This n8n tutorial shows you how to build your first AI agent—totally free and without needing to know how to code. 🌎 [Sponsor] Check out QuickBooks Online ➜ https://quickbooks.kevinstratvert.com/
First, you’ll learn what makes an AI agent different from a simple workflow or chatbot, so you can start thinking like a builder, not just a user.
Next, you’ll get hands-on with n8n, an open-source automation platform that combines drag-and-drop power with AI reasoning and tool access.
Then, I’ll walk you step-by-step through installing n8n locally using Docker and show how to create your first automation, all for free.
After that, we’ll build a real AI agent that connects to Gemini, reads overdue invoices from QuickBooks, and drafts personalized email reminders to customers.
You’ll also learn how to write better prompts for your agents using a framework that blends Role, Task, Tools, and Output to get the most reliable behavior.
Next, you’ll see how to test, troubleshoot, and inspect your AI agent’s behavior—down to every message it sends—so you stay in control.
Finally, we’ll go one level deeper by adding a “Human in the Loop” approval step via Discord, giving you final review power before anything goes out.
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⌚ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - What is an AI Agent? 01:48 - n8n Free Setup 04:02 - Your First Agent 15:58 - Human in the Loop 22:51 - Wrap-up
💬 PROMPTS Help me write a prompt for an AI Agent using the key components: Role, Task, Input, Tools, and Outputs. I'll write a brief below, but ask me any questions you need answers to write the final prompt.
# Task To draft an send late payment messages to customers who have not yet paid their invoices in QuickBooks Online yet and are past due.
# Context Agent should be polite when customers are under 7 days overdue, but as the weeks go by, the agent should become more and more firm. The agent should make its own subject and message for each customer.
# Tools You have access to the following tools: - 'getInvoices(query)': Gets all invoices. Include "WHERE DueDate (insert less than symbol) ‘[Today]’" in the query string as the "query" parameter to get invoices that are overdue. - 'sendPaymentReminder(customerEmail, subject, message)': Sends an email with a model-defined subject and message to the customer.
# Outputs Return a summary of how many emails were sent in JSON. For each email, write the customer's name, the amount of the invoice, how many days overdue they were, the subject of the email, and the body of the email. ---- To get ChatGPT to ask you questions to clarify the role of your agent: Ask me questions to clarify any ambiguity in how the agent needs to behave. ---- To get ChatGPT to output the prompt so you can copy and paste it: Output this entire prompt as a markdown file, making sure to escape any code sections so it can be copied.
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