How to Automate Engineering Team Updates with n8n

By The LightCube Labs team

What You Will Need

• A self-hosted n8n instance (Community Edition is free) or an n8n Cloud trial
• A GitHub token with read access to the organization pull requests
• A Jira Cloud account, an Atlassian API token, and the project key to report on
• A Slack app with the chat:write scope, invited to #engineering
• Estimated setup time: 60 minutes

How the n8n Workflow Fits Together

This n8n workflow assembles a Friday engineering recap from two systems of record: GitHub for code and Jira for planned work. It asks each system for the week's finished items, merges the answers in a Code node, and posts a formatted message to Slack. Nobody has to write a status update, and the n8n workflow never forgets.

The n8n canvas contains seven nodes: a Schedule Trigger, a Set node for dates, two HTTP Request nodes, two Code nodes, and a Slack node. Date filtering is handled by the APIs themselves, which is why n8n stays lightweight and the workflow stays fast.

Step-by-Step Workflow Setup

Node: Schedule Trigger
Trigger Interval: Weeks
Weeks Between Triggers: 1
Trigger on Weekdays: Friday
Trigger at Hour: 16
Trigger at Minute: 0

Expression: {{ $now.toFormat("cccc HH:mm") }}

{
  "timestamp": "2026-11-06T16:00:00.000-08:00",
  "Day of week": "Friday"
}

Node: Edit Fields (Set)
Mode: Manual Mapping
  weekStart (String): {{ $now.startOf("week").toFormat("yyyy-MM-dd") }}
  weekEnd (String): {{ $now.endOf("week").toFormat("yyyy-MM-dd") }}
  weekLabel (String): {{ $now.startOf("week").toFormat("LLL d") }} to {{ $now.endOf("week").toFormat("LLL d") }}

Expression: {{ $now.startOf("week").toFormat("yyyy-MM-dd") }}

{
  "weekStart": "2026-11-02",
  "weekEnd": "2026-11-08",
  "weekLabel": "Nov 2 to Nov 8"
}

Node: HTTP Request
Method: GET
URL: https://api.github.com/search/issues
Authentication: Generic Credential Type > Header Auth
  Name: Authorization
  Value: Bearer ghp_yourFineGrainedToken
Send Headers: On
  Accept: application/vnd.github+json
Send Query Parameters: On
  q: org:your-org is:pr is:merged merged:>={{ $json.weekStart }}
  sort: updated
  order: desc
  per_page: 100

Expression: merged:>={{ $json.weekStart }}

{
  "total_count": 23,
  "items": [
    {
      "number": 1482,
      "title": "Add retry logic to webhook delivery",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/your-org/api/pull/1482",
      "user": { "login": "mchen" },
      "pull_request": { "merged_at": "2026-11-04T18:22:10Z" }
    }
  ]
}

Node: HTTP Request
Method: POST
URL: https://your-company.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/search/jql
Authentication: Generic Credential Type > Basic Auth
  User: you@your-company.com
  Password: (Atlassian API token)
Send Body: On
Body Content Type: JSON
Specify Body: Using JSON
{
  "jql": "project = ENG AND status changed to Done DURING (startOfWeek(), endOfWeek()) ORDER BY resolved DESC",
  "fields": ["summary", "assignee", "issuetype", "customfield_10016"],
  "maxResults": 100
}

Expression: "jql": "project = ENG AND resolved >= {{ $('Edit Fields').item.json.weekStart }}"

{
  "issues": [
    {
      "key": "ENG-912",
      "fields": {
        "summary": "Webhook retries with backoff",
        "assignee": { "displayName": "Mei Chen" },
        "issuetype": { "name": "Story" },
        "customfield_10016": 5
      }
    }
  ]
}

Node: Code (Run Once for All Items)
Language: JavaScript

const prs = $('GitHub PRs').first().json.items || [];
const issues = $('Jira Done').first().json.issues || [];
const byAuthor = {}, byAssignee = {};
for (const p of prs) {
  const a = p.user.login;
  (byAuthor[a] = byAuthor[a] || []).push({ title: p.title, url: p.html_url });
}
let points = 0;
for (const i of issues) {
  const name = i.fields.assignee ? i.fields.assignee.displayName : 'Unassigned';
  (byAssignee[name] = byAssignee[name] || []).push({ key: i.key, summary: i.fields.summary });
  points += i.fields.customfield_10016 || 0;
}
const metrics = {
  prs: prs.length, stories: issues.length, points,
  contributors: Object.keys(byAuthor).length,
  prsPerContributor: Number((prs.length / (Object.keys(byAuthor).length || 1)).toFixed(1))
};
return [{ json: { byAuthor, byAssignee, metrics } }];

