Setup guide · Automation
Formfeed in n8n AI Agent
n8n’s MCP Client Tool connects to MCP servers over HTTP. For self-hosted n8n, run the Formfeed server as a small container in the same network; it stores nothing and takes the key from each request.
This setup needs the HTTP endpoint: https://mcp.formfeed.dev/mcp with an API key, or npx -y @formfeed/mcp --http in your own network as shown.
Create a test key
Sign in to the app, open API keys and create a key in the test environment. Test renders are not metered, which is what you want while an agent is still learning your templates. Switch to a live key when it goes to production.
Add the Formfeed server
Add the service to the Compose file of your n8n instance. Keep the port inside the Docker network; n8n reaches it by service name.
services: formfeed-mcp: image: node:22-alpine command: npx -y @formfeed/mcp --http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8790 restart: unless-stopped # no ports: section, n8n reaches http://formfeed-mcp:8790/mcp inside the networkEndpoint http://formfeed-mcp:8790/mcp Transport HTTP Streamable Authentication Bearer Auth → your ff_live_… or ff_test_… key Tools to include AllOn n8n Cloud, where a container is not an option, point the node at the hosted endpoint instead.
Check the connection
Open the AI Agent node, run it once with “Which Formfeed templates are there?” and check the MCP Client Tool’s output in the execution log.
Try it
- Invoice
“Render invoice 2026-0042 for Olvarest GmbH: 8 hours of consulting at €120 and 20 hours of implementation at €110. Use the German invoice template.”
- Validation
“Check whether orders/2026-0042.json fits the invoice-de template before you render anything.”
- Ad-hoc HTML
“Turn these meeting notes into a one-page PDF. No template, plain HTML is fine.”
Tips
- For fixed flows without a model (a form submission always renders the same certificate), the Formfeed community node is cheaper and deterministic.
The eight tools
- list_templates
- Templates of the workspace with slug, kind (PDF, image, Word or PowerPoint), engine and published version; filter by kind, engine, tag or search text.
- free
- get_template_schema
- The JSON Schema of the data a template expects, with the sample data it was designed with. A template without a stored schema gets one inferred from its sample data: a guide, not a contract.
- free
- validate_template
- Checks a template with the data without rendering: syntax, variables missing from the data, errors that only happen with this data, and the data against the template’s stored schema. Ad-hoc HTML is checked offline.
- free
- check_invoice
- Checks the
_invoiceblock of an e-invoice offline, as the API does before it renders one: the fields EN 16931 asks for, the totals to the cent, VAT categories and code lists, and the rules of France. Names every field and rule it breaks. - free
- render
- Renders a template or raw HTML to PDF, PNG, JPG or WebP (Word and PowerPoint templates also to DOCX or PPTX) and returns the download URL, page count and units. With
einvoice, the PDF becomes a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X e-invoice with the validator’s report, for one unit more (live from the Starter plan). - 1 unit, PDFs per 5 pages
- convert_to_pdf
- Converts a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, RTF or HTML document of up to 20 MB, or the render of a Word or PowerPoint template, to PDF and returns the download URL; the document is not kept. The local server also reads a file by its path. Starter plan and above.
- like a PDF
- get_render
- Status, download URL and error of a render: for renders the agent queued with
wait: false, and for a fresh link once the old one has expired. - free
- get_workspace
- The workspace and organisation the server works in, the plan, the environment and the units of the period: how many renders are left.
- free
Configuration reference: n8n — n8n AI Agent (checked 10 September 2026)