Build your first AI agent

How it works

This template launches your very first AI Agent —an AI-powered chatbot that can do more than just talk— it can take action using tools.

Think of an AI Agent as a smart assistant, and the tools are the apps on its phone. By connecting it to other nodes, you give your agent the ability to interact with real-world data and services, like checking the weather, fetching news, or even sending emails on your behalf.

This workflow is designed to be the perfect starting point:

• The Chat Interface: A Chat Trigger node provides a simple, clean interface for you to talk to your agent.
• The Brains: The AI Agent node receives your messages, intelligently decides which tool to use (if any), and formulates a helpful response. Its personality and instructions are fully customizable in the "System Message".
• The Language Model: It uses Google Gemini to power its reasoning and conversation skills.
• The Tools: It comes pre-equipped with two tools to demonstrate its capabilities:
  1. Get Weather: Fetches real-time weather forecasts.
  2. Get News: Reads any RSS feed to get the latest headlines.
• The Memory: A Conversation Memory node allows the agent to remember the last few messages, enabling natural, follow-up conversations.

Set up steps

Setup time: ~2 minutes

You only need one thing to get started: a free Google AI API key.

1. Get Your Google AI API Key:

   • Visit Google AI Studio at aistudio.google.com/app/apikey.
   • Click "Create API key in new project" and copy the key that appears.

2. Add Your Credential in n8n:

   • On the workflow canvas, go to the Connect your model (Google Gemini) node.
   • Click the Credential dropdown and select + Create New Credential.
   • Paste your API key into the API Key field and click Save.

3. Start Chatting!

   • Go to the Example Chat node.
   • Click the "Open Chat" button in its parameter panel.
   • Try asking it one of the example questions, like: "What's the weather in Paris?" or "Get me the latest tech news."

That's it! You now have a fully functional AI Agent. Try adding more tools (like Gmail or Google Calendar) to make it even more powerful.