{"id":210,"date":"2025-03-30T08:31:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T06:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/?p=210"},"modified":"2025-03-30T12:47:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-30T10:47:05","slug":"how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/","title":{"rendered":"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<p>Docker Compose provides a powerful way to run n8n with custom configurations and additional NPM modules. This guide will walk you through setting up a production-ready n8n instance using Docker Compose, complete with custom modules and advanced configurations.<\/p>\n<p>For a more basic setup using Docker without custom NPM modules, see <a href=\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/?p=206\">How to install n8n on a Local Server and Access it Securely from Anywhere<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Prerequisites<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Docker and Docker Compose installed on your system<\/li>\n<li>Basic understanding of container orchestration<\/li>\n<li>Server with sufficient resources (minimum 2GB RAM recommended)<\/li>\n<li>Domain name configured with DNS records (for HTTPS access)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why You Might Need to Use Docker Compose<\/h2>\n<p>Docker Compose becomes essential when you need to extend n8n&#8217;s capabilities with custom NPM modules. For example, in our implementation, we needed several specific tools:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Content conversion tools (@tryfabric\/martian and notion-to-md) for transforming Notion pages to JSON and HTML for websites<\/li>\n<li>Notion API client (@notionhq\/client) for direct integration with Notion<\/li>\n<li>Markdown processing (markdown-it) for content formatting<\/li>\n<li>Media processing tools (ffmpeg) for extracting audio from video calls for transcription<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By using Docker Compose, you can easily manage these dependencies in a reproducible way, ensuring that all necessary tools are properly installed and configured in your n8n environment. This approach offers flexibility to add any NPM packages you need for your specific automation workflows.<\/p>\n<h2>Project Structure Setup<\/h2>\n<p>First, let&#8217;s create a proper directory structure for our n8n deployment:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-bash\">mkdir n8n-docker\ncd n8n-docker\ntouch docker-compose.yml\ntouch Dockerfile\ntouch .env\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h2>Creating the Dockerfile<\/h2>\n<p>The Dockerfile allows us to extend the base n8n image with custom NPM packages:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-docker\">FROM n8nio\/n8n:latest\n\nUSER root\n\n# Install additional npm packages\nRUN npm install -g npm \\\n    @tryfabric\/martian \\\n    notion-to-md \\\n    # Add other packages as needed\n\nUSER node\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h2>Docker Compose Configuration<\/h2>\n<p>Create a comprehensive <code>docker-compose.yml<\/code> file that includes all necessary configurations:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-yaml\">version: '3.8'\n\nservices:\n  n8n:\n    container_name: n8n\n    build: .\n    restart: always\n    ports:\n      - &quot;5678:5678&quot;\n    environment:\n      - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL=*\n      - N8N_HOST=${N8N_HOST}\n      - N8N_PORT=5678\n      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https\n      - NODE_ENV=production\n      - WEBHOOK_URL=https:\/\/${N8N_WEBHOOK_URL}\/\n      - N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=${N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY}\n      # Email configuration\n      - N8N_EMAIL_MODE=${N8N_EMAIL_MODE}\n      - N8N_SMTP_HOST=${N8N_SMTP_HOST}\n      - N8N_SMTP_PORT=${N8N_SMTP_PORT}\n      - N8N_SMTP_USER=${N8N_SMTP_USER}\n      - N8N_SMTP_PASS=${N8N_SMTP_PASS}\n      - N8N_SMTP_SENDER=${N8N_SMTP_SENDER}\n    volumes:\n      - n8n_data:\/home\/node\/.n8n\n      - ${DATA_FOLDER}\/files:\/files\n    networks:\n      - n8n-network\n\nnetworks:\n  n8n-network:\n    driver: bridge\n\nvolumes:\n  n8n_data:\n    external: true\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><strong>Important:<\/strong> The environment variable <code>NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL=*<\/code> is crucial for this setup to work properly. This setting allows n8n to use external NPM modules in your workflows. Without this configuration, any custom NPM packages installed in the Dockerfile will not be accessible within n8n functions.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Make sure to include <code>NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL=*<\/code> in your environment variables. This is a required setting when working with custom NPM modules, and your workflows may fail if this is not properly configured.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Environment Configuration<\/h2>\n<p>Create a .env file with your specific configurations:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-bash\"># Base Configuration\nDATA_FOLDER=\/path\/to\/your\/data\nN8N_HOST=your-domain.com\nN8N_WEBHOOK_URL=your-domain.com\nN8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-secure-encryption-key\n\n# Email Configuration\nN8N_EMAIL_MODE=smtp\nN8N_SMTP_HOST=smtp.provider.com\nN8N_SMTP_PORT=587\nN8N_SMTP_USER=your-smtp-user\nN8N_SMTP_PASS=your-smtp-password\nN8N_SMTP_SENDER=Your Name &lt;name@domain.com&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h2>Deployment Steps<\/h2>\n<h3>1. Initialize the Volume<\/h3>\n<p>Create the external volume for persistent data storage:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-bash\">docker volume create n8n_data\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h3>2. Build and Deploy<\/h3>\n<p>Start the n8n container with Docker Compose:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-bash\">docker compose up -d --build\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h2>Maintenance and Updates<\/h2>\n<h3>Updating n8n<\/h3>\n<p>To update your n8n installation:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-bash\"># Pull the latest images\ndocker compose pull\n\n# Rebuild and restart containers\ndocker compose down\ndocker compose up -d --build\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h3>Backup and Restore<\/h3>\n<p>Regular backups are crucial. Here&#8217;s how to backup your n8n data:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-bash\"># Backup\ndocker run --rm -v n8n_data:\/source -v $(pwd):\/backup alpine tar czf \/backup\/n8n-backup.tar.gz -C \/source .