# n8n Setup: Call ZRouter From Workflows

> Call ZRouter from an n8n HTTP Request node: account authentication, an OpenAI-compatible request body, BYOK headers, and handling responses in your workflow.

## Choose a supported workflow

Use text generation or text embeddings with an account API key. Client-executed function tools with inline text results are supported; provider-hosted tools and opaque state remain blocked. Images, audio, file uploads, and response lifecycle requests are also outside the prepaid API.

The HTTP Request node exposes the URL, headers, and JSON directly, so it works without depending on whether your installed OpenAI node exposes a custom base URL.

## Create the credential

Create a ZRouter account key dedicated to this workflow. In n8n, create a **Header Auth** credential with header name `Authorization` and value `Bearer YOUR_ZROUTER_ACCOUNT_KEY`. Store the secret in credentials rather than a hard-coded workflow field.

## Configure the HTTP Request node

| Setting | Value |
| :--- | :--- |
| Method | `POST` |
| URL | `https://zrouter.si/v1/chat/completions` |
| Authentication | Generic Credential Type → Header Auth |
| Credential | Your ZRouter credential |
| Send body | Enabled, JSON |
| Response format | JSON |

Use this JSON body and replace the model ID:

```json
{
  "model": "PROVIDER_INSTANCE/MODEL_ID",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Summarize: the deployment completed successfully." }],
  "max_tokens": 256,
  "stream": false
}
```

Read the text from `choices[0].message.content`. Once the fixed example succeeds, substitute workflow data using n8n's expression editor. Keep inputs within the gateway limits. See [n8n's HTTP Request node documentation](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.httprequest/).

## Optional BYOK

Save a provider key in your ZRouter dashboard. Add a request header named `X-ZRouter-BYOK` with value `true` and use a model belonging to that provider instance. Keep Header Auth enabled: the account key authenticates to ZRouter while the saved provider key authenticates upstream.

## Operations and errors

Execute once and inspect the status, JSON response, and ZRouter usage and ledger. Each successful model request consumes tokens. Repeating nodes or retrying completed requests can create additional charges; the inference API does not provide a general retry deduplication guarantee.

The n8n server or container must reach the gateway. For local Docker on macOS/Windows, the gateway URL may need `host.docker.internal` rather than `localhost`. Use HTTPS in production. For 402, reduce the requested output or add credit. See [shared troubleshooting](/docs/integrations/troubleshooting).