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January 22, 2026

WordPress meets GitHub for versioned content backups

WordPress meets GitHub for versioned content backups - n8n workflow automation template
Lisa Granqvist Partner Workflow Automation Expert
WordPress meets GitHub for versioned content backups - n8n workflow automation template
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WordPress content changes fast. Then someone asks, “What did we change last week?” and you’re stuck digging through revisions, screenshots, or half-remembered edits.

Content managers feel it when approvals get messy. Marketing leads run into it when multiple people touch the same post. And agency teams get the blame when a client swears a paragraph “used to be there.” This WordPress GitHub backups workflow gives you a clean, versioned history you can actually trust.

You’ll see how the automation pulls posts from WordPress, turns them into files, checks what changed, and commits updates into GitHub so you can review diffs or roll back quickly.

The Problem: WordPress Content History Gets Fuzzy

WordPress revisions help, until they don’t. They’re hard to review at a glance, not great for team workflows, and they rarely match how you already manage “real” changes in the rest of the business. Meanwhile, content updates aren’t small. It’s a headline tweak, then a CTA swap, then a compliance edit, then suddenly the whole post reads differently. When something breaks (traffic drops, legal flags a claim, a product detail changes), you need to answer one simple question fast: what changed, and when?

The friction compounds. Here’s where it breaks down in day-to-day work.

  • You end up copy-pasting posts into docs or Slack threads just to get basic review and approval.
  • Small edits slip through without visibility, which means the team argues from memory instead of evidence.
  • Rolling back is stressful because “revert” often means redoing other good edits that happened afterward.
  • When several posts are updated in a week, tracking changes across them becomes a recurring time sink.

How This Automation Works

The full n8n workflow, from trigger to final output:

n8n Workflow Template: WordPress meets GitHub for versioned content backups

The Solution: Sync WordPress Posts into GitHub as Versioned Files

This n8n workflow pulls your WordPress articles on a schedule (or whenever you run it manually), converts each post into a consistent JSON payload, and then stores that content inside a GitHub repository as files. Before it writes anything, it checks whether a matching file already exists, fetches the current version, and compares it to what WordPress looks like right now. If there’s no change, it does nothing. If something changed, it commits an updated file. If it’s brand new, it creates the file for the first time. The result is a Git-style content timeline you can diff, review, and roll back without guesswork.

The workflow starts with WordPress as the source of truth. Then n8n evaluates file metadata in GitHub, pulls the existing file when needed, and detects changes before deciding to create, update, or skip. Finally, it writes the result back to GitHub and returns a clean status output for your logs.

What You Get: Automation vs. Results

Example: What This Looks Like

Say you publish or update 20 posts a month, and you “backup” content by copying it into a doc and saving a dated export. Even at roughly 10 minutes per post, that’s about 3 hours of boring work, plus the mental overhead of naming files and keeping folders organized. With this workflow, the “after” is basically zero: you let the scheduled trigger run, n8n processes posts in batches, and GitHub stores each revision automatically. You only open GitHub when you actually need to review a diff or restore an older version.

What You’ll Need

  • n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
  • Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
  • WordPress as the source for posts and content.
  • GitHub to store versioned files and diffs.
  • GitHub personal access token (create it in GitHub Developer Settings).

Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll connect WordPress and GitHub, then verify repo paths, tags, and credentials.

Don’t want to set this up yourself? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).

How It Works

A schedule (or manual run) starts the backup. The workflow can run from a Scheduled Start for ongoing protection, or from Manual Start when you want to test it or run a one-off catchup.

WordPress articles are retrieved and normalized. n8n pulls your posts, then a code step prepares a JSON payload so every post has the same structure before it touches GitHub.

The workflow checks what already exists in GitHub. It builds a path (including optional tag-based organization), sets repository context, pulls file metadata, and only fetches the remote file content when it’s needed for comparison.

Changes are detected and written cleanly. A comparison step decides if there’s no change, a modified file, or a totally new file, then GitHub nodes either update the existing file or create a fresh one.

You can easily modify the tag folder logic to match your categories, authors, or post types based on your needs. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.

