From 6ef54c585b8a2d61b4b54784e50031ddaff14ecf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: sweenu <contact@sweenu.xyz>
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:02:38 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] nixos/n8n: handle _FILE env variables with systemd's
 LoadCredential

---
 nixos/modules/services/misc/n8n.nix | 37 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 nixos/tests/n8n.nix                 | 11 ++++++++-
 2 files changed, 44 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/n8n.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/n8n.nix
index 1b66a4c7705b..1c2e38717c2b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/n8n.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/n8n.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@
 }:
 let
   cfg = config.services.n8n;
+
+  envVarToCredName = varName: lib.toLower varName;
+
+  # Partition environment variables into regular and file-based (_FILE suffix)
+  regularEnv = lib.filterAttrs (name: _value: !(lib.hasSuffix "_FILE" name)) cfg.environment;
+  fileBasedEnv = lib.filterAttrs (name: _value: lib.hasSuffix "_FILE" name) cfg.environment;
+
+  # Transform file-based env vars to point to credentials directory
+  fileBasedEnvTransformed = lib.mapAttrs' (
+    varName: _secretPath: lib.nameValuePair varName "%d/${envVarToCredName varName}"
+  ) fileBasedEnv;
+
 in
 {
   imports = [
@@ -32,6 +44,18 @@ in
       description = ''
         Environment variables to pass to the n8n service.
         See <https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/> for available options.
+
+        Environment variables ending with `_FILE` are automatically handled as secrets:
+        they are loaded via systemd credentials for secure access with `DynamicUser=true`.
+
+        This can be useful to pass secrets via tools like `agenix` or `sops-nix`.
+      '';
+      example = lib.literalExpression ''
+        {
+          N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE = "/run/n8n/encryption_key";
+          DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD_FILE = "/run/n8n/db_postgresdb_password";
+          WEBHOOK_URL = "https://n8n.example.com";
+        }
       '';
       type = lib.types.submodule {
         freeformType =
@@ -92,15 +116,22 @@ in
       description = "n8n service";
       after = [ "network.target" ];
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
-      environment = cfg.environment // {
-        HOME = config.services.n8n.environment.N8N_USER_FOLDER;
-      };
+      environment =
+        regularEnv
+        // {
+          HOME = config.services.n8n.environment.N8N_USER_FOLDER;
+        }
+        // fileBasedEnvTransformed;
       serviceConfig = {
         Type = "simple";
         ExecStart = lib.getExe cfg.package;
         Restart = "on-failure";
         StateDirectory = "n8n";
 
+        LoadCredential = lib.mapAttrsToList (
+          varName: secretPath: "${envVarToCredName varName}:${secretPath}"
+        ) fileBasedEnv;
+
         # Basic Hardening
         NoNewPrivileges = "yes";
         PrivateTmp = "yes";
diff --git a/nixos/tests/n8n.nix b/nixos/tests/n8n.nix
index 7936500a4d53..490f9cdd17c0 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/n8n.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/n8n.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-{ lib, ... }:
+{ lib, pkgs, ... }:
 let
   port = 5678;
   webhookUrl = "http://example.com";
+  secretFile = toString (pkgs.writeText "n8n-encryption-key" "test-encryption-key-12345");
 in
 {
   name = "n8n";
@@ -18,6 +19,8 @@ in
           WEBHOOK_URL = webhookUrl;
           N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED = false;
           DB_PING_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 2;
+          # !!! Don't do this with real keys. The /nix store is world-readable!
+          N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE = secretFile;
         };
       };
     };
@@ -25,6 +28,8 @@ in
   testScript = ''
     machine.wait_for_unit("n8n.service")
     machine.wait_for_console_text("Editor is now accessible via")
+
+    # Test regular environment variables
     machine.succeed("curl --fail -vvv http://localhost:${toString port}/")
     machine.succeed("grep -qF ${webhookUrl} /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service")
     machine.succeed("grep -qF 'HOME=/var/lib/n8n' /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service")
@@ -32,5 +37,9 @@ in
     machine.succeed("grep -qF 'N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false' /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service")
     machine.succeed("grep -qF 'N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED=false' /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service")
     machine.succeed("grep -qF 'DB_PING_INTERVAL_SECONDS=2' /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service")
+
+    # Test _FILE environment variables
+    machine.succeed("grep -qF 'LoadCredential=n8n_encryption_key_file:${secretFile}' /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service")
+    machine.succeed("grep -qF 'N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE=%d/n8n_encryption_key_file' /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service")
   '';
 }