/n8n-integration-testing-patterns

name: n8n-integration-testing-patterns
description: "API contract testing, authentication flows, rate limit handling, and error scenario coverage for n8n integrations with external services. Use when testing n8n node integrations."
category: n8n-testing
priority: high
tokenEstimate: 1100
agents: [n8n-integration-test]
implementation_status: production
optimization_version: 1.0
last_optimized: 2025-12-15
dependencies: []
quick_reference_card: true
tags: [n8n, integration, api, authentication, oauth, rate-limiting, testing]
trust_tier: 3
validation:
  schema_path: schemas/output.json
  validator_path: scripts/validate-config.json
  eval_path: evals/n8n-integration-testing-patterns.yaml

n8n Integration Testing Patterns

<default_to_action> When testing n8n integrations: 1. VERIFY connectivity and authentication 2. TEST all configured operations 3. VALIDATE API response handling 4. CHECK rate limit behavior 5. CONFIRM error handling works

**Quick Integration Checklist:**

• Credentials valid and not expired
• API permissions sufficient for operations
• Rate limits understood and respected
• Error responses properly handled
• Data formats match API expectations

**Critical Success Factors:**

• Test in isolation before workflow integration
• Verify OAuth token refresh works
• Check API version compatibility
• Monitor rate limit headers

</default_to_action>

Quick Reference Card

Common n8n Integrations

| Category | Services | Auth Type | |----------|----------|-----------| | **Communication** | Slack, Teams, Discord | OAuth2, Webhook | | **Data Storage** | Google Sheets, Airtable | OAuth2, API Key | | **CRM** | Salesforce, HubSpot | OAuth2 | | **Dev Tools** | GitHub, Jira, Linear | OAuth2, API Key | | **Marketing** | Mailchimp, SendGrid | API Key |

Authentication Types

| Type | Setup | Refresh | |------|-------|---------| | **OAuth2** | User authorization flow | Automatic token refresh | | **API Key** | Manual key entry | Manual rotation | | **Basic Auth** | Username/password | No refresh needed | | **Header Auth** | Custom header | Manual rotation |

---

Connectivity Testing

// Test integration connectivity
async function testIntegrationConnectivity(nodeName: string): Promise<ConnectivityResult> {
  const node = await getNodeConfig(nodeName);

  // Check credential exists
  if (!node.credentials) {
    return { connected: false, error: 'No credentials configured' };
  }

  // Test based on integration type
  switch (getIntegrationType(node.type)) {
    case 'slack':
      return await testSlackConnectivity(node.credentials);
    case 'google-sheets':
      return await testGoogleSheetsConnectivity(node.credentials);
    case 'jira':
      return await testJiraConnectivity(node.credentials);
    case 'github':
      return await testGitHubConnectivity(node.credentials);
    default:
      return await testGenericAPIConnectivity(node);
  }
}

// Slack connectivity test
async function testSlackConnectivity(credentials: any): Promise<ConnectivityResult> {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://slack.com/api/auth.test', {
      headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${credentials.accessToken}` }
    });
    const data = await response.json();

    return {
      connected: data.ok,
      workspace: data.team,
      user: data.user,
      scopes: data.response_metadata?.scopes || []
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return { connected: false, error: error.message };
  }
}

// Google Sheets connectivity test
async function testGoogleSheetsConnectivity(credentials: any): Promise<ConnectivityResult> {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/about?fields=user', {
      headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${credentials.accessToken}` }
    });

    if (response.status === 401) {
      // Try refresh
      const refreshed = await refreshOAuthToken(credentials);
      if (refreshed) {
        return testGoogleSheetsConnectivity({ ...credentials, accessToken: refreshed });
      }
      return { connected: false, error: 'Token expired, refresh failed' };
    }

    const data = await response.json();
    return { connected: true, user: data.user };
  } catch (error) {
    return { connected: false, error: error.message };
  }
}

---

API Operation Testing

// Test integration operations
async function testIntegrationOperations(nodeName: string): Promise<OperationResult[]> {
  const node = await getNodeConfig(nodeName);
  const operations = getNodeOperations(node.type);
  const results: OperationResult[] = [];

  for (const operation of operations) {
    const testData = generateTestData(node.type, operation);

    try {
      const startTime = Date.now();
      const response = await executeOperation(node, operation, testData);

      results.push({
        operation,
        success: true,
        responseTime: Date.now() - startTime,
        responseStatus: response.status,
        dataValid: validateResponseData(response.data, operation)
      });
    } catch (error) {
      results.push({
        operation,
        success: false,
        error: error.message,
        errorType: classifyError(error)
      });
    }
  }

  return results;
}

// Generate test data for operations
function generateTestData(nodeType: string, operation: string): any {
  const testDataMap = {
    'slack': {
      'postMessage': {
        channel: 'C123456',
        text: 'Test message from n8n integration test'
      },
      'uploadFile': {
        channels: 'C123456',
        content: 'Test file content',
        filename: 'test.txt'
      }
    },
    'google-sheets': {
      'appendData': {
        spreadsheetId: 'test-spreadsheet-id',
        range: 'Sheet1!A:Z',
        values: [['Test', 'Data', new Date().toISOString()]]
      },
      'readRows': {
        spreadsheetId: 'test-spreadsheet-id',
        range: 'Sheet1!A1:Z10'
      }
    },
    'jira': {
      'createIssue': {
        project: 'TEST',
        issue