Docker Installation Guide

How to install community nodes in Docker with persistence across rebuilds.

The Problem

When you install community nodes via the n8n UI or npm install inside a container, they’re stored in /home/node/.n8n/nodes. This works until:

Then your community nodes disappear.

The Solution

Use a custom Dockerfile that auto-installs community nodes on every container startup.

Quick Start

Option 1: Use the Installer

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aaron777collins/BetterPGVectorN8N/main/install.sh)

Select the Docker option when prompted.

Option 2: Use the Example Setup

git clone https://github.com/aaron777collins/BetterPGVectorN8N.git
cd BetterPGVectorN8N/examples/docker
docker compose up -d

Manual Setup

1. Create Directory Structure

your-project/
├── docker-compose.yml
└── n8n/
    ├── Dockerfile
    └── init-nodes.sh

2. Create the Dockerfile

FROM docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest

USER root

# Copy initialization script with proper permissions
COPY init-nodes.sh /init-nodes.sh
RUN chmod 755 /init-nodes.sh && chown node:node /init-nodes.sh

USER node

# Override entrypoint to run init script first
ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/sh", "-c", "/init-nodes.sh && exec n8n \"$@\"", "--"]

3. Create the Init Script

#!/bin/sh
set -e

# =============================================================================
# n8n Community Nodes Auto-Installer
# Add packages to PACKAGES variable (space-separated) to auto-install on startup
# =============================================================================

PACKAGES="n8n-nodes-pgvector-advanced"
NODES_DIR="/home/node/.n8n/nodes"

mkdir -p "$NODES_DIR"
cd "$NODES_DIR"

# Initialize npm if package.json doesn't exist
if [ ! -f "package.json" ]; then
    npm init -y > /dev/null 2>&1
fi

# Install each package if not present
for pkg in $PACKAGES; do
    if [ ! -d "node_modules/$pkg" ]; then
        echo "[init-nodes] Installing: $pkg"
        npm install "$pkg" --save --loglevel=warn
        echo "[init-nodes] Installed: $pkg"
    else
        echo "[init-nodes] Already installed: $pkg"
    fi
done

Make it executable:

chmod +x n8n/init-nodes.sh

4. Update docker-compose.yml

Change from using an image to using a build:

Before:

services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
    # ...

After:

services:
  n8n:
    build: ./n8n
    # ...

5. Build and Run

docker compose build n8n
docker compose up -d

Complete docker-compose.yml Example

services:
  postgres:
    image: ankane/pgvector:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: n8n
      POSTGRES_USER: n8n
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-changeme}
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U n8n -d n8n"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  n8n:
    build: ./n8n
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "${N8N_PORT:-5678}:5678"
    environment:
      DB_TYPE: postgresdb
      DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST: postgres
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT: 5432
      DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_USER: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-changeme}
      DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA: public
      GENERIC_TIMEZONE: ${TZ:-UTC}
      N8N_HOST: ${N8N_HOST:-localhost}
      N8N_PORT: 5678
      N8N_PROTOCOL: ${N8N_PROTOCOL:-http}
      WEBHOOK_URL: ${WEBHOOK_URL:-http://localhost:5678/}
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

volumes:
  n8n_data:
  pgdata:

Adding More Community Nodes

Edit n8n/init-nodes.sh and add packages to the PACKAGES variable:

PACKAGES="n8n-nodes-pgvector-advanced n8n-nodes-another-package n8n-nodes-third"

Then rebuild:

docker compose build n8n
docker compose up -d

How It Works

  1. On container start, the custom entrypoint runs init-nodes.sh before starting n8n
  2. The script checks if each package is already installed (in the persistent volume)
  3. If missing, it installs the package via npm
  4. If present, it skips installation (fast startup)
  5. Then n8n starts normally with the community nodes available

This means:

Troubleshooting

Packages not installing

Check the logs:

docker compose logs n8n | grep init-nodes

You should see:

[init-nodes] Installing: n8n-nodes-pgvector-advanced
[init-nodes] Installed: n8n-nodes-pgvector-advanced

or:

[init-nodes] Already installed: n8n-nodes-pgvector-advanced

Permission errors

Make sure the init script has proper permissions:

chmod +x n8n/init-nodes.sh
docker compose build n8n --no-cache

Node not appearing in n8n

  1. Check that n8n fully started: docker compose logs n8n --tail 20
  2. Look for any npm errors in the logs
  3. Try restarting: docker compose restart n8n

Next Steps