n8nac CLI — Authoritative Reference
The full n8nac --help tree is captured in [reference.md](reference.md) (auto-generated, 61 command/subcommand blocks across 24 top-level groups). Read it whenever you need to:
- Know if a command exists (rule: not in the file → does not exist, do not invent it).
- Look up exact flag names and short/long forms.
- Understand the argument order for a subcommand.
Quick navigation
Search the reference file with grep:
# Find a parent command
grep "^## \`n8nac credential" "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/n8nac-reference/reference.md"
# Find a specific subcommand
grep -n "^### \`n8nac credential list\`" "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/n8nac-reference/reference.md"
# Pull the full help block for one subcommand (next 30 lines after the header)
awk '/^### `n8nac workflow credential-required`/{flag=1;n=0} flag{print;n++; if(n>30)exit}' \
"$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/n8nac-reference/reference.md"Subcommand index (alphabetical by parent)
| Parent | Subcommands | |---|---| | (root) | find, pull, push, promote, verify, test, test-plan, fetch, resolve, convert, convert-batch, list, mcp, setup, setup-modes, update-ai | | credential | create, delete, get, list, schema | | credentials (readiness/recipes) | delete, ensure, inventory, recipes, starter-kit, starter-kits, test | | env | add, auth, list, pin, remove, status, update | | execution | get, list | | skills | docs, examples, guides, list, mcp, node-info, node-schema, related, search, update-ai, validate | | workflow | activate, credential-required, deactivate, present | | workspace | status (alias get) — read-only since 2.3; all mutation moved to env | | telemetry | (no subcommands — flags only) |
credentials (plural) and credential (singular) are different parent groups. Plural is for recipe / readiness / inventory management; singular is for direct create/list/get/delete/schema operations on the active instance. Mixing them is a common source of "command not found" errors.
When to read the full file vs. a single block
- Single subcommand lookup (90% of cases): use
grep/awksnippet above to pull just the block you need. ~30 lines. - Full file read (rare): only when you need an overview of a parent group's surface (e.g. "what does the
envgroup do as a whole?").
How to regenerate
bash "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/dump-n8nac-help.sh" > "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/n8nac-reference/reference.md"Re-run whenever the setup-check.sh REFERENCE_N8NAC_VERSION constant is bumped. The script captures the version from npx n8nac --version and stamps it at the top + bottom of the file.
Companion: high-level patterns
For the curated "which command for which user intent" mapping (cheat-sheet form), see [n8nac-cheatsheet](../n8nac-cheatsheet/SKILL.md) and the Cheat-Sheet section in CLAUDE.md. This skill is the raw-help fallback when the cheatsheet does not have a row for the user's request.