How can I integrate a manual review step into my n8n workflow?

Implementing an Interactive Curation Process in n8n

n8n doesn’t currently offer a built‐in review pane with drag‐and‐drop reordering capabilities. However, you can build a similar process by combining n8n’s automation capabilities with external tools. Here are a few approaches:

1. Use External Interfaces for Manual Curation

• Google Sheets or Airtable:
  Create a workflow that exports the raw list of news items to a Google Sheet or Airtable table. Use the external interface to manually approve and reorder items. In a subsequent workflow, have n8n read the approved list (based on a flag or an order column) to generate your digest.

• Custom Dashboard:
  Build a lightweight web app that presents your JSON data for review. Once you curate the items and save your changes, n8n can poll or receive the updated data via a webhook trigger.

2. Leverage Human-in-the-Loop Triggers

• Webhook-Based Approval:
  Set up a workflow that sends an email or notification with links to approve or reject an item. Although this isn’t a visual reordering panel, using webhooks you can create a stepwise manual approval process. Combine approved items later for your digest.

3. Combine Workflows for Staged Curation

• Two-Stage Workflow Process:
  • Stage One: Automatically aggregate and store all incoming news items (for example in a database or external storage like Google Sheets).
  • Stage Two: On a daily basis, trigger a manual review process (using one of the external interfaces mentioned), then run another workflow that aggregates the approved items into the weekly digest.

Putting It All Together

A possible implementation could look like this:

1. Aggregation Workflow:

   • Fetch hundreds of news items via the RSS feed.
   • Push the data to an external data store (Google Sheets, Airtable, etc.) with columns for approval status and position/order.

2. Review Phase:

   • Use the external tool to let you visually examine, approve, and reorder items.

3. Digest Generation Workflow:

   • Periodically (or weekly) trigger a workflow that reads only the approved items in their desired order.
   • Use these items to build and send your email digest.

While n8n doesn’t natively support a drag-and-drop review pane, integrating these external interfaces gives you the flexibility to curate your content without manually editing JSON in n8n directly.

This approach leverages n8n’s automation strengths while allowing human decision-making in an interface that best suits your needs.