n8n Zero to Hero · Level 1: The Automation Playground · Episode 09
The Duplicate Button
Duplicating nodes, downloading and re-importing a workflow, and a one-trigger-per-workflow rule you'll discover the hard way.
What this episode is about
A fresh, simple workflow this time: an Edit Fields node holding x = 5 and y = 10. When you need those same fields somewhere else, duplicating beats rebuilding from scratch — right-click, Duplicate, or just Ctrl+D. Then we export the whole workflow as a downloadable JSON file from the three-dot menu, make a change, and download again to see the updated file. We import it back into a brand new workflow with Import from File, and separately try plain copy-paste with Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V — which is where we discover that a Manual Trigger never gets duplicated, because n8n only allows one per workflow.
What you'll learn
- Duplicating a node with a right-click or Ctrl+D instead of rebuilding it
- Exporting a whole workflow as a JSON file from the three-dot menu
- Re-downloading after a change and seeing the updated file
- Importing a JSON file into a new workflow with Import from File
- Why a Manual Trigger node never gets copy-pasted along with everything else