{"workflow":{"id":14068,"name":"Track student attendance from CSV, email parents, and build an HTML dashboard","views":59,"recentViews":1,"totalViews":59,"createdAt":"2026-03-15T18:02:24.548Z","description":"## πŸš€ Overview\n\nAutomatically monitors daily student attendance from CSV files, identifies absent students, sends parent email alerts via SMTP, calculates risk scores, and generates an interactive HTML dashboard β€” all on a weekday schedule with no manual work needed.\n\n---\n\n## βš™οΈ How it works\n\n1. **Schedule trigger** β€” runs Monday–Friday at 17:30\n2. **Data ingestion** β€” reads `student_attendance.csv` and filters to today's records only\n3. **Absence check** β€” splits students into Absent / Present branches\n4. **Contact merge** β€” matches absent students with parent data from `student_contacts.csv`\n5. **Alert logic** β€” calculates risk level, attendance %, consecutive streak, and trend (Improving / Stable / Worsening)\n6. **Parent email** β€” sends a colour-coded HTML alert via SMTP for each absent student\n7. **Dashboard builder** β€” generates `dashboard.html` with 5 tabs: Today, Weekly, Monthly, Full History, and At-Risk\n8. **Report update** β€” appends records to `attendance_report.csv` for historical tracking\n\n---\n\n## πŸ›  Setup steps\n\n1. Upload `student_attendance.csv` to the n8n files folder\n2. Upload `student_contacts.csv` to the n8n files folder\n3. Create an empty `attendance_report.csv` in the n8n files folder\n4. Add `smtp_user` in **Settings β†’ Variables**\n5. Configure SMTP credentials in the **Send Email** node\n6. Adjust the cron schedule if needed (default: 17:30 Mon–Fri)\n\n---\n\n## πŸ”§ Required CSV formats\n\n**student_attendance.csv**\n\n| StudentID | Date | Status | Class | Subject | Teacher |\n|-----------|------|--------|-------|---------|---------|\n| S101 | 12-01-2026 | Absent | Grade 6 | Math | Mr Singh |\n\n**student_contacts.csv**\n\n| StudentID | ParentName | Email | Phone |\n|-----------|------------|-------|-------|\n| S101 | Anita Kumar | parent@email.com | +919999999999 |\n\n# πŸ“Š Dashboard Preview\n![Dashboard Preview 1](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tejasv694/n8n-template-images/refs/heads/main/Screenshot%202026-03-22%20105318.png)\n\n![ Dashboard Preview 2](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tejasv694/n8n-template-images/refs/heads/main/Screenshot%202026-03-22%20105333.png)","workflow":{"id":"XsVaYkX86o40Zztx","meta":{"instanceId":"a37c127c368affab56704b03c743021f2ee87c596599b97c8cf708b183214a2d","templateCredsSetupCompleted":true},"name":"Track student attendance from CSV, alert parents by email, and generate an HTML dashboard","tags":[],"nodes":[{"id":"c933a392-8c2b-48b3-8757-ba850ab7537d","name":"Sticky Note","type":"n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote","position":[-384,-288],"parameters":{"width":500,"height":620,"content":"## How it works\n\n1. Runs every weekday at 17:30 (Mon–Fri)\n2. Reads `student_attendance.csv` and filters to today's records only\n3. Splits students into Absent / Present branches\n4. Fetches parent contacts from `student_contacts.csv` and merges the data\n5. Calculates risk level, attendance %, consecutive streak, and trend\n6. Sends a colour-coded HTML email alert to parents of absent students via SMTP\n7. Builds and saves an interactive `dashboard.html` with 5 tabs: Today, Weekly, Monthly, Full History, At-Risk\n8. Appends today's records to `attendance_report.csv` for historical tracking\n\n## Setup steps\n\n1. Upload `student_attendance.csv` to the n8n files folder\n2. Upload `student_contacts.csv` to the n8n files folder\n3. Create an empty `attendance_report.csv` in the n8n files folder\n4. Add `smtp_user` in n8n β†’ Settings β†’ Variables\n5. Configure SMTP credentials in the **Send Email** node\n6. Adjust the cron schedule if needed (default: 17:30 Mon–Fri)"},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"88bd7eff-365a-4891-be99-43f6c9235d0b","name":"Group Trigger Ingestion","type":"n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote","position":[144,-208],"parameters":{"color":7,"width":860,"height":420,"content":"## Trigger & data ingestion\n\nSchedule trigger reads attendance CSV and filters to today's records only."},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"254b824c-29fa-422d-82bf-d8288543cbd6","name":"Group Routing Merge","type":"n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote","position":[1040,-208],"parameters":{"color":7,"width":798,"height":424,"content":"## Absence routing & contact merge\n\nSplits absent vs present students, fetches parent contacts, and merges records."