Push

Push the input to the shelf

Overview

The "Push" node allows you to store (or "push") incoming data into a shelf-like structure within the n8n flow context, associating it with a user-defined key. This is useful for temporarily saving data during workflow execution, enabling later retrieval or aggregation of items under a specific key.

Common scenarios:

Collecting and grouping data from multiple sources before further processing.
Implementing batching or deduplication logic by accumulating items in the shelf.
Temporarily storing intermediate results for use in subsequent workflow steps.

Example:
You might use this node to gather all items from several triggers or branches, store them under a common key, and then process them together at a later stage in your workflow.

Properties

Name	Type	Meaning
Key	String	The key to be associated with the data in the shelf context.

Output

The node outputs the same input data it receives, unchanged, as an array of items in the json field.
No binary data is produced.
The main effect is the side-effect: the input data is stored in the flow context's shelf object under the specified key.

Example output:

[
  {
    "json": { /* original input item */ }
  },
  ...
]

Dependencies

No external services or API keys are required.
Relies on n8n's built-in flow context (this.getContext("flow")) to store data.

Troubleshooting

Possible issues:

If the "Key" property is not set or is duplicated across nodes, data may be overwritten or mixed unintentionally.
Large amounts of data stored in the shelf may impact workflow performance or memory usage.

Error messages:

The node does not explicitly throw custom errors, but if the context is unavailable or corrupted, unexpected behavior may occur.

Resolution:

Ensure unique and meaningful keys for each use case.
Monitor the amount of data being pushed to avoid excessive memory consumption.