Maybe I will build some dashboard for my personal notes. E.g. I want to see statistics in a list view. I think the UX of Substack is annoying right now cuz you have to click into every Note to retrieve info about the statistics.
That sounds like a great idea, Lorenz! 🚀 I totally get the frustration with having to click into each Note - your dashboard could really make things smoother. Let me know once you start building it, I’d be happy to help.
Yes!!! I had AI built a chrome extension for me to use locally. Most of my notes were scheduled, though to be fair, even with scheduling I still don’t post that much :)
Great writeup! One thing worth flagging for anyone considering using the library:
All requests are routed through an external proxy at substack-gateway.vercel.app that you operate. Users' substack_sid and connect_sid session cookies are sent to this server on every API call — these grant full access to a user's Substack account. This isn't mentioned in the post, and anyone installing from NPM would have no idea their credentials are passing through a third-party server.
Since this is a Node.js library, there's no technical need for an external proxy — it could call Substack directly. Would you consider open-sourcing the gateway code, or removing the proxy dependency entirely?
Not suggesting bad intent — just think this deserves transparency given the sensitivity of the credentials involved.
Hello Dave! Thanks for commenting on the issue. The gateway exists mainly to centralize the parts that tend to break when interacting with Substack’s internal endpoints. Instead of fixing those issues separately in substack-api and then again in n8n-nodes-substack, I handle them in one place and keep the client libraries stable. It’s also the foundation for something bigger I’ve been working on - an MCP layer built on top of everything I’ve learned while reverse-engineering and stabilizing the Substack APIs. The gateway is essentially the first piece of that puzzle. It’s not open source yet because it’s still a work in progress, but I’m planning to make it public sometime next month. Consider this a small sneak peek of what’s coming. Once it’s ready, I’ll add a link and proper documentation in the README. If you prefer full control or don’t want to rely on the gateway, you can downgrade substack-api to the 2.x version, which calls the endpoints directly. And thanks again for flagging this - the docs should definitely make this clearer.
Thanks for the detailed response, Jakub! I appreciate the context around the gateway's purpose. Centralizing the breakable parts across multiple client libraries makes sense as an architectural choice.
One thought though: if the plan is to open-source the gateway anyway, wouldn't it be simpler to just bring that logic into the library itself? When Substack's endpoints break, you'd need to push a fix regardless - whether that's to the gateway repo or the client library. The extra network hop and deployment dependency don't really buy anything if the code is all public. And it avoids the credential routing concern entirely.
Either way, good to hear docs and open-sourcing are on the roadmap. Looking forward to seeing it.
Wow - n8n connecting to substack! That sounds amazing. I would use it to schedule notes, and to be able to cross-post. I would love to be able to upload one video and a paragraph of text to n8n, then let it run through my rules of where to post and with what tone and then do it.
Interesting read on handling scenarios without an official API in place — creative solutions are often required. If you're scaling up or formalizing integration, partnering with a robust api development service can help you build secure endpoints, maintain performance, and ensure long-term adaptability: https://www.cleveroad.com/api-development-services/
This is next level....I just set an RSS feed up with n8n using a template and I don't code. I was wondering if you show how to do this to get posts to substack automatically. I wanted to create an automatic post from TikTok to substack so that I am keeping it up dated... Just wondering if there's anything like that. Thank you for this work. Wow! next level shizzle
Even if I dislike the terminology, this is truly mind-blowing!
I love that you open-sourced it, and the work you did is unbelievable.
I'm amazed that something like this exists, and I'd love to utilize it - even just for promotional purposes - in my publication https://shipwithai.substack.com. Not only would it benefit us, but it also has huge potential in the topic we manage, particularly in creating & building side projects to become Micro SaaS.
Thanks so much, Manuel. I really appreciate your kind words 🙏
Your publication looks amazing. I love the Micro SaaS angle. I’d be excited to see how you might use this project there. And of course, if you have any ideas, I’d be more than happy to hear them 😃
Enjoyed the walk through even though it’s a lot for my non-technical brain 😁
Love it
Love the fact that you open-sourced it 👍
Thank you so much, Lorenz! 😊 I’m really glad you appreciate it. Do you already have something in mind you’d like to build with it?
Maybe I will build some dashboard for my personal notes. E.g. I want to see statistics in a list view. I think the UX of Substack is annoying right now cuz you have to click into every Note to retrieve info about the statistics.
