Description

n8n-nodes-canolite

n8n community node for Canolite — the self-hosted template-to-image and video generation platform.

Design templates visually in the Canolite editor, then generate images and MP4 videos from them in your n8n workflows.

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Installation

In n8n (Community Nodes)

1. Go to Settings → Community Nodes
2. Click Install a community node
3. Enter n8n-nodes-canolite
4. Click Install

Manual Installation

cd ~/.n8n/custom
npm install n8n-nodes-canolite

Restart n8n after installation.

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Credentials

You need a Canolite API key. Create one in your Canolite dashboard under API Keys.

| Field | Description | Example |
|———–|——————————————————-|——————————|
| Base URL | The URL of your Canolite instance | http://localhost:3000 |
| API Key | Your API key (starts with sklive) | skliveabc123... |

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How the node is laid out

Every job follows the same four steps, top to bottom:

Resource → Operation → Template → Fields

1. Resource — Image or Video
2. Operation — Single Request, Synchronous Request, Batch Request or Get Status
3. Template — pick it from the list, or switch to By ID to paste/expression a tmpl_...
4. Fields — the template’s own objects, loaded live and rendered as one labelled input each

Nothing else is required. Encoder settings and the webhook live below that, and
Options stays collapsed until you want it.

Operations

| Operation | What it does |
|————————-|——————————————————————————|
| Single Request | Queues one render and returns its job UID straight away |
| Synchronous Request | Waits for the render and returns the finished imageurl / videourl |
| Batch Request | Queues many renders from one template — up to 500 images, or 20 videos |
| Get Status | Looks up a queued render by its job UID |

The two resources offer the same four operations. What differs:

• Image adds Format (PNG / JPEG / WebP), Quality (1-100) and Scale (1-3)
• Video adds Frame Rate (1-60), Duration and a Quality preset (High / Balanced / Small), and requires Canolite 1.8+ with a template that contains a video layer

Image and video jobs live on separate endpoints, so an img_ UID is not found
under Video → Get Status, and a vid_ UID is not found under Image.

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Fields

Choosing a template loads its objects and renders one input per object, typed to
match: a text layer gets a text box, an image or video layer gets a URL box, and
a shape gets a colour. Text layers arrive pre-filled with whatever the template
already says, so you only change what you mean to change.

Less common overrides are one click away under Add field rather than always
on screen:

| Object type | Always shown | Under Add field |
|————-|—————|————————————————————–|
| Text | the text | Font Size, Colour |
| Image | Image URL | — |
| Video | Video URL | Trim Start, Trim End, Start At, Volume, Muted, Loop |
| Shape | — | the fill colour |

Leave a field empty and it is left out of the request entirely, which the API
reads as “keep whatever the template has”. That is also why Format,
Quality, Scale and Duration default to an inherit marker
(Template Default / 0) — sending "" or 0 would be rejected, so the node
omits the key instead.

imageurl and videourl must be publicly reachable http(s) URLs. The API
blocks private and loopback addresses, dropping such a change with a warning
rather than fetching it.

Batch Request is the one exception to the Fields form. A resource mapper
describes a single set of values, and a batch needs a different set per output,
so batch keeps a repeating Items list where each item has its own
Modifications and optional per-item webhook.

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Waiting for a render

Synchronous Request blocks the node until the file is ready, but the two
resources get there differently, and only the video one needs a setting from you.

Image renders inside the HTTP request and answers with the image_url.
Nothing to configure.

Video cannot: encoding runs for minutes, and a request held open that long
dies at any reverse proxy in front of Canolite. So the API always queues the job,
and the node does the waiting by polling — which is why the video panel adds:

| Field | Default | Meaning |
|——————————-|———|—————————————————————-|
| Max Wait Time (Seconds) | 600 | Give up after this long. Type any value from 1 to 3600. |
| Poll Interval (Seconds) | 5 | Under Options. How often to check. Does not affect render speed. |

As a rough guide, a 15-second clip at 30fps takes a couple of minutes on modest
hardware. Set Max Wait Time to cover your longest video, and make sure the
workflow’s own execution timeout is at least as generous.

If the wait runs out, nothing is cancelled — the job keeps rendering on the
server, and the error carries its UID so Get Status can still collect it.

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Usage examples

Render one image and use it immediately

1. Resource → Image, Operation → Synchronous Request
2. Template → pick your template from the list
3. Fill in the Fields that appeared
4. Execute — the output carries image_url

Render one video and wait for the MP4

1. Resource → Video (the template list now shows only templates with a video layer)
2. Operation → Synchronous Request
3. Template → pick one, then fill in the Fields
4. Set Max Wait Time (Seconds) to cover your longest render
5. Execute — the output carries videourl, posterurl, duration, fps and frame_count

Fire and forget, collect later

1. Operation → Single Request — the output is { uid, status: "queued" }
2. Later, Operation → Get Status with that Render UID, or set a
Webhook URL under Options and let Canolite call you

Batch from a spreadsheet

1. Operation → Batch Request, pick the Template
2. Add an Item per output, each with its own Modifications
3. Execute — returns a batch UID and the individual render UIDs

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Upgrading from 1.x

2.0 is a clean break. The panel was rebuilt around
Resource → Operation → Template → Fields, and the old parameter names are gone,
so Canolite nodes saved with 1.x need setting up again after the upgrade.

What changed:

• Operations renamed. Generate → Single Request, Generate (Synchronous) → Synchronous Request, Batch Generate → Batch Request.
• Video gained a Synchronous Request. 1.x had none.
• Wait for Completion is gone. Choosing Single Request vs Synchronous Request is now the whole decision. The video wait is a plain Max Wait Time (Seconds) instead of Poll Interval × Max Poll Attempts.
• The Template resource is gone. Templates are browsed from the Template picker itself; has_video filtering happens automatically when the resource is Video.
• Modifications became Fields. Instead of adding rows and picking an object per row, the template’s objects are rendered as inputs directly. The old list survives only inside Batch Request items.

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Workflow Ideas

• Social Media Automation: Generate branded images from templates when new content is published
• Certificate Generator: Create personalized certificates on demand
• E-commerce: Generate product images with dynamic text overlays
• Report Headers: Create custom report header images with date/title info
• Event Badges: Batch generate attendee badges from a spreadsheet
• Marketing Campaigns: Batch create images with different text for A/B testing
• Video Ads: Render personalised MP4 variants from one template, swapping the

clip or the overlaid text per item

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Compatibility

• n8n: 1.0+
• Canolite: 1.0+ (API v1) — the Video resource requires Canolite 1.8+

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License

MIT