Fixing a Silent API Failure in an n8n Workflow

Today I helped fix a small but blocking issue in an n8n workflow that looked simple on the surface but kept failing at the API step.

The flow was straightforward

Webhook to HTTP request to Google Sheets and then an email notification

The webhook was receiving data correctly but the workflow kept stopping at the HTTP request node. After digging in I found the issue was a mix of API authentication and how the JSON response was being handled.

I debugged the HTTP request node checked headers tokens and payload structure then fixed the authentication logic. I also cleaned up the JSON parsing so the data mapped correctly into Google Sheets without breaking the execution.

After that I ran multiple end to end tests to make sure the workflow completed successfully every time and triggered the email notification as expected.

This is a good reminder that most automation failures are not about complexity. They usually come down to small details in API calls and data structure. Once those are right n8n workflows become very stable and predictable.

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