How To Connect Tavily to n8n

Ever wished you could bring reliable, real-time web search directly into your n8n workflows? That’s exactly what Tavily enables. Whether you’re building AI agents that need current facts or enriching data with context from the web, Tavily provides access to high-quality web results with a single API call. In this tutorial, you’ll learn exactly how to connect Tavily to n8n, step by step, so you can build smarter automations and AI-powered workflows effortlessly.

What Is Tavily and Why Use It in n8n?

Tavily is a fast, developer-friendly web search API designed for context retrieval, LLM agents, and automation workflows. Unlike traditional search engines, Tavily provides structured JSON data that is easy to parse and integrate into tools like n8n.

Benefits of Integrating Tavily in n8n

• Real-time web results: Pull fresh information on-demand to keep your workflows current.
• AI-ready output: Tavily's JSON response is easy to feed into ChatGPT, Claude, or other AI language models.
• Fast and scalable: Ideal for automations needing consistent external data lookups.

Use Cases in n8n:

• Create AI-driven research bots
• Pull summary data for newsletters or content automation
• Use live info to enrich incoming support tickets or form submissions

Let’s dive into how to connect Tavily to n8n in a matter of minutes.

Step 1: Get Your Tavily API Key

Before you can connect Tavily to n8n, you need an API key.

1. Go to https://www.tavily.com.
2. Sign up for a free account or log in.
3. Head to your dashboard and copy the API key provided.

The free plan is enough for basic testing and prototyping, which makes it perfect for your n8n experiments.

Step 2: Create a New Workflow in n8n

If you’re not sure how to set up n8n, check out this free setup guide if you haven’t installed it already.

Once n8n is running:

1. Open the editor UI (typically at http://localhost:5678/ or wherever your instance is hosted).
2. Click "New Workflow" at the top.
3. Name your workflow something like "Tavily Search Test".

Step 3: Add an HTTP Request Node

Tavily doesn’t yet have a native n8n node, but it can easily be connected using the HTTP Request node.

1. Click the plus (+) button and search for HTTP Request.
2. Select and drop it into the canvas.
3. Configure the node using the following settings:

HTTP Request Node Configuration

Under the Body Parameters, add two fields:

• api_key: Paste your Tavily API key here.
• query: The search string (e.g., “latest OpenAI updates”).

Alternatively, you can set these using an expression if you want dynamic query input from another node.

Example Body:

{
  "api_key": "your_api_key_here",
  "query": "Latest tech news"
}

Step 4: Test the Node

Click Execute Node, and within a second or two, you should receive a structured JSON response from Tavily.

The typical output structure looks like:

{
  "answer": "OpenAI has released new features...",
  "results": [
    {
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "content": "OpenAI just launched...",
      "title": "OpenAI’s Latest Updates"
    },
    ...
  ]
}

You can now use this data in downstream nodes—whether feeding it into an OpenAI node to generate content, summarizing with Claude, or simply sending an email.

Step 5: (Optional) Use Output in a ChatGPT Node

To build an AI contextual assistant, add an OpenAI node after the HTTP Request node and link the Tavily response.

For example, set the Prompt to something like:

Using the following articles, write a simple overview of this topic: {{$json["results"][0]["content"]}}

Want to go deeper? Here’s a step-by-step guide to using ChatGPT in n8n.

Mini Use Case: Turn Tavily Into a News Summary Bot

Here’s a simple automation idea using Tavily and n8n:

1. Trigger: Schedule node (every 12 hours)
2. HTTP Request: Tavily search for “today’s tech news”
3. AI Node: Summarize results using OpenAI or Claude
4. Email Node: Send digest to your inbox

This gives you a fully automated news briefing lite bot that runs daily.

Pro Tip: Use Expressions for Dynamic Queries

You can set the query parameter dynamically by feeding user input from Telegram, a form, or webhook input.

Example expression:

{{$json["message"]["text"]}}

This makes it easy to create real-time search assistants or responsive chat agents that retrieve updated information.

For more help with trigger nodes, see our full trigger guide for n8n.

Table: Tavily vs Other Web Search Options in n8n

While Tavily is a strong choice, how does it compare?

FAQ

What is Tavily used for in n8n?

Tavily is primarily used for live web search and data enrichment inside n8n workflows. It’s great for agents, summaries, research tools, and news bots.

Is there a Tavily node in n8n?

Not yet. But Tavily can be easily used via the HTTP Request node by making a simple API POST request.

Is Tavily free to use with n8n?

Yes, Tavily offers a generous free tier with hundreds of queries per month—perfect for personal or development workflows.

Can I use Tavily with OpenAI in n8n?

Absolutely. You can feed Tavily’s structured search results directly into an OpenAI node to generate summaries, insights, or contextual responses.

Why choose Tavily over other search APIs?

Tavily stands out with faster response times, AI-ready schema, and straightforward integration. It’s designed for use in automation and agent pipelines, making it ideal for tools like n8n.

Ready to power up your workflows with real-time search? Now that you know how to connect Tavily to n8n, the possibilities are endless.

Looking for more advanced Ai-powered automations? You might be interested in building a plan and execute agent in n8n or integrating Claude with n8n.