Lists all workflows from n8n with their basic information including ID, name, status, creation date, and tags. Use this tool to get an overview of available workflows before performing operations on specific workflows. Results can be filtered by active status, tags, or name.
AI agents call list_workflows to retrieve information from Mcp N8n Builder without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This is a Read operation—it retrieves and queries existing workflow metadata without side effects. Severity is medium rather than low because the tool exposes information about all workflows in an n8n instance, which could include sensitive workflow definitions, names, or execution patterns that an attacker could exploit. However, it does not execute, modify, or delete workflows.
From the tool's definition Tool explicitly lists and retrieves workflow data ('Lists all workflows from n8n with their basic information including ID, name, status, creation date, and tags').
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access list_workflows gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Mcp N8n Builder, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for list_workflows:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"list_workflows": {}
}
}list_workflows is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Lists all workflows from n8n with their basic information including ID, name, status, creation date, and tags. Use this tool to get an overview of available workflows before performing operations on specific workflows. Results can be filtered by active status, tags, or name. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Mcp N8n Builder MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Mcp N8n Builder MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list_workflows: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Mcp N8n Builder. Nothing to install.
list_workflows is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the list_workflows rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for list_workflows. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
list_workflows is provided by the Mcp N8n Builder MCP server (spences10/mcp-n8n-builder). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 10 Mcp N8n Builder tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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10 Mcp N8n Builder tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.