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n8n AI agents: nodes in a workflow, or an open-source AI Operating System that plans its own steps

Does n8n run AI agents? Yes: n8n adds AI agent nodes to a workflow you build on its canvas. Kortix is open source, and it is the AI Operating System for the other case, an agent that plans its own steps, runs tools, and lands a change request. A schedule or a webhook starts the session.

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What a scheduled agent looks like in config

A cron trigger starts a session with nobody present.

SHEETkortix.yamlyaml
# kortix.yamltriggers:  - slug: daily-digest    type: cron    cron: '0 0 9 * * 1-5'    timezone: Europe/Berlin    prompt: Summarize yesterday's commits and open change requests.
SHEETagents/support.mdtext
---description: Answers support tickets from the help desk.mode: primarypermission:  bash: ask---You answer support tickets. Read the ticket, draft a reply, and submit it for review.
SHEETterminalshell
$  kortix cr ls# review what the agent proposes, then merge to keep it

An agent is not a node

An AI node in n8n is one step you place on the canvas: you choose the model, wire its input, and decide what runs next, so the path is the one you drew. A Kortix agent is a file, agents/<name>.md, plus an agents.<name> block in kortix.yaml; it decides which tools to call, and in what order, to reach the outcome you described.

What an agent does with a turn

An agent plans, runs tools through its connectors, reads what comes back, and keeps going until the work is done. Kortix agents reach 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP. The result is not a status line in an execution log: the agent commits to its session branch and lands the work as a change request. Session work reaches main through a change request, and merge is default-deny for agents, so a person reviews the diff. You can read the code on Kortix on GitHub.

What starts the session

A cron trigger or a signed webhook starts a session with nobody present. Kortix runs one isolated sandbox per session; each session has its own isolated machine and branch. A real kortix.yaml trigger is a schedule and a prompt; the agent runs every weekday morning.

# kortix.yaml
triggers:
  - slug: daily-digest
    type: cron
    cron: '0 0 9 * * 1-5'
    timezone: Europe/Berlin
    prompt: Summarize yesterday's commits and open change requests.

If you are weighing n8n against Kortix, the split is simple: a node runs where you put it, an agent works out the route. The other n8n alternatives cover the same ground.

FAQ

n8n and AI agent questions

Short answers to what builders ask first.

Add a cron trigger to kortix.yaml with the schedule and a prompt. When it fires, it starts a session with nobody present, and the agent runs on its own cloud computer.

Yes. n8n lets you place AI agent nodes inside a workflow you build, and it calls the result a multi-step agent. The path is still the one you draw on the canvas.

Yes. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: agents, skills, memory, and connectors in one git repo you own, and self-host is free.

Put an agent on a schedule

One git repo holds the trigger, the agent, and every connector. Kortix is open source.

Try KortixSee all the n8n alternatives

Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem