AWS Cognito n8n integrationAutomate AWS Cognito with n8n.
Your user directory should not need someone clicking in the AWS console to stay current. The AWS Cognito n8n integration gives a workflow 13 operations across 3 resources: users, groups and user pools. No trigger node ships for Cognito, so a schedule or an incoming call starts the run.
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What does the AWS Cognito n8n integration actually do?
AWS Cognito holds user pools, the directories where an application stores its accounts and the groups that sort them. The n8n node talks to that directory from inside a workflow: 13 operations spread over 3 resources, users, groups and user pools. Work that would otherwise mean a console tab and a lot of clicking runs on a schedule or on demand, with a single AWS credential saved once in n8n.
Onboarding without opening the console. A new hire shows up as a row in the HR file, the workflow reads it from Google Sheets, runs user.create with the work email as User Name, then chains user.addToGroup so the account lands in the right group before anyone asks for access.
An access review that writes itself. Once a month a Schedule Trigger, the n8n node that starts a workflow at a fixed interval, fires group.getAll with Include Users turned on. The result goes into Postgres next to last month's snapshot, and the difference lands in Slack as a short message rather than a screenshot in an email thread.
Offboarding that actually finishes. A ticket moves to done, the workflow calls user.removeFromGroup for each group the person sat in, then user.delete. Nobody has to remember the second half of the checklist two weeks later.
The node covers the 13 operations listed further down. For any other endpoint of the AWS API, the HTTP Request node calls it directly and reuses the same AWS credential through predefined authentication, so there is no second set of keys to manage.
Two practical points. Listing is paginated: with Return All off, n8n stops at Limit, so a busy pool comes back partial unless you turn it on. And since Cognito has no trigger node in n8n, a workflow starts from a Schedule Trigger, from an n8n Webhook (a URL another service calls when something happens on its side), or from the trigger of another tool. The n8n review goes into that platform side in more depth.
How do you connect AWS Cognito to n8n?
- 01
Create an access key in AWS
Open the IAM console, select your user name in the navigation bar on the upper right, then Security credentials. In the Access keys section, select Create access key, choose your use case (pick Other if nothing fits), then Next. Set a description tag such as
n8n integrationso the key is recognisable later, and create it. Reveal the Access Key ID and the Secret Access Key. - 02
Save the AWS credential in n8n
In n8n, go to the Credentials menu and add an AWS (IAM) credential, which is n8n's stored set of connection details for a service. Select your AWS Region, then paste the Access Key ID and the Secret Access Key. You do this once: every workflow that touches an AWS node offers the same credential in its dropdown, so there is nothing to paste twice.
- 03
Point the node at a user pool
Drop an AWS Cognito node into the canvas, pick the credential, then choose the Resource (User, Group or User Pool) and the Operation. Every operation starts with User Pool, which you select from the list n8n loads from your account. It also accepts an expression, n8n's way of pulling a value from the previous node, written as
{{ $json.userPoolId }}when the pool is decided upstream.
What can the AWS Cognito node do?
The AWS Cognito node exposes 13 operations across 3 resources. For each one: the node as you configure it in n8n, the required fields, and our field notes.
| Resource | Create | Get | Get Many | Update | Delete | Add to Group | Remove From Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| User | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| User Pool | ✓ |
Group
5 operationsCreate group
group.createWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Adds a new group to a user pool and returns it, empty and ready for members.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool that will hold the group, chosen from the dropdown n8n fills from your AWS account.
- Group Name: the name of the new group, typed once and reused everywhere else in the workflow.
- Precedence: optional, in Additional Fields, a number where lower values mean higher priority.
- Role ARN: optional, the role ARN for the group, used for setting claims in tokens, in the shape
arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GroupRole.
Delete group
group.deleteWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Deletes an existing group from the pool. Both values are picked, not typed, which keeps a stray character from pointing at the wrong object.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool the group currently lives in.
- Group: the group to delete, selected from the list or passed by value from an earlier node, for instance
{{ $json.GroupName }}.
Get group
group.getWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Reads one group and returns its details, optionally with everyone inside it.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool to read from.
- Group: the group you want to retrieve.
- Include Users: switch it on and the response also carries the list of users in the group, which saves a second call.
Get many groups
group.getAllWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Returns the groups of a pool, one item per group.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool whose groups get listed.
- Limit: required, the maximum number of groups to return.
- Return All: on, n8n walks through the API pages and brings back every group; off, it stops at Limit.
- Include Users: adds the members of each group to the output.
Update group
group.updateWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Edits a group that already exists. Fields left out of Additional Fields keep their current value.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool that owns the group being edited.
- Group: the group to update.
- Description: optional, a new description for the group.
- Precedence: optional, the new precedence value, lower meaning higher priority.
- Role ARN: optional, a new role Amazon Resource Name used for setting claims in tokens.
User
7 operationsAdd user to group
user.addToGroupWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Puts an existing account into an existing group. Nothing is created here, only the link between the two.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool where both the account and the group already exist.
- User: the account you want to add.
- Group: the group that receives it.
Create user
user.createWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Provisions an account in the pool and, unless told otherwise, has Cognito send the welcome message.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool the account is created in.
- User Name: depending on the pool settings this takes the username, the email or the phone number, and no whitespace is allowed.
- Desired Delivery Mediums: optional, sends the welcome message by
EMAIL, bySMS, or both. - Message Action: optional,
SUPPRESSsends nothing,RESENDrepeats the invitation to an account that already exists.
Delete user
user.deleteWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Removes an account from the pool for good.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool the account belongs to.
- User: the account to delete, usually coming from the item the previous node produced.
Get user
user.getWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Fetches one account and returns what Cognito knows about it.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool to look the account up in.
- User: the account to retrieve.
- Simplify: on, the response comes back trimmed instead of raw, which is easier to map into the next node.
Get many users
user.getAllWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Lists accounts from a pool, one item per user.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool to list accounts from.
- Limit: required, the maximum number of accounts returned.
- Return All: on, n8n chains the API pages until the pool is exhausted.
- Filters: narrows the list instead of pulling everything and sorting it later in the workflow.
- Simplify: returns a lighter version of each record.
Remove user from group
user.removeFromGroupWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Breaks the link between an account and a group. The account itself stays in the pool.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool holding the membership you want to undo.
- User: the account to take out.
- Group: the group it should leave.
Update user
user.updateWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Writes new attribute values onto an existing account.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool storing the profile you are changing.
- User: the account to update.
- User Attributes: required, a collection where each entry you add with Add Attribute is one attribute and its new value.
User Pool
1 operationGet user pool
userPool.getWhat you see in n8n
Notes & use cases
Reads the pool itself rather than anything inside it, and returns its configuration.
Key parameters
- User Pool: the pool to retrieve, selected from the list or passed by ID.
- Simplify: on, you get a condensed response instead of the raw payload.
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