Minds for n8n: installation and workflow guide
Use n8n-nodes-minds to prepare and inspect Studies in self-hosted n8n. Version 0.1.1 is published on npm; n8n verification is under review. Research starts only after a separate confirmation in Minds.
Minds is an end-to-end platform for commercial synthetic research. The Minds community node connects your n8n workflows to its Study API: create a Study, prepare a reviewable plan, and collect existing results for a downstream workflow. You can also expose a Minds operation as a tool to an n8n AI Agent.
Availability and requirements
The Minds-maintained package n8n-nodes-minds is published on npm. This guide covers version 0.1.1, the current npm release. The automated n8n review passed; manual verification is under review. This is not yet a verified listing, and the node is not available to install on n8n Cloud.
Use a self-hosted n8n instance that permits community packages, an owner or admin who can install them, and a Minds account with API access. Existing API permissions and usage limits still apply. You configure the node inside n8n; there is no OAuth connection to establish in Minds.
Install and connect
- In n8n, open Settings → Community Nodes → Install.
- Enter
[email protected], review n8n's community-code notice, and install. See n8n's installation guide if your instance uses a different installation method. - In Minds, open Settings → API Keys and create a key for this integration.
- Add a Minds node to an n8n workflow. Create a Minds API credential, paste the key into API Key, save it, and run the connection test.
- Select Study → Get Many and execute it to confirm access. An empty list can mean the account has no Studies yet.
n8n stores the key in its encrypted credentials system. Keep the key in that credential, rather than in node expressions, workflow JSON, prompts, or exported files. Requests go to https://getminds.ai/api/v1. The connection test checks the authenticated Minds account; see API authentication for access details.
Supported operations
All five operations use the Study resource. n8n exposes the API's data payload directly, so a created Study's ID is available as {{ $json.id }} in the following node.
| Operation | Inputs and behavior |
|---|---|
| Get Many | Lists accessible Studies. Set Limit from 1 to 100, or enable Return All for pagination. |
| Create | Requires Name. Audience IDs accepts comma-separated IDs of existing Audiences. Enable Link Sharing is off by default; turning it on publishes access to the Study and its attached Audiences. |
| Get | Requires Study ID; retrieves the Study, its Audiences, Minds, and messages. |
| Preview Research Plan | Requires Study ID and Research Request. Choose Study Locale and supply the respondent-visible material separately through Source Kind, Source Label, and Source Content or Source URL. Saves a plan draft without starting research. |
| Get Summary | Requires Study ID; reads the persisted Study summary and semantic output blocks. It does not generate or refresh a missing summary. |
Use Research Request for planner instructions such as which questions to ask. Put the actual copy respondents should evaluate in Source Content. Source Content is available for the Prompt source kind. For other kinds, such as a website, image, or video, use Source URL with a public HTTPS URL. Selecting a source kind does not upload a local file.
Prepare a research plan
- Start with a Manual Trigger and a Minds node set to Study → Create. Enter a descriptive name and the existing Audience IDs you want to use. Leave link sharing off unless you intend to publish access.
- Connect another Minds node set to Preview Research Plan. Use
{{ $json.id }}for Study ID. - Set Research Request to: “Draft three questions about clarity, relevance, and credibility. Do not run the Study.” Select the output language, choose Source Kind Prompt, and put the exact message or concept in Source Content.
- Run the workflow once. Review the saved draft, Audiences, questions, and source in Minds, then explicitly confirm and start the research there.
- In a later workflow execution, use Get with the saved Study ID to inspect the Study and Get Summary to collect an existing summary. Pass the resulting data to your reporting or notification nodes as appropriate.
Retain the Study ID between workflow executions. Re-running Create creates another Study; it does not resume the earlier one. Avoid automatically retrying creation after an ambiguous timeout until you check whether it succeeded.
Use Minds as an AI Agent tool
Add an n8n AI Agent and a compatible chat model, then attach Minds to the Agent's tool connector. Select the Minds API credential, the Study resource, and the specific operation you want to expose. Start with Get Many or Create and give the tool a clear description.
For example: “Create one draft Study named Commuter bottle review using the configured Minds tool. Return its ID. Do not start research.” Set Name in the tool configuration, or use n8n's model-defined parameter control for fields you intentionally let the Agent choose. Keep credentials out of the model prompt and leave link sharing disabled. The tool has the same five operations as the regular node; adding it to an Agent does not enable research execution.
Examples and troubleshooting
Import the example workflows through n8n's Import from File: list Studies, prepare a research plan, or read a Study summary. Select your own credential after import and fill in the required Audience or Study IDs.
- Node missing: confirm the exact package name, installation status, and that your self-hosted instance permits community nodes. n8n Cloud cannot install this unverified package.
- Connection test or 401 error: check that the credential contains a current Minds API key and retest after replacing a revoked key.
- 403 or plan-limited response: check the account's API access, workspace permissions, and current usage allowance.
- Study not found: use an ID returned by Get Many for the same account; a Study name is not its ID.
- No summary: open the Study in Minds and check that research has completed and a summary exists. Get Summary only reads persisted output.
- 429 or temporary service error: retry reads with backoff and follow API errors and limits. Check for an already-created Study before retrying a write.
Version 0.1.1 does not create Audiences, upload files, start research, delete data, or provide a Minds event trigger. For additional operations, consult the Study API and MCP documentation. Synthetic findings provide directional evidence; they do not establish representative human population estimates.
Browse all integrations or see the n8n audience-check workflow.