That sounds like a great idea, Lorenz! 🚀 I totally get the frustration with having to click into each Note - your dashboard could really make things smoother. Let me know once you start building it, I’d be happy to help.
This is exactly how I would figure out a hidden API :)
So there are two of us 😃 Have you tried doing it before?
Yes!!! I had AI built a chrome extension for me to use locally. Most of my notes were scheduled, though to be fair, even with scheduling I still don’t post that much :)
And what do you use for scheduling now?
Still the same extension.
Great writeup! One thing worth flagging for anyone considering using the library:
All requests are routed through an external proxy at substack-gateway.vercel.app that you operate. Users' substack_sid and connect_sid session cookies are sent to this server on every API call — these grant full access to a user's Substack account. This isn't mentioned in the post, and anyone installing from NPM would have no idea their credentials are passing through a third-party server.
Since this is a Node.js library, there's no technical need for an external proxy — it could call Substack directly. Would you consider open-sourcing the gateway code, or removing the proxy dependency entirely?
Not suggesting bad intent — just think this deserves transparency given the sensitivity of the credentials involved.
Hello Dave! Thanks for commenting on the issue. The gateway exists mainly to centralize the parts that tend to break when interacting with Substack’s internal endpoints. Instead of fixing those issues separately in substack-api and then again in n8n-nodes-substack, I handle them in one place and keep the client libraries stable. It’s also the foundation for something bigger I’ve been working on - an MCP layer built on top of everything I’ve learned while reverse-engineering and stabilizing the Substack APIs. The gateway is essentially the first piece of that puzzle. It’s not open source yet because it’s still a work in progress, but I’m planning to make it public sometime next month. Consider this a small sneak peek of what’s coming. Once it’s ready, I’ll add a link and proper documentation in the README. If you prefer full control or don’t want to rely on the gateway, you can downgrade substack-api to the 2.x version, which calls the endpoints directly. And thanks again for flagging this - the docs should definitely make this clearer.
Thanks for the detailed response, Jakub! I appreciate the context around the gateway's purpose. Centralizing the breakable parts across multiple client libraries makes sense as an architectural choice.
One thought though: if the plan is to open-source the gateway anyway, wouldn't it be simpler to just bring that logic into the library itself? When Substack's endpoints break, you'd need to push a fix regardless - whether that's to the gateway repo or the client library. The extra network hop and deployment dependency don't really buy anything if the code is all public. And it avoids the credential routing concern entirely.
Either way, good to hear docs and open-sourcing are on the roadmap. Looking forward to seeing it.
This is brilliant. Would love to see your n8n workflow for getting notes from my profile.
we thank you for your work. good write up too.
Such a great resource. We're using to build our own backend. Thanks! Would love to trade notes on it.
Wow - n8n connecting to substack! That sounds amazing. I would use it to schedule notes, and to be able to cross-post. I would love to be able to upload one video and a paragraph of text to n8n, then let it run through my rules of where to post and with what tone and then do it.
Interesting read on handling scenarios without an official API in place — creative solutions are often required. If you're scaling up or formalizing integration, partnering with a robust api development service can help you build secure endpoints, maintain performance, and ensure long-term adaptability: https://www.cleveroad.com/api-development-services/
Brilliant detailed detective work. Welll done!
Thank you, Matthew! 🙏
Curious, have you written any beginner-level guide / project on how to automate with n8n?
Not a full beginner guide yet 🙂 but I’ve been thinking of putting one together. What kind of project would you find most useful to start with?
This is next level....I just set an RSS feed up with n8n using a template and I don't code. I was wondering if you show how to do this to get posts to substack automatically. I wanted to create an automatic post from TikTok to substack so that I am keeping it up dated... Just wondering if there's anything like that. Thank you for this work. Wow! next level shizzle
Great digging
Even if I dislike the terminology, this is truly mind-blowing!
I love that you open-sourced it, and the work you did is unbelievable.
I'm amazed that something like this exists, and I'd love to utilize it - even just for promotional purposes - in my publication https://shipwithai.substack.com. Not only would it benefit us, but it also has huge potential in the topic we manage, particularly in creating & building side projects to become Micro SaaS.
Thanks so much, Manuel. I really appreciate your kind words 🙏
Your publication looks amazing. I love the Micro SaaS angle. I’d be excited to see how you might use this project there. And of course, if you have any ideas, I’d be more than happy to hear them 😃
Oh thanks , that would be amazing!
Nice! Definitely going to check this out!