Ghost Workflow Medium: a 1B Gemma on a CPU summons dead cron jobs and reincarnates them as n8n workflows

Description and use

Ghost Workflow Medium converts legacy cron scripts into n8n workflows using a local Gemma 3 model. It reads the script, outputs a summary and a structured plan, compiles it into JSON, validates, and imports into n8n.

Problem

Small businesses lose automated tasks when the original script author leaves, leaving hidden cron jobs and legacy scripts that are hard to understand and maintain.

Outcome

All three sample ghosts (backup, disk alert, weekly sales report) were successfully converted into n8n workflows. The 1B model produced fast skeletons but omitted some steps; the 4B model produced fuller drafts but introduced minor hallucinations. Both models passed validation and imported into n8n.

Workflow

• 1. Provide the legacy script to the local tool.
• 2. Gemma 3 (via Ollama) reads the script and outputs a "confession" (three‑sentence summary).
• 3. Gemma 3 outputs a structured plan with trigger and steps in JSON schema.
• 4. A deterministic compiler converts the plan into real n8n nodes (scheduleTrigger, executeCommand, httpRequest, emailSend, etc.).
• 5. Exorcism guardrails remove any step whose URL or email address is not present in the original script.
• 6. Repair logic corrects malformed cron fields and re‑types misidentified steps.
• 7. Validation checks trigger, node types, cron syntax, connections, and uniqueness; failures trigger a retry.
• 8. The resulting JSON is imported into a local n8n instance via the CLI.
• 9. The workflow is opened in the n8n editor for review and deployment.

Evidence

Ghost Workflow Medium is a tiny, fully offline séance for those ghosts. You hand it the remains of an old script. A local Gemma 3 model running in Ollama speaks as the ghost and tells you in three sentences what it did in life. Then it reincarnates the script as an n8n workflow JSON you can import.

Source

Lesson 1: don't ask a 1B model to write n8n JSON. A real n8n workflow has node type strings, versioned parameters, positions and a connections map keyed by node name. A 1B model can't produce that reliably.

Source

Both models got every schedule right, and all six workflows passed validation and imported into n8n.

Source