proving ground

Code-First n8n

96% fewer tokens
80% faster
86% fewer nodes

This proving ground demonstrates that n8nac + code-mode cover the entire n8n workflow lifecycle — from authoring through production.

Evolution
How we got here
2025
n8n-autopilot
Built workflows manually, felt the pain. Every node wired by hand, every change a fragile drag-and-drop.
2026 Q1
n8nac
Code-first development. Author workflows in TypeScript, push with a single command. Version control built in.
2026 Q1/Q2
code-mode
Code-first runtime. Sandboxed TypeScript execution replaces sequential LLM tool chains. One call, not eleven.
Benchmark
Side-by-side comparison

Traditional

LLM calls11
Tokens18,000
Latency12.5s
ComplexityO(n²)
vs

Code-Mode

LLM calls1
Tokens700
Latency2.5s
ComplexityO(1)
Architecture
How it works
// Traditional: quadratic context accumulation
Traditional: LLM → tool → LLM → tool → ... → answer   (11 calls, O(n²))

// Code-Mode: constant — one call, one sandbox
Code-Mode:   LLM → TypeScript → sandbox → answer       (1 call,  O(1))
Workflows
5 workflows proving the thesis
01

Customer Onboarding

Complete
Proves the core thesis: collapsing an 11-step LLM tool chain into a single sandboxed execution with 96% token savings.
96% token savings91% fewer LLM calls
graph LR
  A[Customer Payload] --> B[AI Agent + Code-Mode]
  B --> C[Onboarding Report]
02

MCP Filesystem

Complete
Real file operations through Model Context Protocol in a sandboxed environment. Proves MCP tool integration works inside code-mode.
14 tools registeredMCP in sandbox
graph LR
  A[Webhook] --> B[AI Agent]
  B --> C[Code-Mode + MCP]
  C --> D[File Ops]
03

Multi-Agent Dispatch

Complete
Classification, response, and quality check in a single execution. Replaces a 16-node traditional workflow with 3 nodes.
81% fewer nodes4 LLM calls to 1
graph LR
  A[Request] --> B[AI Agent]
  B --> C[Classify + Respond + QC]
04

Dev Loop

Complete
Full workflow lifecycle in a single API call: create, activate, and verify a workflow. Proves end-to-end authoring automation.
11.5s full cycle$0.05 per run
graph LR
  A["POST /dev-loop"] --> B[AI Agent]
  B --> C[n8n API Tool]
  C --> D[Create + Activate]
05

E2E Sibling Tools

Complete
Zero-configuration tool discovery between n8n nodes. Code-mode automatically finds and invokes sibling tools on the canvas.
Zero-config discovery8/8 criteria pass
graph LR
  A[Webhook] --> B[AI Agent]
  B --> C[Calculator]
  B --> D[Code-Mode]
Published
npm packages
PackageVersionDescription
n8n-nodes-utcp-codemode2.1.0n8n community node
code-mode-tools0.2.0CLI + MCP server
n8nac-tools1.0.0n8nac CLI wrapper