Welcome to In Practice: AI, Testing & Best Practices 

This course focuses on making your workflows intelligent with AI, reliable through proper testing and debugging, and maintainable with solid organisational practices. Think of it as going from "it works on my machine" to workflows that are genuinely production-ready.

In this course, you will learn how to:

• • Build AI-powered workflows using the AI Agent node, tools, and memory
  • Understand the difference between AI chains and agents
  • Use the execution log and debugger to find and fix issues
  • Implement error handling patterns like Try/Catch
  • Apply naming conventions and organise nodes on the canvas
  • Manage workflows using folders, tags, and consistent structure
  • Use sub-workflows to keep complex automations modular and reusable
  • Add documentation to your workflows so others (and future you) can follow them
  • Prepare workflows for real use with publishing, scheduling, monitoring, and recovery
  • Work with workflow templates and version control

This course is split into three sections  with a final exam and wrap-up. Section 1: AI Introduction covers AI in n8n, AI nodes, Agent node and best practices. Section 2: Testing & Debugging covers development best practices and error handling. Section 3: Workflow organization & Best practices covers workflow architecture, documentation & maintenance and production readiness. 

What you'll need

• An n8n instance (cloud or self-hosted)

To follow along with the exercises in this course, you'll need access to a publicly accessible n8n instance. You can use an n8n Cloud account (free trial available) or a self-hosted instance.

 You'll also need an API key for the AI section of this course. We use Groq in our examples, but any provider with a free tier will work (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, etc.). We'll walk you through setting this up when you get to that section.

How grading works

There are three components to grading for this course. Section quizzes, hands-on workflow exercises and a final exam. Some questions are conceptual, others require a working workflow or agent to answer. Complete the workflow exercises before attempting the quizzes. 

Grading breakdown 

You will need a total of 70% to pass this course.

Before you begin

This course assumes you're comfortable with:

• • Building workflows, using triggers, and working with data in n8n
  • Making HTTP requests and working with APIs
  • Understanding how API authentication and error handling work in n8n

If any of the above feels unfamiliar, we recommend completing N8N101 Essentials: Your First Workflows and N8N102 Integrations: APIs & Connected Workflows first.

About the n8n Foundations Program

This course is part of the n8n Foundations program, which includes three courses:

• • N8N101: Essentials: Your First Workflows - Learn the n8n interface and how data moves through workflows
  • N8N102: Integrations: APIs & Connected Workflows - Connect n8n to external services, control workflow logic, and build complete integrations
  • N8N103: In Practice: AI, Testing & Best Practices (this course) - Build AI-powered workflows, debug effectively, and organise your work for production

Each course can be taken on its own, but they're designed to build on each other.

FAQ

Do I need to pay for n8n?
n8n Cloud has a free trial. You can also self-host n8n for free.

How long does the course take?
Most learners finish in 3-4 hours.

When do I get my badge?
As soon as you receive a passing grade, your badge will be automatically assigned. If this is your first badge, you will receive an email from our badges platform. 

Is this a certification?
No, this is not a certification, you will recieve a badge and a certificate of completion.  Our certification program will be launched later in the year.