\n\n# Restore\ndocker run --rm -v n8n_data:\/target -v $(pwd):\/backup alpine sh -c &quot;cd \/target &amp;&amp; tar xzf \/backup\/n8n-backup.tar.gz&quot;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h2>Advanced Configurations<\/h2>\n<h3>Custom NPM Modules<\/h3>\n<p>To add new NPM modules, update your Dockerfile and rebuild:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-bash\"># Update Dockerfile with new packages\ndocker compose down\ndocker compose up -d --build\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<h2>Troubleshooting<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Container won&#8217;t start:<\/strong> Check logs using <code>docker compose logs n8n<\/code><\/li>\n<li><strong>Permission issues:<\/strong> Ensure proper volume permissions and ownership<\/li>\n<li><strong>Network connectivity:<\/strong> Verify network configuration and firewall settings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Security Best Practices<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Always use HTTPS in production<\/li>\n<li>Regularly update all components<\/li>\n<li>Use strong encryption keys<\/li>\n<li>Implement proper access controls<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Running n8n with Docker Compose provides a robust, scalable, and maintainable automation platform. This setup enables you to leverage custom NPM modules while maintaining a production-ready environment with proper security measures and backup procedures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Docker Compose provides a powerful way to run n8n with custom configurations and additional NPM modules. This guide will walk you through setting up a production-ready n8n instance using Docker Compose, complete with custom modules and advanced configurations. For a more basic setup using Docker without custom NPM modules, see How to install n8n &#8230; <a title=\"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tooling"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to easily set up and run n8n with Docker Compose to use custom NPM modules for seamless automation and integration of your workflows.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to easily set up and run n8n with Docker Compose to use custom NPM modules for seamless automation and integration of your workflows.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Website Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-30T06:31:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-30T10:47:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"webeditor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"webeditor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"webeditor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c96580a5fb7ec07dfef80b78d7a5047b\"},\"headline\":\"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-30T06:31:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-30T10:47:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\"},\"wordCount\":510,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Tooling\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\",\"name\":\"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-30T06:31:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-30T10:47:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn how to easily set up and run n8n with Docker Compose to use custom NPM modules for seamless automation and integration of your workflows.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Website Engineer\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Website Engineer\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/cropped-cropped-WebEng-Icon-Navy-BG-favicon-192x192-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/cropped-cropped-WebEng-Icon-Navy-BG-favicon-192x192-1.png\",\"width\":192,\"height\":192,\"caption\":\"The Website Engineer\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c96580a5fb7ec07dfef80b78d7a5047b\",\"name\":\"webeditor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dbc80b999f7f24953c8e85d78b4506c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dbc80b999f7f24953c8e85d78b4506c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"webeditor\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules","description":"Learn how to easily set up and run n8n with Docker Compose to use custom NPM modules for seamless automation and integration of your workflows.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules","og_description":"Learn how to easily set up and run n8n with Docker Compose to use custom NPM modules for seamless automation and integration of your workflows.","og_url":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/","og_site_name":"The Website Engineer","article_published_time":"2025-03-30T06:31:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-30T10:47:05+00:00","author":"webeditor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"webeditor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/"},"author":{"name":"webeditor","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c96580a5fb7ec07dfef80b78d7a5047b"},"headline":"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules","datePublished":"2025-03-30T06:31:12+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-30T10:47:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/"},"wordCount":510,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Tooling"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/","url":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/","name":"How to run n8n with docker compose to use custom NPM modules","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-30T06:31:12+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-30T10:47:05+00:00","description":"Learn how to easily set up and run n8n with Docker Compose to use custom NPM modules for seamless automation and integration of your workflows.","inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/blog\/how-to-run-n8n-with-docker-compose-to-use-custom-npm-modules\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/","name":"The Website Engineer","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#organization","name":"The Website Engineer","url":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/cropped-cropped-WebEng-Icon-Navy-BG-favicon-192x192-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/cropped-cropped-WebEng-Icon-Navy-BG-favicon-192x192-1.png","width":192,"height":192,"caption":"The Website Engineer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c96580a5fb7ec07dfef80b78d7a5047b","name":"webeditor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dbc80b999f7f24953c8e85d78b4506c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dbc80b999f7f24953c8e85d78b4506c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"webeditor"}}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewebsiteengineer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}