Step-by-Step Implementation Guide

Step 1: Configure the Trigger Type

This workflow can run manually, on a schedule, or when called as a sub-workflow. Configure all three entry points so the automation can be started from different contexts.

  1. Open Manual Start and keep it as the manual trigger for ad-hoc testing.
  2. Open Scheduled Start and set the schedule rule to run at triggerAtHour: 17.
  3. Open Incoming Workflow Trigger and set Input Source to passthrough so sub-workflows can pass data into the backup flow.
Tip: Use Manual Start while building the workflow, then rely on Scheduled Start for production backups.

Step 2: Connect WordPress

Pull all WordPress posts as the source data for the backup process.

  1. Add or open Retrieve WP Articles and set Operation to getAll.
  2. Enable Return All by setting it to true.
  3. Credential Required: Connect your wordpressApi credentials.

Step 3: Set Up Processing and Sub-Workflow Execution

Prepare the JSON payload and forward each record into the sub-workflow for backup handling.

  1. Open Prepare JSON Payload and confirm the JavaScript code adds the field myNewField to each item.
  2. Open Run Sub-Workflow (Configure Required) and keep Mode set to each so each item runs independently.
  3. In Run Sub-Workflow (Configure Required), choose the target workflow in Workflow (the field is currently blank and must be set).
⚠️ Common Pitfall: Run Sub-Workflow (Configure Required) will fail until you select a workflow ID in the Workflow field.

Step 4: Configure Tag Routing and Repository Context

Build a tag-based path and set repository identifiers used by GitHub operations.

  1. Open Check Tag Presence and verify it checks {{ $json.tags[0] }} for existence using two outputs (tag and none).
  2. In Build Tag Path, set tags[0].name to {{ $('Incoming Workflow Trigger').item.json.tags[0].name }}/.
  3. In Set Repository Context, set repo.owner to [YOUR_ID] and repo.name to [YOUR_ID].
  4. In Set Repository Context, set repo.path to =workflows/{{ $json.tags[0].name }} so files are saved under the tag folder.
Tip: Incoming Workflow Trigger outputs to both Combine Records and Check Tag Presence in parallel, so ensure both branches can run without dependency conflicts.

Step 5: Retrieve and Compare Repository Content

Check GitHub for existing files, fetch any remote content, then compare it with the incoming data.

  1. Open Retrieve File Metadata and set File Path to {{ $json.repo.path }}{{ $('Incoming Workflow Trigger').item.json.id }}.json.
  2. Credential Required: Connect your githubApi credentials in Retrieve File Metadata.
  3. Open Evaluate File Size and keep the conditions that check {{ $json.content }} is empty and {{ $json.error }} does not exist.
  4. Open Fetch Remote File and set URL to {{ $json.download_url }}.
  5. Open Combine Records to merge the GitHub file data with the incoming workflow data.
  6. Open Detect Changes and keep the JavaScript that sets github_status to same, different, or new.
  7. Open Route Status and confirm Value 1 is {{ $json.github_status }} with routes for same, different, and new.

Step 6: Configure GitHub File Actions

Based on the detected status, update, create, or skip repository changes.

  1. Leave No Change Action as a no-op branch for the same status.
  2. Open Modify Repository File and set File Path to {{ $('Set Repository Context').item.json.repo.path }}{{ $('Incoming Workflow Trigger').first().json.id }}.json.
  3. In Modify Repository File, set File Content to {{ $('Detect Changes').item.json["n8n_data_stringy"] }} and Commit Message to {{ $('Incoming Workflow Trigger').first().json.name }} ({{ $json.github_status }}).
  4. Credential Required: Connect your githubApi credentials in Modify Repository File.
  5. Open Create Repository File and set File Path to {{ $('Set Repository Context').item.json.repo.path }}{{ $('Incoming Workflow Trigger').first().json.id }}.json.
  6. In Create Repository File, set File Content to {{ $('Detect Changes').item.json["n8n_data_stringy"] }} and Commit Message to {{ $('Incoming Workflow Trigger').first().json.name }} ({{ $json.github_status }}).
  7. Credential Required: Connect your githubApi credentials in Create Repository File.
  8. In Finalize Output, set Done to true to indicate completion.
⚠️ Common Pitfall: Make sure repo.owner and repo.name in Set Repository Context are valid, or GitHub actions will fail.

