Hey everyone! I’m really stuck trying to get n8n up and running on Heroku. I’ve never coded before, so I’m totally lost. Here’s what I’ve done so far:
Made a new Heroku app
Set up a Procfile with different commands to start n8n
Checked my package.json file to make sure n8n is there
Tried restarting the app a bunch of times
But nothing’s working! When I go to my Heroku app URL, all I see is ‘There’s nothing here, yet.’ The logs show some error about n8n not being found.
I’ve tried running n8n on my computer and it works fine, so I know it’s something to do with Heroku. I’m at my wit’s end and could really use some step-by-step help for a complete beginner.
Has anyone else run into this problem? How did you solve it? Any tips or tricks would be super appreciated!
hey mate, i had a similar issue. make sure ur using the latest n8n version in package.json. also, check if ur running on a free dyno - they sleep after 30 mins of inactivity. might explain why it works locally but not on heroku. try upgrading to a hobby dyno if possible. good luck!
As someone who’s deployed n8n on Heroku before, I can suggest a few things to troubleshoot. First, ensure your Heroku stack is set to ‘heroku-20’ or later in your app settings. Older stacks can cause compatibility issues.
Next, verify your ‘package.json’ has the correct start script. It should be something like:
“scripts”: {
“start”: “n8n start”
}
Also, check if you’ve set the NODE_ENV variable to ‘production’ in your Heroku config vars. This can affect how n8n behaves during startup.
If these don’t resolve the issue, try running ‘heroku logs --tail’ in your terminal to get real-time logs. This might provide more detailed error messages to pinpoint the problem.
Lastly, consider using a ‘Dockerfile’ instead of relying on buildpacks. It gives you more control over the deployment environment and can sometimes resolve tricky issues like this.
I’ve been through the same struggle with deploying n8n on Heroku, and I feel your pain. One thing that tripped me up was the buildpack configuration. Make sure you’ve added the official Node.js buildpack to your Heroku app. You can do this in the Settings tab of your Heroku dashboard.
Another crucial step is setting the correct environment variables. n8n needs specific variables to run properly on Heroku. Try adding these to your Config Vars in the Settings:
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY (set this to a random string)
WEBHOOK_URL (set to your Heroku app URL)
N8N_PORT (set to 80)
Also, double-check your Procfile. It should contain something like:
web: n8n start
If you’ve done all this and it’s still not working, try clearing your build cache and redeploying. Sometimes Heroku gets stuck on old configurations.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more guidance.