Use Elido in self-hosted n8n

n8n is a self-hosted workflow automation tool. The Elido community node gives you native triggers and actions inside n8n's visual editor — no HTTP Request nodes required.

Requirements#

• n8n version 0.220 or later (community nodes require this minimum).
• Self-hosted n8n with community node installation enabled. Cloud n8n plans may restrict this — check your plan.
• An Elido workspace API token.

Step 1 — Install the community node#

1. In n8n, go to Settings → Community Nodes.
2. Click Install a community node.
3. Paste the package name:

   @elidoapp/n8n-nodes-elido
   

4. Agree to the risk notice and click Install.
5. n8n restarts. After restart, search for "Elido" in the node picker — you should see the Elido trigger and action nodes.

If your n8n instance blocks community nodes, set the environment variable N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ENABLED=true and restart n8n.

Step 2 — Generate an Elido API token#

1. In Elido, go to Dashboard → API Keys → New key.
2. Choose scopes based on what your workflow needs:
   • links:read — look up links, list links.
   • links:write — create and update links.
   • analytics:read — read click counts and analytics.
3. Copy the token. It starts with ek_.

Step 3 — Add Elido credentials in n8n#

1. In n8n, go to Credentials → New Credential → Elido API.
2. Paste the token in the API Token field.
3. The workspace is detected automatically from the token. Click Save.

You can create multiple credentials (one per Elido workspace) and reference them in individual nodes.

Available triggers#

Trigger	When it fires
Link Clicked	Every click on any link in the workspace (or filtered by tag/slug)
Conversion Recorded	Every time a conversion is recorded
Threshold Exceeded	When a link's click count crosses the configured number

Triggers use Elido's webhook system under the hood. n8n registers the webhook URL automatically when you activate the workflow.

Available actions#

Action	What it does
Create Link	Creates a new short link
Update Link	Updates destination URL, slug, tags, or expiry
List Links	Returns a paginated list of links with filters
Look Up Link	Finds a link by slug or ID
Get Analytics	Returns click count and breakdown for a link

Sample workflow — log clicks to Baserow#

This workflow fires on every click and writes a row to a Baserow table (a self-hosted Airtable alternative common in n8n setups).

[Elido Trigger: Link Clicked]
      ↓
[Baserow: Create Row]
  - Table: "Click Log"
  - Slug: {{ $json.slug }}
  - Country: {{ $json.country }}
  - Device: {{ $json.device }}
  - Clicked At: {{ $json.clicked_at }}

To set it up:

1. Drag the Elido trigger onto the canvas. Select credential. Set trigger type to "Link Clicked".
2. Drag a Baserow node. Connect it. Configure your Baserow base and table.
3. Map the fields as shown above.
4. Click Activate workflow.

Sample workflow — create a link from a webhook#

A simpler pattern: an external system POSTs a URL to n8n, n8n shortens it with Elido and returns the short URL.

[Webhook node: POST /shorten]
      ↓
[Elido Action: Create Link]
  - Destination URL: {{ $json.body.url }}
  - Tag: {{ $json.body.tag }}
      ↓
[Respond to Webhook]
  - Body: { "short_url": "{{ $json.short_url }}" }

Troubleshooting#

Community node not appearing after install — n8n needs a full restart after installing community nodes. If you're running n8n in Docker, restart the container: docker restart n8n.

"Invalid credentials" when testing a node — The API token is wrong or scoped incorrectly. Re-generate a token with the scopes your workflow needs and update the n8n credential.

Trigger not firing — Check that the workflow is active (the toggle in the top-right of the workflow editor). Inactive workflows don't register webhooks, so Elido never sends events.

Webhook URL rejected by Elido — n8n's webhook URL must be reachable from the internet (or from Elido's servers). If you're running n8n on a local machine or a private network, set up a tunnel (e.g. Cloudflare Tunnel, ngrok) and configure WEBHOOK_URL in n8n's environment variables to point to the tunnel address.