code node).
- Remove any duplicates, ensuring only unique, new RFPs are output for addition to AITable.
This process of comparison and deduplication is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the AITable records and ensuring that only genuinely new RFPs are added to the system. The difficulty arises in implementing this logic effectively within the n8n environment, particularly in structuring the comparison process and handling the data manipulation required for deduplication.
Goal: To produce a final list of unique, new RFPs that are not already present in AITable, ready for insertion as new records.
Workflow
Once this output is achieved, the workflow would proceed to add the necessary nodes to write new records in AITable for th1. Scraping RFPs from the Food System Network website: This path collects the most recent RFPs available on the website.ese new RFPs. This final step would complete the automation process by updating the AITable with the newly identified RFPs from the Food System Network website.
Request for Assistance
I’m seeking guidance on how to properly configure the Merge and Code nodes to achieve this desired output. Specifically:
- How should the Merge node be set up to effectively combine the two data streams?
- What logic should be implemented in the Code node to perform the deduplication and produce the final list of new RFPs?
Any insights or code snippets that could help achieve this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance!
Alternative Approaches Welcome
While I’ve outlined a specific workflow and issue above, I’m completely open to suggestions for entirely different approaches. If you believe there’s a more efficient or elegant way to achieve the same goal of identifying and isolating new RFPs from the Food System Network website for addition to AITable, I’d be very interested in hearing about it.
Some questions I’m considering:
- Is there a better way to structure this workflow?
- Are there n8n nodes or features I’m not utilizing that could simplify this process?
- Could this be accomplished more effectively with a different combination of nodes or fewer steps?
I’m eager to learn and improve my n8n skills, so any alternative solutions or best practices you can share would be greatly appreciated. Don’t hesitate to suggest a complete redesign if you think it would lead to a more robust or maintainable solution. Thank you for your insights!
