n8n Lead Automation ⚡

A self-hosted n8n workflow: a web form submits a lead → the lead is appended to Google Sheets → a confirmation email is sent to the customer → a notification is pushed to a Telegram chat. One workflow, four nodes, zero code.

Demo: record a 60s screen capture after importing (see below) · Source: https://github.com/yusizer/n8n-lead-automation

What the workflow does

[ Web form ] → POST /webhook/lead
   → [ Webhook ] → [ Append to Google Sheets ]
                  → [ Send confirmation email ]
                  → [ Notify Telegram chat ]

A visitor fills in the form → within seconds: a new row in your spreadsheet, an auto-reply in their inbox, and a ping in your Telegram so you never miss a lead.

What's in this repo

n8n-lead-automation/
├── workflows/
│   └── lead-to-sheet-email-telegram.json   # importable n8n workflow (4 nodes)
├── form/
│   └── index.html                          # demo HTML form that posts to the webhook
├── docker-compose.yml                      # self-host n8n in one command
├── .env.example                            # n8n config template
└── README.md

Run n8n locally

cp .env.example .env          # Windows: copy .env.example .env
# edit .env: set a strong N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD and a random N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY

docker compose up -d          # starts n8n on http://localhost:5678

Open http://localhost:5678, log in with the credentials from .env.

Import the workflow

1. In n8n: Workflows → Import from File → choose workflows/lead-to-sheet-email-telegram.json.
2. Open each node and connect its credentials (created once in n8n under Credentials → New):
   • Google Sheets — OAuth2 (sign in with the Google account that owns the sheet).
   • Send Email — SMTP (e.g. Gmail SMTP, Brevo, Mailgun).
   • Telegram — create a bot via @BotFather, paste the token.
3. In the Append to Google Sheets node, replace PASTE_YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEET_ID with your spreadsheet ID (the long string in the sheet URL).
4. In the Notify in Telegram node, replace PASTE_YOUR_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID (get it from @userinfobot).
5. Activate the workflow (top-right toggle). Copy the Webhook URL n8n shows on the Webhook node (e.g. http://localhost:5678/webhook/lead).

Wire up the demo form

Edit form/index.html — replace WEBHOOK_URL in the <form action="..."> with your webhook URL. Open the form in a browser, submit it, and watch:

• a new row appear in your Google Sheet,
• a confirmation email arrive in the inbox,
• a message land in your Telegram chat.

Deploy n8n (always-on)

The included docker-compose.yml runs n8n anywhere with Docker. For a permanent public webhook URL:

• Railway: create a project from this repo (or a Docker image of n8n) and set the variables from .env.example, with WEBHOOK_URL = your Railway domain.
• VPS (Hetzner / Oracle always-free): docker compose up -d behind a Caddy/Nginx reverse proxy with HTTPS; set WEBHOOK_URL to your domain.

Once deployed, set the form's WEBHOOK_URL to the public webhook and the demo works for anyone, anywhere.

Record the demo (for the portfolio)

1. Show the form submission.
2. Cut to the Google Sheet — a new row appears.
3. Cut to the inbox — confirmation email.
4. Cut to Telegram — the notification.
5. Upload to YouTube/Imgur and link it from the portfolio card.

Notes

• This is a no-code project — the "source" is the workflow JSON + self-host config + demo form, not application code (hence no unit tests).
• The workflow JSON contains credential placeholders (PASTE_CRED_ID, PASTE_YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEET_ID, …) — real credentials live in n8n's encrypted store, never in this repo.
• n8n is MIT-licensed and free to self-host; the official cloud has a free tier too.

Screenshots

Workflow graph	Form → Sheet → Telegram

Drop screenshots in docs/ after importing.