Expression: {{ $json.metrics.prs }} PRs, {{ $json.metrics.points }} points

{
  "byAuthor": { "mchen": [{ "title": "Add retry logic to webhook delivery", "url": "https://github.com/your-org/api/pull/1482" }] },
  "byAssignee": { "Mei Chen": [{ "key": "ENG-912", "summary": "Webhook retries with backoff" }] },
  "metrics": { "prs": 23, "stories": 14, "points": 41, "contributors": 7, "prsPerContributor": 3.3 }
}

Node: Code (Run Once for All Items)
Language: JavaScript

const d = $input.first().json;
const label = $('Edit Fields').first().json.weekLabel;
const lines = (obj, fmt) => Object.entries(obj).map(([who, arr]) =>
  '*' + who + '*\n' + arr.slice(0, 6).map(fmt).join('\n')).join('\n\n').slice(0, 2900);
const blocks = [
  { type: 'header', text: { type: 'plain_text', text: 'Engineering update: ' + label } },
  { type: 'section', fields: [
    { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*PRs merged*\n' + d.metrics.prs },
    { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*Stories done*\n' + d.metrics.stories },
    { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*Story points*\n' + d.metrics.points },
    { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*PRs per contributor*\n' + d.metrics.prsPerContributor } ] },
  { type: 'divider' },
  { type: 'section', text: { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*Merged pull requests*\n' +
    lines(d.byAuthor, p => '<' + p.url + '|' + p.title + '>') } },
  { type: 'section', text: { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*Completed stories*\n' +
    lines(d.byAssignee, s => s.key + ' ' + s.summary) } }
];
return [{ json: { blocks, text: 'Engineering update: ' + label } }];

Expression: {{ JSON.stringify({ blocks: $json.blocks }) }}

{
  "blocks": [
    { "type": "header", "text": { "type": "plain_text", "text": "Engineering update: Nov 2 to Nov 8" } },
    { "type": "section", "fields": [
      { "type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*PRs merged*\n23" },
      { "type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*Stories done*\n14" } ] }
  ]
}

Node: Slack
Resource: Message
Operation: Send
Send Message To: Channel
Channel: #engineering
Message Type: Blocks
Blocks: {{ JSON.stringify({ blocks: $json.blocks }) }}
Options > Text (fallback): {{ $json.text }}

Expression: {{ $json.text }}

{
  "ok": true,
  "channel": "C02ENGINEER",
  "ts": "1793995200.000200"
}

Extending This n8n Workflow

After the first few Fridays, improve the n8n workflow where it hurts most. Add a comparison against the previous week by saving metrics in workflow static data. Add a Slack thread reply with the five largest pull requests, using the additions and deletions fields from the pulls API. Add a section for open pull requests older than five days, with a second search query using the is:open qualifier, to surface review bottlenecks.

If you manage several teams, put the project key and channel in a Set node, and let n8n loop over a list of teams so each team receives its own recap from the same n8n workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use GitHub search instead of listing pulls per repository?

Search covers every repository in the organization with one request and filters by merge date on the server. Listing pulls requires one call per repository and returns closed but unmerged items you would have to filter out in n8n.

What counts as velocity in this report?

Velocity is throughput: stories moved to Done, story points on those stories, and pull requests merged per contributor. It is a trend indicator for the team, not a performance score for individuals, so label it that way in the channel.

How do I report on more than one Jira project?

Change the JQL to project in (ENG, PLAT, MOBILE). If you also want separate sections per project, add the project key to the fields list and group by it in the compile Code node.

Can the update go to Microsoft Teams or email instead?

Yes. The compile Code node produces neutral data. Replace the Block Kit node with a Code node that builds HTML or an adaptive card, and swap the final node for Send Email or an HTTP Request to a Teams webhook.