Heidelberg AI Curriculum

5books in this track

L01 · User

Who is affectedOnly you

Your First Automation: Build It, Break It, Switch It Off

Build one n8n workflow that turns a form entry into a logged row with a timestamp. Test it before you switch it on, break it once on purpose so you know what failure looks like, and find the off switch before you need it.

Outcome: A screenshot of your workflow's Executions tab showing one successful and one deliberately failed run, plus one line saying where its off switch is; it passes when the failed run left no row in your table.

User15 minLast edited: Oct 12, 2026

L02 · Power user

Who is affectedYour team sees a bad document or a wrong figure

T05-L02

Put AI in the Middle of a Workflow, and Check Every Answer

Add one model step to an n8n workflow that sorts incoming papers or emails for your team. Ask for fixed fields, check each answer in the workflow before anything moves on, send the doubtful ones to a colleague, and keep anything that leaves the team behind a human Approve button.

Outcome: A published n8n workflow with a model step, a check step, a shared review table and, if anything leaves the team, an approval step; plus a one-page note naming the reviewer and deputy, the monthly cost estimate and the spend limit. It passes when a colleague feeds in one normal item and one broken answer and the broken one lands in the review table, not in the team's list.

Power user13 minLast edited: Oct 18, 2026

L03 · Builder

Who is affectedColleagues depend on something you built

T05-L03

Chain Checked Steps Into a Weekly Digest Your Team Can Rerun

Turn one checked model step into an n8n pipeline that writes the team's weekly digest: a gate for empty and oversized weeks, one checked record per item, counts done by code, a summary that may only cite checked records, a test set with expected results, and a README a colleague can rerun.

Outcome: A published n8n pipeline that produces a weekly digest draft for a named reviewer, with a test data table of six to eight cases and their expected end states, the model ID and workflow version in a README, and a note naming maintainer and deputy; it passes when the deputy runs the test set from the README alone and every case ends where the table says.

Builder21 minLast edited: Oct 18, 2026

L04 · Integrator

Who is affectedCompany or lab systems and real data are in the loop

T05-L04

Make an Automation Safe to Fail Before It Touches Real Systems

Your n8n automation now sends mail or writes into a real system. Put a duplicate guard in front of every step you can't undo, retry only what is safe to repeat, give failures a reader, let the workflow stop itself, and get a service account from IT that can do nothing more than the job.

Outcome: One n8n workflow that writes to a real system, with a failure test sheet and a takeover page; it passes when all five injected failures (double run, revoked login, empty input, timeout on the irreversible step, three failures in a row) end where the sheet says, IT and the data owner have signed, and a deputy takes over by hand from the page alone.

Integrator22 minLast edited: Sep 23, 2026

L05 · Operator

Who is affectedWork stops when it breaks, and it must survive you leaving

T05-L05

Keep Your Automations Running for Months, and After You Leave

Run a set of n8n automations that many people depend on: one register, four signals to watch (silence, failures, waiting work, cost), a routine for when one breaks, a way to take updates and model retirements calmly, a folder an auditor can read, and deputies who have practised taking over.

Outcome: An operations folder for every automation you run (register, alert setup, incident routine, change log and handover checklist), which passes when every automation has a keeper and deputy other than you alone and a heartbeat that alerts a team channel, a deputy handles a staged incident from the folder alone, and a colleague answers three auditor questions from it in 15 minutes.

Operator21 minLast edited: Sep 23, 2026