IF node: How do I create a condition to check if the current record already exist?

Questions
#1

I got addicted with the possibilities but got stuck with likely just a simple logic twist in my mind. Someone can help to unwind my brain please?

  • Using the brandfetch sample workflow I need to add a simple IF clause to decide whether to
    • append (a new record to the table)
    • or update (an existing) record in Airtable.

How do I create a condition to check if the current record already exist?
Using the “name” would be good enough but whatever I condition I use I end up with “false” getting and a new record created (append flow runs after IF clause)

#2

That is great to hear!

Yes what you want to do is sadly not that simple. Here how it can be done:

Screenshot from 2020-12-20 15-17-41
Screenshot from 2020-12-20 15-17-411428×473 54 KB

And the workflow:

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "parameters": {
        "domain": "n8n.io"
      },
      "name": "Brandfetch",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.Brandfetch",
      "position": [
        400,
        300
      ],
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "credentials": {
        "brandfetchApi": ""
      }
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "operation": "company",
        "domain": "={{$node[\"Brandfetch\"].parameter[\"domain\"]}}"
      },
      "name": "Brandfetch1",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.Brandfetch",
      "position": [
        600,
        300
      ],
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "credentials": {
        "brandfetchApi": ""
      }
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "operation": "append",
        "application": "",
        "table": "Table 1",
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "Airtable",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.airtable",
      "position": [
        1660,
        100
      ],
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "credentials": {
        "airtableApi": ""
      }
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "conditions": {
          "string": [
            {
              "value1": "={{ $json.id }}",
              "operation": "isEmpty"
            }
          ],
          "boolean": []
        }
      },
      "name": "IF",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.if",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [
        1200,
        100
      ]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "mode": "keepKeyMatches",
        "propertyName1": "fields.Name",
        "propertyName2": "Name"
      },
      "name": "Merge",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.merge",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [
        1000,
        100
      ],
      "alwaysOutputData": true
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "mode": "passThrough",
        "output": "input2"
      },
      "name": "Merge1",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.merge",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [
        1460,
        100
      ]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "mode": "passThrough",
        "output": "input2"
      },
      "name": "Merge2",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.merge",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [
        1460,
        300
      ]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "operation": "update",
        "application": "",
        "table": "Table 1",
        "id": "={{$node[\"Merge\"].json[\"id\"]}}",
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "Airtable1",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.airtable",
      "position": [
        1660,
        300
      ],
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "credentials": {
        "airtableApi": ""
      }
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "operation": "list",
        "application": "",
        "table": "Table 1",
        "additionalOptions": {}
      },
      "name": "Airtable2",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.airtable",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [
        800,
        50
      ],
      "credentials": {
        "airtableApi": ""
      }
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "keepOnlySet": true,
        "values": {
          "string": [
            {
              "name": "Name",
              "value": "={{$node[\"Brandfetch1\"].json[\"name\"]}}"
            },
            {
              "name": "Icon URL",
              "value": "={{$node[\"Brandfetch\"].json[\"icon\"][\"image\"]}}"
            },
            {
              "name": "Logo URL",
              "value": "={{$node[\"Brandfetch\"].json[\"logo\"][\"image\"]}}"
            }
          ]
        },
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "Set",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.set",
      "position": [
        800,
        300
      ],
      "typeVersion": 1
    }
  ],
  "connections": {
    "Brandfetch": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Brandfetch1",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "Brandfetch1": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Set",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "IF": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Merge1",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ],
        [
          {
            "node": "Merge2",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "Merge": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "IF",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "Merge1": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Airtable",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "Merge2": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Airtable1",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "Airtable2": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Merge",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "Set": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Merge",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 1
          },
          {
            "node": "Merge1",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 1
          },
          {
            "node": "Merge2",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 1
          }
        ]
      ]
    }
  }
}
#3

@jan, thanks! Get some rest. :wink:

I believe that’s going to make things really complex and hard to maintain. Isn’t there a node that could stringify an object and have the IF node “comparing against it”?

So the flow could be: Brandfetch >> Set >> Get (Data/ID as Object from target) & Stringify >> IF (to Compare > …

I could imagine, such a Get (&Compare) node would also impact execution time, reduce server ressources and improve readability & maintainabillity of larger “beasts” over time.

No stress, at this time I am just playing to understand the options I got to apply some magic here and there.