n8n launches Agents: build AI assistants without designing workflows

On September 25, 2026, automation platform n8n announced on its official blog a new building block called "Agents," which lets users describe a goal in plain language, pick an AI model, and grant it tools and existing workflows so it can figure out the steps on its own instead of following a fixed workflow.

Who is affected

• n8n Cloud users on the latest stable version can use Agents right away.
• Self-hosted users can enable it with extra setup.
• Enterprise support is coming later, per n8n's announcement.

How agents work

Image: n8n · Source: blog.n8n.io Each agent combines a model, plain-language instructions, channels and triggers (Slack, Telegram, Linear, Discord, or a schedule), tools (n8n's built-in integrations, MCP servers, or existing workflows), plus memory and session logs that record every step the agent takes.

Agents can call a user's existing workflows as tools, limiting exactly what they're allowed to do in connected systems, and sensitive tools can be marked to require approval before the agent proceeds.

Workflows can also call an agent through the new "Message an Agent" node when a step needs open-ended handling rather than a fixed sequence.

What to know before using it

n8n says Agents are still in preview, each conversation turn counts as one execution and shares the account's workflow execution quota, and it recommends testing thoroughly and keeping approvals on for sensitive actions before relying on agents in production.