How to Enable Logging in n8n

n8n reads the N8N_LOG_LEVEL environment variable at startup. The four levels are error (least verbose), warn, info, and debug (most verbose). For troubleshooting, start with info to see execution flow without overwhelming detail. Use debug only when you need to inspect HTTP request bodies and credential resolution. Set the variable before starting n8n. On Linux or macOS, export it in your shell session or add it to your .env file.

1# Set log level to info (recommended for troubleshooting)
2export N8N_LOG_LEVEL=info
3
4# Or for maximum detail during debugging
5export N8N_LOG_LEVEL=debug
6
7# Then start n8n
8n8n start

By default, logs go to the console (stdout). For production use, write logs to a file so you can search them later. Set N8N_LOG_OUTPUT to file and specify the file path with N8N_LOG_FILE_LOCATION. You can also set the output to both console and file by using a comma-separated value. Make sure the directory exists and n8n has write permissions.

1# Log to a file
2export N8N_LOG_OUTPUT=file
3export N8N_LOG_FILE_LOCATION=/var/log/n8n/n8n.log
4
5# Or log to both console and file
6export N8N_LOG_OUTPUT=console,file
7export N8N_LOG_FILE_LOCATION=/var/log/n8n/n8n.log
8
9# Create the log directory
10mkdir -p /var/log/n8n
11
12n8n start

When running n8n in Docker, pass environment variables via the -e flag or a docker-compose.yml file. The Docker approach is the most common for production deployments. Mount a host directory for the log file so logs persist across container restarts.

1# Docker run with logging
2docker run -d \
3  --name n8n \
4  -p 5678:5678 \
5  -e N8N_LOG_LEVEL=info \
6  -e N8N_LOG_OUTPUT=console,file \
7  -e N8N_LOG_FILE_LOCATION=/home/node/.n8n/logs/n8n.log \
8  -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
9  docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

For docker-compose setups, add the environment variables to your compose file. This is cleaner than passing multiple -e flags and makes your configuration version-controlled. Create a dedicated volume for logs so they survive container recreation.

1# docker-compose.yml
2version: '3.8'
3services:
4  n8n:
5    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
6    ports:
7      - '5678:5678'
8    environment:
9      - N8N_LOG_LEVEL=info
10      - N8N_LOG_OUTPUT=console,file
11      - N8N_LOG_FILE_LOCATION=/home/node/.n8n/logs/n8n.log
12    volumes:
13      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
14
15volumes:
16  n8n_data:

Once logging is enabled, you need to know what to look for. n8n logs include the timestamp, level, component, and message. Look for ERROR entries to find failures, and INFO entries to trace execution flow. When debugging a specific workflow, search for the workflow ID or execution ID in the logs. The debug level includes HTTP request and response bodies, which is useful for diagnosing API errors.

1# View the last 50 lines of the log file
2tail -50 /var/log/n8n/n8n.log
3
4# Follow logs in real time
5tail -f /var/log/n8n/n8n.log
6
7# Search for errors
8grep 'ERROR' /var/log/n8n/n8n.log
9
10# Search for a specific workflow execution
11grep 'workflowId=123' /var/log/n8n/n8n.log