},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"9e76a543-d8ac-4906-aea1-1b4023a783f4","name":"Group Alert Logic","type":"n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote","position":[1856,-208],"parameters":{"color":7,"width":244,"height":416,"content":"## Alert logic\n\nCalculates risk level, attendance %, streak, and trend per student."},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"9dd75633-cd8e-4f97-bb65-6b27c32c937f","name":"Group Notifications","type":"n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote","position":[2144,-304],"parameters":{"color":7,"width":494,"height":272,"content":"## Parent notifications\n\nGenerates and sends a colour-coded HTML email alert to parents via SMTP."},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"66e18686-7781-48d3-8485-2f0e87fc11a6","name":"Group No Absence","type":"n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote","position":[2144,336],"parameters":{"color":7,"width":276,"height":274,"content":"## No absences branch\n\nSkips email and dashboard when all students are present today."},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"0d8e0e33-ad19-4222-967e-54b92efa97fc","name":"No Absences Today","type":"n8n-nodes-base.code","position":[2224,480],"parameters":{"jsCode":"// False branch: all students present today\nconst now = new Date(new Date().toLocaleString('en-US', {timeZone:'Asia/Kolkata'}));\nconst dd = String(now.getDate()).padStart(2,'0');\nconst mm = String(now.getMonth()+1).padStart(2,'0');\nconst yyyy = now.getFullYear();\nconst today = `${dd}-${mm}-${yyyy}`;\nconst nowStr = now.toLocaleString('en-IN', {timeZone:'Asia/Kolkata'});\nconst headers = 'Date,StudentID,Name,Class,Subject,Teacher,Status,AbsencesLast30Days,ConsecutiveStreak,AttendancePct,Trend,AlertLevel,AlertReason,ParentName,EmailSent,WhatsAppSent';\nreturn [{json:{todayRows:[], headers, nowStr, today, allAbsent:[], noAbsencesToday:true}}];\n"},"typeVersion":2},{"id":"7b23422e-e7d0-4c55-8eac-429ddc56ad26","name":"Recurring Time Trigger","type":"n8n-nodes-base.scheduleTrigger","position":[192,32],"parameters":{"rule":{"interval":[{"field":"cronExpression","expression":"30 17 * * 1-5"}]}},"typeVersion":1.1},{"id":"68e30462-a058-4c61-874b-530275978305","name":"Student Attendance Data","type":"n8n-nodes-base.readWriteFile","position":[416,32],"parameters":{"options":{},"fileSelector":"/home/node/.n8n-files/File_name.csv"},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"6f5f6070-20b2-4632-8943-80c8fd93b25f","name":"Extract Attendance CSV","type":"n8n-nodes-base.spreadsheetFile","position":[640,32],"parameters":{"options":{"rawData":true,"headerRow":true}},"typeVersion":2},{"id":"cb8c1959-cfa0-4d31-8439-2241bb9beedb","name":"IF: Is Absent?","type":"n8n-nodes-base.if","position":[1072,32],"parameters":{"options":{},"conditions":{"options":{"version":1,"leftValue":"","caseSensitive":true,"typeValidation":"strict"},"combinator":"and","conditions":[{"id":"cond-absent","operator":{"type":"string","operation":"equals"},"leftValue":"={{ $json.Status }}","rightValue":"Absent"}]}},"typeVersion":2},{"id":"f83c1d55-22ad-48d1-b3cd-40fc2ed447e7","name":"Students Contacts","type":"n8n-nodes-base.readWriteFile","position":[1264,-96],"parameters":{"options":{},"fileSelector":"/home/node/.n8n-files/File_name.csv"},"executeOnce":true,"typeVersion":1},{"id":"e8d3f1a6-94c3-49ac-b127-20c964159826","name":"Extract Contacts CSV","type":"n8n-nodes-base.spreadsheetFile","position":[1488,-96],"parameters":{"options":{"headerRow":true}},"executeOnce":true,"typeVersion":2},{"id":"06f4be2e-c00e-4314-a136-3364515a3340","name":"Merge Absent + Contacts","type":"n8n-nodes-base.merge","position":[1696,32],"parameters":{"mode":"combine","options":{},"mergeByFields":{"values":[{"field1":"StudentID","field2":"StudentID"}]}},"typeVersion":2.1},{"id":"8bc30b58-a119-4bba-9683-24807367b66e","name":"Alert Logic Block","type":"n8n-nodes-base.code","position":[1920,32],"parameters":{"jsCode":"function parseDate(str) {\n const p = String(str||'').trim().split('-');\n if (p.length===3) return new Date(+p[2],+p[1]-1,+p[0]);\n return new Date(0);\n}\n\n// Always use Asia/Kolkata timezone for consistent \"today\" regardless of server TZ\nconst nowIST = new Date(new Date().toLocaleString('en-US', {timeZone:'Asia/Kolkata'}));\nconst todayStr = String(nowIST.getDate()).