Workflows and Automation with NocoDB MCP
An MCP client can build NocoDB workflows step by step, test and publish them, and read their runs. It can also manage webhooks, scripts and automation folders.
These 35 tools are in the Automation section of Tools & Permissions. A tool needs the access level in its row: Read, Read & write, or Read, write & delete. Two more tools, executeWorkflow and testHook, are opt-in tools: a connection gets them only when you switch them on.
How the assistant works with workflows
Read and write workflow drafts. Add nodes and test nodes. Publish an automation after all its nodes are tested.
List, read, create, update, and delete scripts.
A test of a workflow node over MCP is a check, not a run. The node does not do its action. For example, a create-record node writes no row, and a messaging node sends nothing. NocoDB resolves the node configuration against the results of the nodes before it and checks it with read-only calls. The result shows as simulated.
Some nodes can only be checked with a real run, for example a script step or a node that declares no outputs. For these nodes, the test fails and MCP cannot clear the failure. You cannot publish until someone runs that step in the automation editor.
Manage webhooks.
Tools
Workflows
Needs workflows on your plan. Without it, these tools are not offered.
| Tool | What it does | Access level |
|---|---|---|
listWorkflows | List the automations (workflows) of the current project. | Read |
getWorkflow | Get one automation, including its editable draft graph and the published nodes/edges. | Read |
listWorkflowNodeTypes | List automation node types available here: id, title, category, description, icon, ports, requiredConfigKeys, hidden status, and plan lock status. | Read |
getWorkflowAuthoringInstructions | How to author an automation draft over this API: graph shape, trigger and edge rules, expression syntax, and what is rejected. | Read |
listExecutions | List past runs of an automation. | Read |
getExecution | Get one run of an automation, including its node results. | Read |
createWorkflow | Create an automation. | Read & write |
updateWorkflow | Update an automation's title, description or draft graph. | Read & write |
duplicateWorkflow | Duplicate an automation into the same project. | Read & write |
publishWorkflow | Publish an automation: the tested draft becomes the live version and starts running for real on its trigger. | Read & write |
deleteWorkflow | Delete an automation. | Read, write & delete |
executeWorkflow | Run the published version of an automation now. This is a real run: its nodes write records, call external services and send messages. NocoDB refuses the run when the automation is turned off. The run is queued, so read its outcome with getExecution. | Opt-in |
Workflow steps
Needs workflows on your plan. Without it, these tools are not offered.
| Tool | What it does | Access level |
|---|---|---|
addWorkflowNode | Add one node to an automation's draft. | Read & write |
updateWorkflowNode | Update one node of an automation's draft. | Read & write |
connectWorkflowNodes | Add one edge to an automation's draft. | Read & write |
disconnectWorkflowNodes | Remove the edge between two nodes of an automation's draft. | Read & write |
validateWorkflowNode | Test one node of an automation and store the result, which is what the validate flag on the node-editing tools does, and what publish requires of every node. | Read & write |
deleteWorkflowNode | Delete one node from an automation's draft. | Read, write & delete |
Webhooks
Needs webhooks in MCP on your plan. Without it, these tools are not offered.
| Tool | What it does | Access level |
|---|---|---|
listHooks | List webhooks of a table. | Read |
getHook | Get a webhook by ID. | Read |
createHook | Create a webhook on a table. | Read & write |
updateHook | Update an existing webhook. | Read & write |
deleteHook | Delete a webhook. | Read, write & delete |
testHook | Fire a webhook once, as configured, with a sample payload built from its table. This is a real request to the hook URL, or a real email or message for other notification types, and the hook log records it. | Opt-in |
Scripts
Needs scripts in MCP on your plan. Without it, these tools are not offered.
| Tool | What it does | Access level |
|---|---|---|
listScripts | List NocoDB scripts in a project. | Read |
getScript | Get a NocoDB script by ID. | Read |
getScriptAuthoringInstructions | How to write the source for a NocoDB script: the runtime globals, the record read/write API, and the silent-failure modes the generated editor typings do not mention. | Read |
createScript | Create a new NocoDB script. | Read & write |
updateScript | Update an existing NocoDB script. | Read & write |
duplicateScript | Duplicate a script into the same project. | Read & write |
restoreScript | Restore a script from the project trash. | Read & write |
deleteScript | Move a script to the project trash. | Read, write & delete |
Automation folders
Needs folders on your plan. Without it, these tools are not offered.
| Tool | What it does | Access level |
|---|---|---|
listAutomationFolders | List the automation folders of the current project with the workflows and scripts inside each, plus the unfoldered automations under topLevel. | Read |
createAutomationFolder | Create an automation folder in the current project. | Read & write |
updateAutomationFolder | Rename an automation folder or change its order. | Read & write |
moveAutomationToFolder | Move a workflow or script into an automation folder, or back to the top level with folderId: null. | Read & write |
deleteAutomationFolder | Delete an automation folder. | Read, write & delete |
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