n8n

The agent runs an n8n workflow during the call and passes the workflow’s answer on to the caller. Plus: post-call events and starting calls from n8n.

n8n connects to BrosBots in three directions. This page covers the first, which is its own integration in the catalogue, and points at the other two.

Direction	What it does	Where
Agent → n8n during the call	The agent calls the workflow with call data and hears what it answers	this page
BrosBots → n8n after an event	A signed POST after a call, an SMS, a campaign, or on a low balance	Webhooks
n8n → BrosBots	n8n makes the agent call: a form lead, or through the API	Lead callback, API trigger

How it differs from Zapier

The Zapier trigger sends data and that is the end of it: a Catch Hook does not answer. An n8n workflow that ends with a Respond to Webhook node does, and whatever it answers reaches the agent as the tool’s result. So the agent can not only push something into your systems but ask them something while the caller is still on the line: an order’s status in the shop, a free slot in the booking system, a customer record in a database we have no ready-made integration for.

A workflow without a Respond to Webhook node works too: n8n answers an empty 200, the agent gets “sent” and carries on.

Connecting

1. The workflow in n8n

   New workflow → Webhook node. Set HTTP Method to POST. If the workflow should answer the agent, set Respond to Using 'Respond to Webhook' Node and end the workflow with a Respond to Webhook node.

   Recommended: Authentication → Header Auth, a new credential with the header name X-Brosbots-Secret and any long value. You enter the same secret on our side.

2. Activate the workflow and copy the production URL

   The Active toggle in the top right, then the Production URL tab in the Webhook node. The address has /webhook/ in its path.

   The address from the Test URL tab (path /webhook-test/) only works while Listen for test event is pressed in the editor. Connected to an agent, it works once, at your desk, and never again. The connection test warns when the pasted address is the test one.

3. The connection in BrosBots

   Integrations → n8n. Paste the production URL and the secret, if you set one. Saving delivers a test message, so the workflow runs once with "event": "test" in the body.

4. Switch the tool on in the agent

   Agent editor → Integrations → n8n workflow. Pick the connection and fill in When to use it, and what to say and Phrases that should trigger it. Without those fields the agent has the tool but no idea what it is for - and usually leaves it alone. Details in Slack, email, Zapier and the calendar during the call.

The same toggle is in the new-agent wizard (What your agent can do → n8n workflow): the address and secret entered there create the connection on save.

The n8n integration is available from the Start plan, like Zapier and the webhooks.

What reaches the workflow

The agent sends a POST with JSON. It chooses event and data itself, following what you wrote in When to use it, and what to say; the other two fields are added by us, so the agent cannot invent them.

{
  "event": "order_status",
  "data": "order number 10482, the customer asks about the delivery date",
  "caller_phone": "[phone]",
  "workflow_run_id": "3f1c2a7e-...."
}

Field	Where it comes from
event	a short event name from the agent, e.g. lead_qualified, order_status, appointment_booked
data	what the agent collected during the call, or what it is asking about - free text
caller_phone	the caller’s number (empty on a widget call)
workflow_run_id	the call id; the same one that arrives later in call.completed and fetches the transcript through the API

With the X-Brosbots-Secret header when the connection has a secret.

What the workflow can answer

The response body reaches the agent in the result field. The most convenient answer is one sentence the agent should pass on:

{ "message": "Order 10482 was shipped yesterday, delivery tomorrow by 2 pm." }

Supported shapes:

Response	What the agent gets
{"message": "…"} (also result, answer, text)	the text alone
plain text	the text as is
any other JSON	the JSON whole, up to 2000 characters - the agent reads it itself
an empty response	”sent”, with no result

The agent waits for the answer for up to 15 seconds. The call is live, so if the workflow does something slow, answer first and do the rest after the response (in n8n: Respond to Webhook early in the chain, the heavy nodes after it).

A 4xx/5xx code is a tool error: the agent gets “n8n failed (code)” and tells the caller it could not check. A 404 on the test address is named for what it is: nobody is listening.

A ready-made workflow to import

The smallest workflow: Webhook → Respond to Webhook. It answers with a confirmation that repeats what it received, so you can hear in a call that the path works. In n8n: … (workflow menu) → Import from File, or paste the JSON through Import from URL / the clipboard.

{
  "name": "BrosBots - answer for the agent",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "parameters": {
        "httpMethod": "POST",
        "path": "brosbots-agent",
        "responseMode": "responseNode",
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "Webhook",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.webhook",
      "typeVersion": 2,
      "position": [0, 0]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "respondWith": "json",
        "responseBody": "={{ { \"message\": \"Received event \" + $json.body.event + \": \" + $json.body.data } }}",
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "Respond to Webhook",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.respondToWebhook",
      "typeVersion": 1.1,
      "position": [300, 0]
    }
  ],
  "connections": {
    "Webhook": { "main": [[{ "node": "Respond to Webhook", "type": "main", "index": 0 }]] }
  }
}

Put what should really happen between those two nodes: a shop query, HubSpot, a spreadsheet, your own API. The agent’s data is under $json.body.event and $json.body.data.

Post-call events in n8n

That is a separate integration, Post-call webhook in the catalogue, and a separate workflow: a Webhook node with the POST method, its production URL pasted into the webhook wizard. call.completed arrives with the transcript, summary and outcome, and on request SMS, campaign and balance.low events too; the format and the list of events are in Webhooks.

The X-Brosbots-Signature is usually not checked in n8n, because the address is secret in itself. If you want to: switch on Raw Body in the Webhook node, compute HMAC-SHA256 of the raw body with a Crypto node (Action Hmac, Type SHA256, Encoding Hex, Secret = your whsec_… key) and compare it with the header after stripping sha256=.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
Connection test: “test address”	a /webhook-test/ URL was pasted	activate the workflow, paste the Production URL
Test: n8n returned 403	Header Auth on the node, a different or empty secret on the connection	enter the same secret on both sides; the header name is X-Brosbots-Secret
Test: n8n returned 404 on the production URL	the workflow is inactive, or its path changed	the Active toggle, copy the address again
The agent says it could not check	the workflow returned an error or did not answer within 15 s	Executions in n8n shows which node failed; move Respond to Webhook ahead of the slow nodes
The agent never uses the tool	When to use it, and what to say is empty	describe when to call the workflow and what to pass
The agent reads out raw JSON	the workflow answers with a whole record	answer with {"message": "…"} and a finished sentence

Every call shows up in n8n under Executions, with the body the agent sent.