WhatsApp Attendance Tracker n8n Workflow: Complete Automation Tutorial

Prerequisites:

• n8n account (self-hosted or cloud).
• WhatsApp Cloud API.
• Google account (Sheets & Drive).
• Telegram account (app and bot).

Step-by-step:

1. Log in to n8n.
2. Click Import (top or sidebar).
3. Upload your project file: Attendance Tracker.json.
4. The workflow appears on the n8n canvas, auto-populating all node names and settings.

A. Get WhatsApp API Credentials from Meta (Facebook) Developer Portal

1. Go to Facebook Developers and log in.
2. Create a new App (for your business integration).
3. Under Add Products, select “WhatsApp”.
4. Set up and confirm your phone number in WhatsApp Cloud API.
5. Navigate to Settings ⟶ Basic for your app:
• Client ID: Copy this value.
• Client Secret: Reveal and copy this value.

B. Set Up OAuth Flow in Developer Console

1. Go to Settings ⟶ Advanced ⟶ OAuth Settings.
2. Add your n8n instance's OAuth callback URL:

https://YOUR-N8N-DOMAIN/rest/oauth2-credential/callback

3. Select code as OAuth flow type (default for n8n).

C. Set Up Webhook in Meta Developer Console

1. In your WhatsApp app’s settings, go to the Webhook section.
2. Add your n8n Webhook URL (from your WhatsApp Trigger node: looks like https://n8n.yourdomain.io/webhook/ba0dccbc-7c1b-468a-b5d4-2942d7df8dc7).
3. Subscribe to:
• messages
• message_status (for delivery info and status updates).

D. Create WhatsApp OAuth Credentials in n8n

1. In n8n, go to Credentials.
2. Click New Credential → Search for “OAuth2 API”.
3. Fill the following fields:
• Client ID: Paste from Facebook Developer portal.
• Client Secret: Paste from Facebook Developer portal.

4. Save Credential.

B. Steps to Provision:

1. Create Google account and login to Google Cloud Console.
2. Create a new project.
3. Enable “Google Sheets API” and “Google Drive API”.
4. Go to “APIs & Services → Credentials → Create credentials → OAuth client ID”
5. Set “Application type”: Web App.
6. Redirect URI (n8n):
• For n8n cloud: https://app.n8n.cloud/rest/oauth2-credential/callback
• For self-hosted: http://localhost:5678/rest/oauth2-credential/callback or your deployed domain.
7. Give consent screen info and click “Create”.
8. Copy CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET.

9. Save these for n8n set-up.

C. n8n Credential Setup:

• Go to Credentials > New > Google Sheets/Google Drive OAuth2.
• Paste Client ID, Client Secret.
• Redirect URI: copy from n8n credential setup screen.
• Test and save.

D. Test & Verify:

• Open Google Sheets/Drive node in n8n, click "Test Credential".
• Should return OK with 200, file and sheet access confirmed.
• For errors: check scope, redirect URI, and client type.

B. Steps to Provision:

1. Open Telegram app.
2. Search @BotFather, start chat.
3. Send /newbot, follow prompts (name and username).

4. Copy returned Bot Token.
5. (Optional) Set description, photo: /setdescription, /setuserpic.
6. Send /setprivacy to toggle privacy if using in group.
7. Paste token in n8n credential.

C. Get Telegram Chat/User ID:

• Search @hytrel16_bot, send /start.
• Receives reply: “Your Telegram ID: 123456789”

D. Test & Verify:

• Open Google Sheets/Drive node in n8n, click "Test Credential".
• Should return OK with 200, file and sheet access confirmed.
• For errors: check scope, redirect URI, and client type.

• Add a WhatsApp Trigger node.
• Connect it to your WhatsApp Business API or preferred provider (Twilio, WATI, etc.).
• Configure OAuth/API credentials in WhatsApp OAuth account.
• Set up webhook in your provider to point to the node’s webhook URL.

