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n8n-subworkflows-official

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Use when building anything multi-step, anything that looks repeatable, anything the user mentions reusing, or any workflow with more than ~10 nodes. Triggers on "reuse", "I do this in another workflow", "extract", "modular", "shared logic", "subworkflow", multi-step builds, or any task that mentions logic the user has built before.

skills/n8n-subworkflows-official/SKILL.md

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# n8n Sub-workflows

Sub-workflows are reusable functions. The `Execute Workflow Trigger` declares input parameters, the body does work, the last node returns output. Callers invoke it like any other node.

That framing opens up the function-shaped wins: encapsulation, reuse, testability, replaceability. It's the primary reuse mechanism in n8n, and unfortunately underused.

Without sub-workflows, the same logic gets duplicated across workflows. Bug fixes happen in multiple places, one gets missed, and "identical" copies drift.

## Non-negotiables

1. **Search before you build.** Before writing logic that handles a generic problem, check if a sub-workflow already exists. Filter by tag (`search_workflows({ tags: ['subworkflow'] })`, a domain tag) and/or keyword (`query: '<keyword>'`). Tags are the discovery mechanism (n8n 2.27.0+).
2. **`Execute Workflow Trigger` uses "Define Below" with typed fields, not passthrough.** Define Below is the only mode that lets agent tools (`fromAi`) and structured callers pass values in. Two exceptions: (a) the sub-workflow specifically needs to receive binary (then it can't be wired as an agent tool directly), or (b) the sub-workflow takes no inputs at all (Define Below requires at least one field). See "Sub-workflow inputs and outputs" below.

## Strong defaults