BriefGate for n8n

n8n-nodes-briefgate is a community node for n8n that wraps BriefGate's client intake — create an intake, chase-and-wait, and read typed results — as workflow nodes, an AI Agent tool, and a trigger for BriefGate's webhook events.

It is submitted to n8n for verification and is not yet verified — see Installing on n8n Cloud below for what that means for you today.

Installation

Self-hosted n8n:

  1. Go to Settings → Community Nodes.
  2. Select Install.
  3. Enter n8n-nodes-briefgate.
  4. Agree to the risk notice (standard for any community node — n8n shows this for every non-verified package) and select Install.

Or from the command line, if you manage your n8n instance's dependencies directly:

bash
npm install n8n-nodes-briefgate

Both nodes and the credential type appear after n8n restarts (Docker/npm installs) or immediately (the Community Nodes panel installs without a restart).

Installing on n8n Cloud

n8n Cloud only lets you install verified community nodes directly from the Community Nodes panel (Starter plan and above); an unverified node like this one — while its review is pending — is not installable there. Until BriefGate's node passes verification, use it on a self-hosted n8n instance (Docker, npm, or any of n8n's deployment options). Once it's verified, this page will say so and it will show up in Cloud's node panel like any other verified integration.

Credential: BriefGate API

Both nodes authenticate with a BriefGate API key.

  1. In the BriefGate dashboard, open API Keys and create one. Use a bg_test_… key while you build the workflow — it behaves normally but never emails or texts a real client; switch to bg_live_… when you're ready to go live.
  2. In n8n, create a new BriefGate API credential and paste the key into API Key. Leave Base URL at https://api.briefgate.dev unless you're pointed at a staging or self-hosted BriefGate deployment.
  3. The BriefGate Trigger node specifically needs a key with the admin scope — registering a webhook subscribes to events across the whole account, so intakes:read/intakes:write aren't enough. See API key scopes.

Operations (BriefGate node)

The BriefGate node has one Operation field with five choices:

Operation What it does Key fields
Create Intake Starts a new intake and emails the client their portal link Project Name, Client Email, Client Name, Items (fixed fields or raw JSON), Additional Fields (chase schedule, due date, retention, folder, idempotency key…)
Get Many Lists intakes with optional filters Filters: Status, Client Email, Folder ID, Search; Return All / Limit
Get Results Typed values for approved (optionally also submitted-but-unapproved) items Intake ID; Options: Only New, Include Pending
Get Status Item statuses, chase history and progress for one intake Intake ID
Send Reminder Manually triggers a chase message outside the automatic schedule Intake ID, Channel (Email/SMS)

Example — Create Intake

Items can be built with the Items fixed-collection field (Key, Label, Type, Required, Assignee, Help Text, and an optional Advanced (JSON) field for constraints/options/schema), or switch Specify Items to Using JSON and paste an array directly:

json
[
  { "key": "logo", "label": "Company logo", "type": "image", "required": true },
  { "key": "colors", "label": "Brand colors", "type": "color_list", "required": false }
]

Set Project Name to Bella Napoli — Website, Client Email/Client Name to the client's details, and under Additional Fields set Chase Schedule to Default and Due Date to 2026-12-01. Running the node emails the client their portal link and returns the created intake, including its id — pass that downstream as intakeId for Get Status / Get Results / Send Reminder.

Example — Get Results

Set Intake ID to {{$json.id}} (from an earlier Create Intake or Trigger node) and, under Options, enable Include Pending if you want submitted-but-not-yet-approved items in the response too. The node returns typed values per item key, signed file URLs for file/image items, and a missing array naming anything still outstanding.

Example — Get Many

Leave Filters empty to list every intake, or set Status to In Progress and Search to a client name to narrow it down. Turn on Return All to page through every match instead of stopping at Limit.

Using BriefGate as an AI Agent tool

The BriefGate node is usable as a tool: connect it to the Tool input of an AI Agent node the same way you'd attach any other n8n tool node. The agent sees it as BriefGate with all five operations available, and decides for itself — from its system prompt and the conversation — when to call Create Intake, check Get Status, or pull Get Results. This is the same use case BriefGate's MCP server covers for Claude Code and other MCP clients, just wired through n8n's own Agent instead.

A typical setup: an AI Agent node with a chat trigger, the BriefGate node attached as a tool (with a BriefGate API credential), and a system prompt telling the agent when a task is blocked on something only a human client can provide (see BriefGate's own guidance on this — the same reasoning applies whether the agent runs in n8n or in an MCP client).

BriefGate Trigger — webhook events

The BriefGate Trigger node starts your workflow when one of these events fires on your account:

Pick one or more in the Events field (multi-select). Activating the workflow registers a webhook endpoint on your BriefGate account pointing at n8n's webhook URL; deactivating the workflow removes it again — there's nothing to clean up by hand on either side. Every delivery is verified against BriefGate's X-BriefGate-Signature header (HMAC-SHA256, 5-minute replay window) before your workflow sees it. See webhooks.md for the full payload shape of each event.

Example workflows

New client, one click. A form (Typeform, or an n8n Form trigger) collects a project name and client email when a deal is marked won in your CRM → BriefGate: Create Intake with the items your team always asks for at kickoff → done. The client gets the portal link by email immediately.

Files land in Drive automatically. BriefGate Trigger listens for intake.completed → BriefGate: Get Results reads back the typed values and signed file URLs → an HTTP Request node downloads each file → a Google Drive node uploads it into a project folder named after the client. No one has to remember to go collect the files by hand.

Ask the agent who still owes you something. A Chat Trigger feeds a message into an AI Agent node (with an OpenAI Chat Model and the BriefGate node attached as a tool) — ask it "which clients still owe me materials?" and the agent calls Get Many to list in-progress intakes, then Get Status on each to check what's still outstanding, and answers in the chat.

Three ready-to-import templates built on these three ideas are on GitHub.

Resources