Step 7: Test and Activate Your Workflow

Validate the workflow end-to-end, then turn on scheduled execution.

  1. Click Manual Start and run the workflow to generate a test backup.
  2. Confirm Route Status routes to No Change Action, Modify Repository File, or Create Repository File based on github_status.
  3. Check your GitHub repository for the file at workflows/<tag>/<workflow-id>.json and ensure commits match the expected status.
  4. Once confirmed, activate the workflow so Scheduled Start runs automatically at the configured time.
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Common Gotchas

  • GitHub credentials can expire or need specific permissions. If things break, check your token scopes in GitHub Developer Settings first (repo access is usually the missing piece).
  • If you’re using Wait-like behavior implicitly (batching, large posts, or slower GitHub responses), processing times vary. Bump up timing or reduce batch size if downstream nodes fail on empty responses.
  • The default “Prepare JSON Payload” logic may not match how you want files stored. Add your preferred fields and naming early, or you’ll be reorganizing the repository later.

Related Workflows

If your team also manages a non-WordPress site, Squarespace to GitHub, injection backups you can trust is a smart companion so your content backups behave the same across platforms.

For teams doing lots of collaborative edits, GitHub backups that keep your team changes traceable pairs well because it’s built around visibility and accountability when multiple people touch the same assets.

When you mainly care about making sure the newest version is always recoverable, GitHub backups that protect your latest changes is worth adding to your stack for broader “last-known-good” protection.

Need to keep sensitive access details organized too? GitHub credential backups that stay clean and current helps reduce the “where did we store that token?” chaos that shows up during migrations.

Finally, if you want people to actually notice when content changes, GitHub + Discord: reliable backups with change alerts adds a lightweight notification loop so updates don’t stay hidden in commit history.


Quick reference:

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to set up this WordPress GitHub backups automation?

About 30–60 minutes if your WordPress and GitHub access is ready.

Do I need coding skills to automate WordPress GitHub backups?

No. You’ll connect accounts and adjust a few repo and path settings. The only “technical” part is being comfortable creating a GitHub token and pasting it into n8n.

Is n8n free to use for this WordPress GitHub backups workflow?

Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in GitHub costs if you require private repos on paid tiers.

Where can I host n8n to run this automation?

Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.

Can I customize this WordPress GitHub backups workflow for category-based folders?

Yes, and it’s one of the best tweaks you can make. You can adjust the tag/category routing around “Check Tag Presence” and the path-building logic in “Build Tag Path” so posts land in folders like /category/seo/ or /author/jamie/. Many teams also customize file naming to use the post slug, and they add extra fields in “Prepare JSON Payload” (like custom fields or featured image URLs) so the repo becomes a complete content archive.

Why is my GitHub connection failing in this workflow?

Usually it’s an expired token or missing repo permissions. Regenerate your GitHub personal access token, confirm it can access the target repository, then update the credential inside n8n. If failures happen only on bigger posts, also look at the “Evaluate File Size” decision and confirm the workflow is allowed to fetch the remote file content via the HTTP Request step.

How many posts can this WordPress GitHub backups automation handle?

Most small sites can run hundreds of posts per run without trouble.

Is this WordPress GitHub backups automation better than using Zapier or Make?

For this use case, n8n is a better fit more often than not. You need conditional logic (check for file, compare content, then create vs update vs skip), plus you may need to fetch and merge remote file data before you can detect changes. Zapier and Make can do parts of it, but it tends to get expensive or awkward once you add branching and file comparison. n8n also gives you a self-host option, which is handy if you want unlimited runs and full control. If you’re unsure, Talk to an automation expert and you’ll get a straight recommendation based on your volume and team workflow.

Once this is running, your WordPress edits stop being a mystery and start being a timeline. The workflow handles the repetitive tracking so you can focus on the content itself.

Need Help Setting This Up?

Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.

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Lisa Granqvist

Workflow Automation Expert

Expert in workflow automation and no-code tools.

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