n8n | ElevenLabs Documentation

Connect an n8n workflow to a webhook tool. When a conversation matches the tool’s description, your receptionist collects the details, calls the workflow, and reads its response back to the caller. Through n8n, the receptionist can reach any app n8n connects to.

Build the workflow

Add a Webhook trigger

In n8n, create a workflow and add a Webhook node. Set HTTP Method to POST.

Protect the webhook

Set Authentication to Header Auth and create a credential with a header name, such as X-Reception-Key, and a long random value. Reception.ai sends this header with every call.

Return a response

Set Respond to Using ‘Respond to Webhook’ Node. Add your workflow steps, then end with a Respond to Webhook node that returns JSON, for example {"available": true, "next_slot": "Tuesday 10am"}. Your receptionist reads this response to decide what to say.

Activate the workflow

Activate the workflow and copy the Production URL from the Webhook node. The test URL only works while the editor is listening.

Create the webhook tool

Go to Integrations, select Add integration, and choose Webhook Tool.

Field	Value
Name	What the workflow does, for example `check_service_area`
Description	When to use it, for example “Check whether we serve the caller’s zip code. Use it before booking an on-site visit.”
Method	POST
URL	The workflow’s production URL
Request Headers	The header name and value from the n8n credential
Body Parameters	One parameter per value the workflow needs, for example `zip_code` (string, required). n8n reads them from `body.zip_code`.
Assign to agents	Receptionist

Select Enable, then test your receptionist with a conversation that should trigger the workflow. Each run appears in n8n’s Executions list.

Body parameters are flat values that your receptionist fills in from the conversation. To send a fixed value, set it inside the workflow instead.

Expose several workflows over MCP

To give your receptionist many n8n workflows at once, use n8n’s MCP Server Trigger node instead. Connect the workflows or tool nodes you want to expose, set the trigger’s authentication to bearer, and activate it. In Reception.ai, add an MCP server with the trigger’s production URL and the bearer token as Secret Token, then assign the tools on the Tools tab.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
No execution appears in n8n	The workflow must be active and the tool must use the production URL.
The workflow returns 403	The header name and value in Reception.ai must match the n8n credential exactly.
The receptionist says the tool failed	The workflow must finish within the tool’s Response timeout. It defaults to 20 seconds and goes up to 120.
The receptionist never calls the tool	Make the tool’s description name the situations where it should be used. You can also add a procedure.