• Drag in a Code node; name it “Parse WhatsApp Message”.
• Connect it after WhatsApp Trigger.
• Use this code to extract name, IN/OUT status, time, and date:

// Timing check: Only allow processing between 8:00 - 20:00 IST (adjust as needed)
const now = new Date();
const hoursIST = now.toLocaleString('en-US', { hour: '2-digit', hour12: false, timeZone: 'Asia/Kolkata' });
const hour = parseInt(hoursIST, 10);

// Block/stop workflow if current time is not in allowed window
if (hour < 9 || hour > 20) {
  return []; // Return empty = skip/stop node chain
}

// --- Parse WhatsApp payload ---
const data = items[0].json;

// Get the exact user message as sent (original case)
const userMessage = data.messages?.[0]?.text?.body || "";

// Extract employee info
const name = data.contacts?.[0]?.profile?.name || 
              userMessage.split(' ')[0] || 
              "Unknown Employee";

// Determine status from message (IN/OUT), case insensitive
const messageText = userMessage.toLowerCase();
const status = messageText.includes("out") ? "OUT" : "IN";

// Convert timestamp to IST
const timestamp = new Date(parseInt(data.messages?.[0]?.timestamp) * 1000);

// Format time as 12-hour with AM/PM (IST)
const timeOptions = { 
  hour: '2-digit', 
  minute: '2-digit', 
  hour12: true,
  timeZone: 'Asia/Kolkata'
};
let time = timestamp.toLocaleTimeString('en-IN', timeOptions);

// Ensure AM/PM is uppercase
time = time.replace(/\s?(am|pm)/i, match => match.toUpperCase());

// Format date as dd/mm/yyyy (IST)
const dateOptions = { 
  day: '2-digit', 
  month: '2-digit', 
  year: 'numeric',
  timeZone: 'Asia/Kolkata'
};
const date = timestamp.toLocaleDateString('en-GB', dateOptions);

return [{
  json: {
    Name: name,
    Status: status,
    Time: time,             // 12-hour IST with AM/PM
    Date: date,
    UserMessage: userMessage, // Separate column for user's original message
    rawTimestamp: data.messages?.[0]?.timestamp
  }
}];

• Add Google Sheets node after the Code node.
• Set operation to Append Row.
• Connect Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials.
• Paste your Sheet ID (from the URL) and Sheet Name (e.g., “Sheet1”).
• Auto-map/Manually map columns:

Google Sheet Column	Data Mapped From Node
Name	Kumaradoss
Status	OUT
Time	06:14 PM
Date	02/10/2025
UserMessage	Kumaradoss \nOut: 6:14pm
rawTimestamp	1759409095


• Format Sheet columns with headers for readability.

• Add Google Drive node after Sheets.
• Authorize with Google Drive OAuth2 credentials.
• Set operation: update/upload/export your attendance sheet
• Paste your Drive file ID (from Google Drive link, or select in n8n UI)
• Set the filename (e.g., Attendance Tracker.xlsx)

• Add a Telegram node for confirmation
• Operation: Send Message.
• Authorize with your bot token (create one using @BotFather).
• Get your chat/group ID (send a message to your bot, then use /getUpdates API to find the ID).
• Set message field (HTML or Markdown allowed):

Drive: Node updates or exports the attendance file for backup/distribution.

• Test by sending a sample message and check group for notification.

• Add columns in Row 1:

• Freeze the first row for clarity.
• Format Date as DD/MM/YYYY, and Time as hh:mm AM/PM for dashboards.

• Trigger: WhatsApp Trigger node fires on receiving the message.
• Parse: Code node extracts
• Name: “Kumaradoss”
• Status: “Out”
• Time: “06:14 PM”
• Date: Today’s date (auto-formatted IST)
• UserMessage: original text
• rawTimestamp: exact WhatsApp timestamp
• Sheets: Node appends a new row with all data above.
• Drive: Node updates or exports the attendance file for backup/distribution.
• Telegram: Bot sends Kumaradoss (OUT at 07:30 PM on 26/09/2025) to your group/channel.

1. Send Test WhatsApp Message:
• Message your WhatsApp business number with “Testuser IN 8:55am”.
2. Check Google Sheet:
• Confirm a new row is added in real-time.
3. Check Google Drive:
• Updated/exported file will appear in your drive or shared folder.
4. Check Telegram:
• You (or your HR group) should receive instant confirmation.
5. Debugging:
• If any node fails, check execution logs in n8n (shows error, payload, and suggestions).

• Validate message format:

In the Code node, return an error or skip processing if the message is malformed.

• Enable errorWorkflow:

In workflow settings, point errorWorkflow to another workflow that logs or alerts on errors.

• Google API Errors:

Ensure your OAuth credentials have correct permissions and files are shared appropriately.

Enhance this workflow:

• Add another Code and Sheets node to generate a daily summary (“3 employees present, 2 absent on 26/09/2025”).
• Send the summary at 8pm every day to Telegram or your HR’s email using the Email node.
• Try adding Slack or Discord notifications!

• Connect to Slack, Discord, or email for notifications.
• Export monthly reports.
• Integrate with payroll/HR dashboards.