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Automate Your RFP Process with OpenAI Assistants

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Important notice

This workflow is provided as-is. Please review and test before using in production.

1. Workflow Overview

This n8n workflow demonstrates how to automate oftern time consuming form filling tasks in the early stages of the tendering process; the Request for Proposal document or "RFP". It does this by uti...

Best for

  • Document Extraction automation workflows
  • AI RAG automation workflows
  • advanced n8n builders looking for reusable templates

Tools used

n8n-nodes-base.extractfromfile, @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.outputparseritemlist, n8n-nodes-base.splitinbatches, n8n-nodes-base.stickynote, n8n-nodes-base.set, n8n-nodes-base.googledocs, @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmchatopenai, n8n-nodes-base.slack

Source and attribution

This workflow is cataloged by N8N Workflows and links back to its original n8n.io source page by Jimleuk.

Original n8n.io source

1.1 Workflow description

Title
Automate Your RFP Process with OpenAI Assistants
Workflow name
Automate Your RFP Process with OpenAI Assistants

This n8n workflow demonstrates how to automate oftern time-consuming form filling tasks in the early stages of the tendering process; the Request for Proposal document or "RFP".

It does this by utilising a company's knowledgebase to generating question-and-answer pairs using Large Language Models.

How it works

  • A buyer's RFP is submitted to the workflow as a digital document that can be parsed.
  • Our first AI agent scans and extracts all questions from the document into list form.
  • The supplier sets up an OpenAI assistant prior loaded with company brand, marketing and technical documents.
  • The workflow loops through each of the buyer's questions and poses these to the OpenAI assistant.
  • The assistant's answers are captured until all questions are satisified and are then exported into a new document for review.
  • A sales team member is then able to use this document to respond quickly to the RFP before their competitors.

Example Webhook Request

curl --location 'https://<n8n_webhook_url>' \
--form 'id="RFP001"' \
--form 'title="BlueChip Travel and StarBus Web Services"' \
--form 'reply_to="[email protected]"' \
--form 'data=@"k9pnbALxX/RFP Questionnaire.pdf"'

Requirements

  • An OpenAI account to use AI services.

Customising the workflow

OpenAI assistants is only one approach to hosting a company knowledgebase for AI to use. Exploring different solutions such as building your own RAG-powered database can sometimes yield better results in terms of control of how the data is managed and cost.

1.2 Logical Blocks

This catalog entry is organized from the workflow JSON. The node-level section below shows the executable blocks available for review before importing the template.

2. Block-by-Block Analysis

Block 1 - Get RFP Data

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.extractFromFile - extractFromFile
Config choices
Version 1

Block 2 - Item List Output Parser

Type / Role
@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.outputParserItemList - outputParserItemList
Config choices
Version 1

Block 3 - For Each Question...

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.splitInBatches - splitInBatches
Config choices
Version 3

Block 4 - Sticky Note

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 5 - Set Variables

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.set - set
Config choices
Version 3.3

Block 6 - Sticky Note1

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 7 - Create new RFP Response Document

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.googleDocs - googleDocs
Config choices
Version 2

Block 8 - Sticky Note2

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 9 - Sticky Note3

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 10 - OpenAI Chat Model

Type / Role
@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmChatOpenAi - lmChatOpenAi
Config choices
Version 1

Block 11 - Sticky Note4

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 12 - Sticky Note5

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 13 - Send Chat Notification

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.slack - slack
Config choices
Version 2.1

Block 14 - Send Email Notification

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.gmail - gmail
Config choices
Version 2.1

Block 15 - Add Metadata to Response Doc

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.googleDocs - googleDocs
Config choices
Version 2

Block 16 - Sticky Note6

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 17 - Record Question & Answer in Response Doc

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.googleDocs - googleDocs
Config choices
Version 2

Block 18 - Sticky Note7

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 19 - Sticky Note8

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 20 - Answer Question with Context

Type / Role
@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.openAi - openAi
Config choices
Version 1.3

Block 21 - Wait for Request

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.webhook - webhook
Config choices
Version 2

Block 22 - Extract Questions From RFP

Type / Role
@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.chainLlm - chainLlm
Config choices
Version 1.4

Block 23 - Sticky Note9

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

3. Summary Table

Workflow Automate Your RFP Process with OpenAI Assistants
Complexity advanced
Nodes 23
Categories Document Extraction, AI RAG
Author Jimleuk
Published 09 Jul 2024

4. Reproducing the Workflow from Scratch

  1. 1. Download the workflow JSON

    Use the JSON export at /data/workflows/2321/2321.json as the source template for this automation.

  2. 2. Import the template into n8n

    Open n8n, import the downloaded JSON, and review each node before activating the workflow.

  3. 3. Configure credentials and variables

    Replace placeholder credentials, API keys, webhook URLs, account IDs, and environment-specific values with your own settings.

  4. 4. Test with sample data

    Run the workflow manually or in a staging workspace, inspect node output, and confirm downstream systems receive the expected data.

  5. 5. Activate and monitor

    Enable the workflow only after testing, then monitor executions, errors, and rate limits during the first production runs.

5. General Notes & Resources

Review imported nodes carefully before activation. This catalog entry is intended to help you inspect the workflow structure, understand required services, and find related templates faster.

Node names, credentials, schedules, webhook paths, and external service limits may need adjustment for your workspace.

Frequently asked questions

What does Automate Your RFP Process with OpenAI Assistants do?

This n8n workflow demonstrates how to automate oftern time consuming form filling tasks in the early stages of the tendering process; the Request for Proposal document or "RFP". It does this by uti...

What do I need before importing this workflow?

Review the workflow JSON, configure any required credentials in n8n, and test the automation in a safe workspace before using it in production.

Can I customize this workflow?

Yes. Use the block-by-block analysis and the downloadable JSON to inspect each node, then adjust credentials, prompts, schedules, filters, or destinations for your Document Extraction, AI RAG use case.