Eight fields One explanation a week
Understand the mechanism, not just the steps.
In-depth explanations of the tools and systems modern businesses run on, because knowing why something works is what lets you build the next thing yourself.
The shape of every piece
What it is. How it works. Why it matters.
Every explanation answers those three, in that order. If a piece cannot answer all three, it does not get published. Here is one, opened up.
Worked example · AI & automation
How a workflow retries a failed step
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01 What it is
A run is a queued job, not a script.
Every execution is queued as one unit of work. A step that throws marks the whole run failed, not just the step that broke.
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02 How it works
The queue keeps every step's input.
Because each step's input payload is stored alongside the run, a retry re-enters at the failed step with exactly what it received the first time, after a backoff.
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03 Why it matters
Replaying the run repeats its side effects.
Steps 01 and 02 already happened. Retry the run instead of the step and you do them again, which is how one retry becomes forty duplicate invoices.
Every mechanism on this site was reproduced on a real account before it was written down. Nothing here is explained from documentation alone, and each piece carries the version it was tested against.
How we test what we publishMethod
Four commitments you could catch us breaking.
An explanation is only worth reading if somebody actually ran the thing. Every promise below is specific enough to be tested, so each one is printed with the test that would fail it.
Printed on every article
n8n 1.108.2 tested 2026‑08‑27 · re-checked 2026‑09‑04
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01
We run it first.
Every mechanism described here was reproduced on a real account before it was written down. Nothing is explained from documentation alone.
How you would catch us A described behaviour that exists in the vendor's docs but not in the product. -
02
Versions go on the page.
Platforms move. Each explanation carries the version it was tested against and the date it was last re-checked, in the article itself, not buried in a changelog.
How you would catch us An article with no version stamp, or a stamp predating the platform's last breaking change. -
03
No vendor sees a draft.
Nobody whose product we describe reviews the text, suggests changes, or hears about it before it publishes. There are no sponsored explanations and no affiliate links.
How you would catch us A product that is described at length and never once criticised. -
04
Corrections stay visible.
When we get something wrong the article says so, with the date and what changed. Nothing is quietly edited into being right.
How you would catch us A claim that differs between two readings with no correction note attached.
If you find one of these broken, tell us and we will publish the correction. That is the only way a standard like this means anything.
Read the full methodWhat is coming
The queue, not a count.
There is no archive yet, so there is no number to advertise. This is the actual list: what has been run, what is written, and what is still only planned. If a date moves, this list moves with it.
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Why a retried workflow sends the invoice twice
Written
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What the browser does between your CSS file and the first pixel
Tested
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What actually happens between “Pay” and “Paid”
Planned
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What an ad auction is really bidding on
Planned
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How a ticket decides who it belongs to
Planned
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Why a deck breaks the moment it leaves your machine
Planned
Nothing moves to written until it has been run on a real account. Virtual assistance and personal assistance are the two fields not listed yet; their first explanations follow in November.
Get each one the morning it publishes.
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