data-tables

n8n-decanter data-tables [table…]              # schema + rows for every table (or the named ones)
n8n-decanter data-tables [table…] --filter '<json>' --search <text> --sort <col:asc|desc> --limit N --all
n8n-decanter data-tables [table…] clean        # delete fetched data (offline)

Fetches each n8n data table (the built-in project-scoped tables, n8n ≥ 2.x) — its schema and its rows — into local files, so you can develop and debug a workflow against the real table contents offline (e.g. to give a node run fixture realistic shapes, or just to eyeball what a table holds). Read-only against the API — the CLI never creates, updates, or deletes a data table, column, or row.

A <table> is a table’s id or its exact name (case-insensitive). With no argument, every table is fetched.

Uses the n8n public API key (N8N_API_KEY) — MCP’s data-table tools are add-only with no row reads, so this verb keeps the REST path. Without a key it fails with guidance.

Where the data lands

Data tables are project-scoped — not owned by a workflow — so, unlike executions (which nest under each workflow folder), they land in a single top-level data-tables/ dir next to decanter.config.json:

data-tables/
  <table-slug>/
    meta.json       # id, name, projectId, fetchedAt, rowCount + the applied filter/search/sort/limit
    columns.json    # the table schema (each column's name + type)
    rows.json       # the (possibly filtered) rows

The slug is the kebab of the table name with its id appended (names aren’t guaranteed unique). meta.json records what produced rows.json, so a filtered slice is self-describing and never mistaken for the whole table.

Pull a filtered slice

A table’s rows can be large, so the verb pulls a slice by pushing the filter down to the server rather than downloading everything:

The --filter value is n8n’s own condition object as a JSON string:

{ "type": "and", "filters": [ { "columnName": "status", "condition": "eq", "value": "active" } ] }

condition is n8n’s row operator (eq, neq, gt, gte, lt, lte, like, …); combine several under "type": "and" / "or". For example, only the active orders, newest first:

n8n-decanter data-tables "Orders" \
  --filter '{"type":"and","filters":[{"columnName":"status","condition":"eq","value":"active"}]}' \
  --sort createdAt:desc

The applied filter, search, sort, and limit are written into that table’s meta.json alongside the resulting rowCount.

Never commit table data

Each data-tables/ dir is written self-ignored (it contains a .gitignore of just *) because table rows can hold PII — they must never reach git. init’s scaffolded root .gitignore also lists data-tables/.

data-tables clean

Offline. Deletes the whole local data-tables/ dir. Run it when you’re done.

Config gate

The fetch is gated by the dataTables key in decanter.config.json (default true). Set it to false to disable the fetch entirely — the verb then refuses with a clear message, and the recommended API key needn’t carry the data-table read scopes. data-tables clean stays available regardless.

Scopes

While dataTables is on, the recommended scoped key needs the read scopes dataTable:list, dataTable:read, dataTableColumn:read, and dataTableRow:read (a full-access key also works). Data-table endpoints need n8n ≥ 2.x — on an older instance the fetch reports that it isn’t available.