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+String(nowIST.getMonth()+1).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+nowIST.getFullYear();\nconst todayDate = parseDate(todayStr);\nconst thirtyAgo = new Date(todayDate); thirtyAgo.setDate(thirtyAgo.getDate()-30);\n\n// Normalize a raw date string β€” handles DD-MM-YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, D/M/YYYY etc.\nfunction normalizeDate(raw) {\n const s = String(raw||'').trim();\n // Already DD-MM-YYYY\n if (/^\\d{2}-\\d{2}-\\d{4}$/.test(s)) return s;\n // YYYY-MM-DD (ISO)\n if (/^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$/.test(s)) {\n const [y,m,d] = s.split('-');\n return `${d}-${m}-${y}`;\n }\n // D/M/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY\n if (/^\\d{1,2}\\/\\d{1,2}\\/\\d{4}$/.test(s)) {\n const [d,m,y] = s.split('/');\n return String(d).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+String(m).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+y;\n }\n // Excel serial number (number only) β€” convert to date\n if (/^\\d{5}$/.test(s)) {\n const serial = parseInt(s);\n const excelEpoch = new Date(1899,11,30);\n const date = new Date(excelEpoch.getTime() + serial * 86400000);\n return String(date.getDate()).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+String(date.getMonth()+1).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+date.getFullYear();\n }\n return s;\n}\n\nconst byStudent = {};\nfor (const item of $input.all()) {\n const sid = String(item.json.StudentID||'').trim();\n if (!sid) continue;\n // Normalize the date on every row as it comes in\n const normalizedDate = normalizeDate(item.json.Date);\n const enriched = {...item.json, Date: normalizedDate};\n if (!byStudent[sid]) byStudent[sid]=[];\n byStudent[sid].push(enriched);\n}\n\nconst output = [];\nfor (const [sid,rows] of Object.entries(byStudent)) {\n const contact = rows[0];\n const last30 = rows.filter(r=>{const d=parseDate(r.Date);return d>=thirtyAgo&&d<=todayDate;}).sort((a,b)=>parseDate(a.Date)-parseDate(b.Date));\n const absent30=last30.filter(r=>String(r.Status).toLowerCase()==='absent').length;\n const total30=last30.length;\n const attendancePct=total30>0?Math.round(((total30-absent30)/total30)*100):100;\n let streak=0;\n for(let i=last30.length-1;i>=0;i--){if(String(last30[i].Status).toLowerCase()==='absent')streak++;else break;}\n const l7=last30.slice(-7),p7=last30.slice(-14,-7);\n const ar=a=>a.length?a.filter(r=>String(r.Status).toLowerCase()==='absent').length/a.length:0;\n const trend=ar(l7)>ar(p7)+0.1?'WORSENING':ar(l7)=5||streak>=3){alertLevel='HIGH';alertReason=streak>=3?`${streak} consecutive absences`:`${absent30} absences in 30 days`;}\n else if(absent30>=3){alertLevel='MEDIUM';alertReason=`${absent30} absences in 30 days`;}\n const todayRow=rows.find(r=>String(r.Date).trim()===todayStr)||rows[rows.length-1];\n output.push({json:{studentId:sid,name:contact.Name||'Student',parentName:contact.ParentName||'Parent',email:contact.Email||'',phone:contact.Phone||'',class:todayRow.Class||contact.Class||'',subject:todayRow.Subject||'',teacher:todayRow.Teacher||'',date:todayStr,absencesLast30Days:absent30,consecutiveStreak:streak,attendancePct,trend,alertLevel,alertReason}});\n}\nreturn output;\n"},"typeVersion":2},{"id":"bc63d2c7-c79c-4bd7-8484-d52a3e6d4a66","name":"Generate Absence Email","type":"n8n-nodes-base.code","position":[2192,-176],"parameters":{"jsCode":"const item = $input.item.json;\nconst cfg = { HIGH:{color:'#dc2626',bg:'#fef2f2',border:'#fecaca',label:'Critical Alert',icon:'πŸ”΄'}, MEDIUM:{color:'#d97706',bg:'#fffbeb',border:'#fde68a',label:'Warning',icon:'🟑'}, LOW:{color:'#16a34a',bg:'#f0fdf4',border:'#bbf7d0',label:'Low Risk',icon:'🟒'} }[item.alertLevel]||{color:'#16a34a',bg:'#f0fdf4',border:'#bbf7d0',label:'Low Risk',icon:'🟒'};\nconst trendIcon={WORSENING:'πŸ“ˆ Worsening',STABLE:'➑️ Stable',IMPROVING:'πŸ“‰ Improving'};\nconst subject=`${cfg.icon} Absence: ${item.name} β€” ${item.date} [${item.alertLevel}]`;\nconst body=`

Absence Notification

${item.date}

${cfg.label}: ${item.alertReason}
Student${item.name}
Class${item.class}
Subject/Teacher${item.subject} / ${item.teacher}
Absences 30d${item.absencesLast30Days}
Streak${item.consecutiveStreak} day(s)
Attendance${item.attendancePct}%
Trend${trendIcon[item.trend]||item.trend}

Dear ${item.parentName}, please contact the school if you have questions.

