Need Direction, Want to Create an app and upgrade existing one and not sure where to start

By The Grace of G-D.

Hi,

I’m a newbie here.

I am a Zoho Developer (Mostly working with JS) and i’m using Make (Integromat) for a lot of automations.

I Just came across this amazing tool and i watched this amazing video: Create your own n8n node for automation - YouTube on how to create your own node (and customize existing ones) and i want to improve the existing Zoho CRM node and duplicate it and change a few things in order to integrate with a sister-product: Zoho Vertical CRM.

To start, I Installed the app with this amazing video: UPDATED: Installing N8N (Nodemation) on my server 2022 - YouTube and it is working great!.
It installed the app on an instance on DigitalOcean.
And i think it runs on Docker.

Now, i’m getting to the important part and i’m not sure if what i want to do is possible at all in my current setup or do i have to do it in a different way.

From what i understand, can i even upload a new node to my instance or do i have to publish it to npm?

Also, the development must be on a git clone of the project?
If so, is there an easy way to host it on such a droplet or do i have to run it on my computer?

Your answers will be very much appreciated!

Thanks!

  • n8n version 0.189.1
  • Running n8n via Docker, on DigitalOcean Droplet

Hey @yossi, welcome to the community! You might want to join tomorrow’s webinar hosted by @marcus on this topic: This will most likely be the best entry point for new node developers.

Check out the details here:

2 Likes

Great!
Thank you very much!
Just in time…

Unfortunately, I have prior engagements at this time but, I might be able to cancel…

I’ve added to my calendar anyway.

About my setup, do you know if it’ll work?

Let’s unpack your questions then:

From what i understand, can i even upload a new node to my instance or do i have to publish it to npm?

You do not need to publish your node (unless you want to share it with the world). It does make the installation of your node in other n8n instances easier though.

Also, the development must be on a git clone of the project?

It’s not a hard yes or no - you can develop nodes in multiple ways. You don’t necessarily need to clone n8n completely, you could alternatively clone the designated starter repo as described here: n8n-nodes-starter.git

As for the webinar, I think you’ll also be able to watch it later on YouTube (you would miss out on the n8n swag though), but maybe @marcus can confirm this.