Node types: Trigger and Action

There are two node types you can build for n8n: trigger nodes and action nodes.

Both types provide integrations with external services.

Trigger nodes

Trigger nodes start a workflow and supply the initial data. A workflow can contain multiple trigger nodes but with each execution, only one of them will execute, depending on the triggering event.

There are three types of trigger nodes in n8n:

Type	Description	Example Nodes
Webhook	Nodes for services that support webhooks. These nodes listen for events and trigger workflows in real time.	Zendesk Trigger, Telegram Trigger, Brevo Trigger
Polling	Nodes for services that don’t support webhooks. These nodes periodically check for new data, triggering workflows when they detect updates.	Airtable Trigger, Gmail Trigger, Google Sheet Trigger, RssFeed Read Trigger
Others	Nodes that handle real-time responses not related to HTTP requests or polling. This includes message queue nodes and time-based triggers.	AMQP Trigger, RabbitMQ Trigger, MQTT Trigger, Schedule Trigger, Email Trigger (IMAP)

Action nodes

Action nodes perform operations as part of your workflow. These can include manipulating data, and triggering events in other systems.