`;\nreturn [{json:{...item,emailSubject:subject,emailBody:body}}];\n"},"typeVersion":2},{"id":"30e57f21-7296-4684-ba90-0ac805470287","name":"Build Dashboard and Report","type":"n8n-nodes-base.code","position":[2192,112],"parameters":{"jsCode":"const allAbsent=$input.all().map(i=>i.json).filter(i=>i.studentId); // filter out empty items\nconst now=new Date(new Date().toLocaleString('en-US', {timeZone:'Asia/Kolkata'}));\nconst dd=String(now.getDate()).padStart(2,'0'),mm=String(now.getMonth()+1).padStart(2,'0'),yyyy=now.getFullYear();\nconst today=`${dd}-${mm}-${yyyy}`;\nconst nowStr=now.toLocaleString('en-IN',{timeZone:'Asia/Kolkata'});\nconst headers='Date,StudentID,Name,Class,Subject,Teacher,Status,AbsencesLast30Days,ConsecutiveStreak,AttendancePct,Trend,AlertLevel,AlertReason,ParentName,EmailSent,WhatsAppSent';\n\n// If no absences today (false branch), todayRows will be empty β€” dashboard shows \"No absences\"\nconst todayRows=allAbsent.map(s=>[today,s.studentId,s.name,s.class,s.subject,s.teacher,'Absent',s.absencesLast30Days,s.consecutiveStreak,s.attendancePct,s.trend,s.alertLevel,`\"${s.alertReason}\"`,s.parentName,s.email?'YES':'NO',s.phone?'YES':'NO'].join(','));\nreturn [{json:{todayRows,headers,nowStr,today,allAbsent,noAbsencesToday:allAbsent.length===0}}];\n"},"typeVersion":2},{"id":"4f2aa786-1404-4dc3-8687-02efe7edcc59","name":"Send Email","type":"n8n-nodes-base.emailSend","position":[2416,-176],"webhookId":"b67c1675-ff69-49af-96ff-ff2d531baf74","parameters":{"options":{},"subject":"={{ $json.emailSubject }}","toEmail":"={{ $json.email }}","fromEmail":"={{ $vars.smtp_user }}"},"typeVersion":2.1},{"id":"5c53845e-9b24-464e-abb2-5eb14c97fb4c","name":"Existing Report History","type":"n8n-nodes-base.readWriteFile","position":[2544,112],"parameters":{"options":{},"fileSelector":"/home/node/.n8n-files/File_name.csv"},"typeVersion":1},{"id":"3b86af26-3c7e-446f-b57f-e44bf6f6a34e","name":"Extract History CSV","type":"n8n-nodes-base.spreadsheetFile","position":[2752,112],"parameters":{"options":{"headerRow":true}},"typeVersion":2},{"id":"c9b04d9b-6bbd-48d1-84a8-204f9bd50571","name":"Combine History + Build Dashboard","type":"n8n-nodes-base.code","position":[2976,112],"parameters":{"jsCode":"// Handle both branches: true (Build Dashboard ran) or false (No Absences Today ran)\nlet built;\ntry { built = $('Build Dashboard and Report').first().json; } catch(e) {\n try { built = $('No Absences Today').first().json; } catch(e2) {\n const now2 = new Date(new Date().toLocaleString('en-US',{timeZone:'Asia/Kolkata'}));\n const dd2=String(now2.getDate()).padStart(2,'0'), mm2=String(now2.getMonth()+1).padStart(2,'0'), yyyy2=now2.getFullYear();\n built={todayRows:[],headers:'Date,StudentID,Name,Class,Subject,Teacher,Status,AbsencesLast30Days,ConsecutiveStreak,AttendancePct,Trend,AlertLevel,AlertReason,ParentName,EmailSent,WhatsAppSent',nowStr:now2.toLocaleString('en-IN',{timeZone:'Asia/Kolkata'}),today:`${dd2}-${mm2}-${yyyy2}`,allAbsent:[],noAbsencesToday:true};\n }\n}\nconst {todayRows,headers,nowStr,today}=built;\n\n// History comes as plain JSON rows from Extract History CSV3 (spreadsheetFile node)\nconst historyRows=$input.all().map(i=>i.json).filter(r=>r.Date&&r.StudentID&&r.AlertLevel);\nconst historical=historyRows.filter(r=>String(r.Date).trim()!