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Send AI budget overspend alerts with Alephant AI Gateway and Gmail

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Send AI budget overspend alerts with Alephant AI Gateway and Gmail preview
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1. Workflow Overview

Quick overview This workflow runs every 6 hours to check an Alephant AI Gateway virtual key’s budget usage and, when live usage meets or exceeds the threshold, sends a detailed overspend alert emai...

Best for

  • DevOps automation workflows
  • intermediate n8n builders looking for reusable templates

Tools used

n8n-nodes-base.stickynote, n8n-nodes-base.scheduletrigger, n8n-nodes-base.if, n8n-nodes-base.code, n8n-nodes-base.set, n8n-nodes-base.gmail, @alephantai/n8n-nodes-alephant-analytics.alephantusage

Source and attribution

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

Original n8n.io source

1.1 Workflow description

Title
Send AI budget overspend alerts with Alephant AI Gateway and Gmail
Workflow name
Send AI budget overspend alerts with Alephant AI Gateway and Gmail

Quick overview

This workflow runs every 6 hours to check an Alephant AI Gateway virtual key’s budget usage and, when live usage meets or exceeds the threshold, sends a detailed overspend alert email via Gmail.

How it works

  1. Runs every 6 hours on a schedule.
  2. Requests the current virtual key budget status from Alephant AI Gateway, including usage percentage, spend, and circuit-breaker mode.
  3. Checks whether the data source is live and the budget usage percentage is greater than or equal to the configured threshold.
  4. If the threshold is exceeded, sets the alert recipient email address.
  5. Formats an email containing spend, remaining budget, budget window, reset time, and the configured circuit-breaker behavior.
  6. Sends the alert email to the configured recipient using Gmail.

Setup

  1. Install and configure the Alephant Analytics community node (@alephantai/n8n-nodes-alephant-analytics) in your n8n instance and add your Alephant Virtual Key credentials to the budget status step.
  2. Add a Gmail credential and ensure the Gmail account is allowed to send mail from n8n.
  3. Update the recipient email address and adjust the threshold value (it ships set to 1 for testing) to your desired alert level before activating the workflow.

Requirements

  • Alephant account (free tier works) — https://alephant.io
  • A configured budget on your Alephant virtual key (so usage_pct has a limit to measure against)
  • Gmail account

Customization

  • Change the alert threshold in the "Over Threshold?" node (default 75%) to be more or less sensitive
  • Adjust the Schedule Trigger interval for more frequent or less frequent checks
  • Swap the Gmail node for Slack, Discord, or Send Email (SMTP) to deliver alerts elsewhere
  • Add a second alert at a higher threshold (e.g. 90%) by duplicating the IF + send branch for escalating warnings

Additional info

Note: the threshold in the "Over Threshold?" node ships at 1% for testing so you can verify the alert fires. Change it to 75% (or your preferred level) before relying on it. Alephant is an open-source AI FinOps Gateway that sits between your application and 50+ AI providers, giving you cost control, per-agent budget enforcement, and observability without taking custody of your API keys. Its budget circuit breaker can alert, throttle, or hard-stop a runaway key — this workflow surfaces that status so you know what the gateway will do on its own. Documentation: https://developers.alephant.io Quickstart: https://developers.alephant.io/docs/overview/getting-started/quickstart-guide GitHub: https://github.com/AlephantAI/AIephant-AI-Agent-Gateway

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 - Sticky Note

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

Block 2 - Sticky Note1

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

Block 3 - Sticky Note2

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

Block 4 - Every 6 Hours Trigger

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.scheduleTrigger - scheduleTrigger
Config choices
Version 1.2

Block 5 - Check Budget Over Threshold

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.if - if
Config choices
Version 2.2

Block 6 - Build Alert Message

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

Block 7 - Set Alert Recipient

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.set - set
Config choices
Version 3.4

Block 8 - Send Alert Email via Gmail

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

Block 9 - Fetch Alephant Budget Status

Type / Role
@alephantai/n8n-nodes-alephant-analytics.alephantUsage - alephantUsage
Config choices
Version 1

Block 10 - Sticky Note3

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

3. Summary Table

Workflow Send AI budget overspend alerts with Alephant AI Gateway and Gmail
Complexity intermediate
Nodes 10
Categories DevOps
Author alephantAI
Published 28 May 2026

4. Reproducing the Workflow from Scratch

  1. 1. Download the workflow JSON

    Use the JSON export at /data/workflows/16006/16006.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 Send AI budget overspend alerts with Alephant AI Gateway and Gmail do?

Quick overview This workflow runs every 6 hours to check an Alephant AI Gateway virtual key’s budget usage and, when live usage meets or exceeds the threshold, sends a detailed overspend alert emai...

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 DevOps use case.