Stage 2 · Lesson 1 of 8
Nodes, connections and items
An n8n is a canvas of nodes, the boxes you connect together. A trigger node starts it, and each node after it does one job. Data travels between nodes as a list of .
Each item holds one record, such as one contact, inside a json object. Most nodes run once for every item they receive. So if an returns 50 contacts as 50 items, the next Slack node sends 50 messages.
After each test run, the output panel shows these items as a table, as JSON or as a schema (the list of fields). Understanding items is the key to everything else in n8n, from to the .
Common trapnot noticing whether a node produced one item containing an array or many items, which changes how every later node behaves.
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Resources for this stage
Start with
- CourseFreen8n Academy
n8n · Beginner
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