My API Call Works in Browser but Fails in HTTP Request Node

[cherish_Favour]

I tried connecting our company’s internal API using the HTTP Request node. The URL works perfectly when i test it with curl. But in n8n,it gave this error:
request failed, reason: self-signed certificate in certificate chain

[krisn0x]

Hey there! Are you on your company provided machine? If yes, then most probably your employer has pushed their SSL certificate to the machine already and the browser already trusts it.

Node.js (used by n8n) doesn’t trust it, hence the issue. There are a few options here:

1. Allow self-signed certs in n8n (not recommended in production):
   In the HTTP Request node, under Options → TLS, enable Ignore SSL Issues.
   → This sets rejectUnauthorized: false and bypasses validation.
2. RECOMMENDED Trust your internal CA system-wide (preferred for production):
   Export your company CA cert (.crt or .pem). (instructions after this)
   Add it to the host running n8n so Node.js trusts it:
   export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=“/path/to/your/ca.crt”
   Then restart n8n.

How to export the certificate:

Chrome / Edge:

Open your API URL (https://internal-api…).

Click the padlock → Connection is secure → Certificate is valid.

Go to the Certification Path tab.

Select the top/root CA (or your corporate CA).

Click View Certificate → Details → Copy to File….

Export as Base-64 encoded X.509 (.CER/.CRT/.PEM).