Custom-built node not appearing in local n8n instance

Other Questions N8n
1

Hey everyone, I’m scratching my head over here. I made a custom node for n8n and I thought I did everything right. But when I fire up my local n8n instance, my node is nowhere to be seen. Any ideas what I might be missing?

Here’s a simplified version of what I’ve got:

class CustomHelper implements INodeType {
    description: INodeTypeDescription = {
        displayName: 'Custom Helper',
        name: 'customHelper',
        icon: 'file:helper.svg',
        group: ['utility'],
        version: 1,
        description: 'Perform custom helper actions',
        inputs: ['main'],
        outputs: ['main'],
        credentials: [
            {
                name: 'helperApi',
                required: true
            }
        ],
        properties: [
            {
                displayName: 'Action',
                name: 'action',
                type: 'string',
                default: 'process'
            }
        ]
    };
}

Am I missing some config file or registration step? Thanks for any help!

2

As someone who’s built a few custom nodes, I can relate to your frustration. One thing that’s bitten me before is forgetting to export the node class. Make sure you have something like export class CustomHelper implements INodeType at the top of your file. Also, check if you’ve created an index.ts file in your node’s directory that exports the node. It should look something like this:

import { INodeType } from 'n8n-workflow';
import { CustomHelper } from './CustomHelper';

export class CustomHelperNode implements INodeType {
    description = CustomHelper.description;
}

If that doesn’t solve it, try running n8n with the --debug flag. It often reveals issues that aren’t immediately apparent. Hope this helps you get your node up and running!

3

hey mia, sounds frustrating! did u remember to add ur node to the package.json file? also, make sure ur node is in the right directory (usually /nodes). if thats not it, try clearing ur n8n cache. sometimes that helps. good luck!

4

I encountered a similar issue when developing my first custom node. Have you ensured that your node is properly compiled and bundled? Sometimes the problem lies in the build process rather than the code itself. Double-check your webpack or tsc configuration to make sure it’s outputting the node correctly. Additionally, verify that your n8n installation is set up to recognize custom nodes. You might need to adjust your n8n config file to include the path to your custom nodes directory. If all else fails, try running n8n with increased verbosity to see if there are any error messages during node loading that could provide more clues.