I Built an Auto-Reply Workflow in n8n Without Paying for an AI API

说明与用途

使用本地 Ollama AI 模型和 n8n 自动化的表单触发确认邮件工作流，无需付费 API 并设置 10 秒延迟。

问题

The author needed an automated confirmation email workflow without paying for an AI API and without instant email sending.

结果

The workflow successfully sent personalized confirmation emails upon form submission, demonstrating that a paid AI API is not required and that a short wait can prevent instant sending.

工作流

• On form submission trigger starts the workflow
• Chat model node drafts email using local Ollama OpenAI-compatible API
• Wait node delays 10 seconds
• Gmail node sends drafted email to form submitter

证据

I built my first n8n workflow: a manual trigger that sent an email through Gmail. It worked, but it was very basic.

来源

I imagined I'm running an AI solutions consulting business. Whenever someone wants help, the first step is filling out an onboarding form.

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I looked for an alternative and found Ollama, a tool that lets you run AI models locally on your own computer.

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During testing, the email went out the moment I clicked submit. I wanted a small gap between drafting and sending, so I added a Wait node set to 10 seconds between the chat model and Gmail.

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The workflow worked end to end. Submitting the form triggered a personalized email that greeted the person by name, repeated their details for confirmation, and explained the next step.

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