==today);\n\n// Parse today CSV lines into objects\nfunction parseCSVLine(line){\n const res=[];let cur='',inQ=false;\n for(const c of line){if(c==='\"'){inQ=!inQ;}else if(c===','&&!inQ){res.push(cur);cur='';}else cur+=c;}\n res.push(cur);return res.map(v=>v.trim().replace(/^\"|\"$/g,''));\n}\nconst hdrArr=parseCSVLine(headers);\n// If no absences today, show a clean \"All Present\" message in Today tab\nconst noAbsencesToday = built.noAbsencesToday === true;\nconst todayObjs=todayRows.map(line=>{const v=parseCSVLine(line);const o={};hdrArr.forEach((h,i)=>o[h]=v[i]||'');return o;});\n\nconst allData=[...historical,...todayObjs];\n\nfunction toLine(r){\n const reason=(r.AlertReason||'').includes(',')?`\"${r.AlertReason}\"`:r.AlertReason||'';\n return [r.Date,r.StudentID,r.Name,r.Class,r.Subject,r.Teacher,r.Status,r.AbsencesLast30Days,r.ConsecutiveStreak,r.AttendancePct,r.Trend,r.AlertLevel,reason,r.ParentName,r.EmailSent,r.WhatsAppSent].join(',');\n}\nconst fullCsv=[headers,...allData.map(toLine)].join('\\n');\n\nfunction parseDDMMYYYY(s){const p=String(s).split('-');return p.length===3?new Date(+p[2],+p[1]-1,+p[0]):new Date(0);}\nfunction fmtMonth(s){const d=parseDDMMYYYY(s);return d.toLocaleString('en-IN',{month:'short',year:'numeric'});}\nfunction getWeekKey(s){const d=parseDDMMYYYY(s);const day=d.getDay()||7;d.setDate(d.getDate()-day+1);return String(d.getDate()).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+String(d.getMonth()+1).padStart(2,'0')+'-'+d.getFullYear();}\n\nconst allDates=[...new Set(allData.map(r=>r.Date))].sort((a,b)=>parseDDMMYYYY(a)-parseDDMMYYYY(b));\nconst allMonths=[...new Set(allDates.map(fmtMonth))];\nconst allWeeks=[...new Set(allDates.map(getWeekKey))].sort((a,b)=>parseDDMMYYYY(a)-parseDDMMYYYY(b));\nconst classes=[...new Set(allData.map(r=>r.Class))].filter(Boolean).sort();\nconst subjects=[...new Set(allData.map(r=>r.Subject))].filter(Boolean).sort();\nconst students=[...new Set(allData.map(r=>r.StudentID))].filter(Boolean);\n\n// ── Precompute per-student total days present/absent across all history ──\nconst studentStats={};\nfor(const sid of students){\n const rows=allData.filter(r=>r.StudentID===sid);\n const absent=rows.filter(r=>r.Status==='Absent').length;\n const name=rows[0].Name||sid;\n const cls=rows[0].Class||'';\n const lastAlert=rows.sort((a,b)=>parseDDMMYYYY(b.Date)-parseDDMMYYYY(a.Date))[0].AlertLevel||'LOW';\n const lastTrend=rows[0].Trend||'STABLE';\n const lastAbs30=parseInt(rows[0].AbsencesLast30Days)||0;\n const lastStreak=parseInt(rows[0].ConsecutiveStreak)||0;\n const lastPct=parseFloat(rows[0].AttendancePct)||100;\n studentStats[sid]={name,cls,absent,total:rows.length,lastAlert,lastTrend,lastAbs30,lastStreak,lastPct};\n}\n\nconst dateOpts=[...allDates].reverse().map(d=>``).join('');\nconst classOpts=classes.map(c=>``).join('');\nconst monthOpts=allMonths.map(m=>``).join('');\nconst weekOpts=allWeeks.map(w=>``).join('');\n\nconst dashHtml=`\n\n\n\nStudent Attendance Dashboard\n