Document extraction n8n can't do on its own
N8n routes data brilliantly. Getting clean data out of a PDF is another story. Parseur is an AI email parser for n8n that turns emails, PDFs, and scanned documents into structured JSON and hands it to your workflow the moment a document arrives. No custom JavaScript, no regex to maintain.
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Invoices to your ERP or Sheets
Parseur extracts vendor name, invoice date, totals, and line items from supplier invoices, scanned ones included. Each invoice lands in your ERP, database, or Google Sheets as a new record through n8n.
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Order emails to a database
Parseur captures order IDs, customer details, and product data from incoming order emails. N8n inserts each order into Postgres, MySQL, or any database node, with every table row arriving as its own JSON object.
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Clean data for AI agents
Parseur feeds n8n AI agent workflows with validated, structured JSON instead of raw email text. Field names stay stable across senders and layouts, so your agents act on data you can trust.
How the n8n integration works
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1. Create your Parseur mailbox
- Sign up and get a dedicated email address where your documents land.
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2. Forward your emails
- Send emails manually or set up auto forwarding so every new one arrives on its own.
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3. AI extracts the data
- Parseur reads each email and pulls out the fields you need as structured data.
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4. Data lands in n8n
- Parseur pushes the parsed data straight to n8n in real time with the native integration.

What is Parseur?
Parseur is a powerful document processing software to extract text from emails, PDFs and documents and automate your workflow. All Parseur features.

What is n8n?
N8N is a workflow automation platform that connects different apps and services without heavy coding. It gives users a visual editor to design workflows, making it easier to move data, trigger actions, and streamline processes across tools.
Trusted for webhook workflows in production
Emonkey, an integration platform for accounting systems across Scandinavia, receives client files by email and routes them through automation workflows, the same webhook-based setup this n8n integration uses. Founder Piet Deprez switched to Parseur because his Gmail-alias intake had no webhook support, and has run it in production for years since.
- Downtime incidents across years of Emonkey production use
- Zero
- Documents processed by Parseur since 2016
- 100M+
- Parseur rating on Capterra and GetApp
- 5/5
N8n is a strong automation platform for developers and technical teams, but it has a real gap when it comes to document parsing. Its built-in Read PDF node extracts plain text from clean PDFs. It has no OCR, no table extraction, and no way to handle scanned documents. For anything more complex, n8n users end up writing custom JavaScript, piping pdftotext through an Execute Command node, or calling external APIs just to get structured data out of a PDF.
Parseur removes all of that. Its AI email parser extracts structured fields from emails, PDFs, and scanned documents, then sends clean JSON directly into your n8n workflow. You configure what to extract in Parseur, and n8n handles the rest.
Key Takeaways
- N8n's native PDF node is text-only with no OCR. Parseur adds AI extraction, scanned document support, and structured table parsing that n8n can't do on its own.
- Parseur sends structured JSON to n8n on document events: Document Processed, Flattened Tables, Table Item Processed, and Export Failed.
- The Parseur connector is available for n8n Cloud. Self-hosted n8n users can connect via generic webhook, which is production-ready today.
- No coding is required to set up the extraction in Parseur. N8n handles the routing and any additional logic you need.
- Both Parseur and n8n have free plans you can use to test the full workflow.
What n8n can't do natively with documents

N8n's approach to PDF processing requires workarounds that add maintenance overhead:
- The Read PDF node extracts raw text but loses all table structure
- Scanned PDFs and image-based documents need an external OCR service
- Extracting specific fields like invoice numbers or totals requires custom JavaScript or regex
- Line items in a table come out as a text block that needs further parsing before it's usable
Parseur handles all of that before the data reaches n8n. Fields like invoice date, vendor name, line items, and totals arrive in your n8n workflow as clean, named JSON properties. No command-line tools, no custom functions, no regex maintenance.
If the n8n workflow ends in an AI agent, that clean JSON is the point. Our guide to structured data for AI agents covers the rest of the pipeline, including how to validate records and gate on confidence before an agent acts on them.
What you can build with Parseur and n8n
Once Parseur and n8n are connected, the extraction layer is handled automatically. Your n8n workflows receive clean, structured data and can focus on routing and logic:
- Invoice to ERP or Google Sheets: Automatically extract vendor name, invoice date, subtotal, tax, total, and line items from supplier invoices. Push each invoice as a new record in your ERP or add rows to Google Sheets for reporting. See the invoice processing guide.
- Order emails to a database: Capture order IDs, customer details, and product information from incoming order emails, then insert the data into Postgres or MySQL. Your records stay current without manual entry. See the e-commerce parsing guide.
- Shipping notices to Slack: Get instant Slack alerts when a shipping notification arrives or when a document export fails. Keep your team informed in real time.
- Attachments to Drive with metadata to CRM: Store PDFs in Google Drive while sending extracted details like invoice number, customer name, and payment amount straight into your CRM. See the lead email guide.
- Real estate listings to database: Parsed property listing emails can route directly into a tracking sheet or CRM. See the real estate use case.
How the integration works
The setup has three steps:
- A new email or document arrives in your Parseur mailbox
- Parseur extracts the structured fields you defined and sends clean JSON to n8n via the connector or webhook
- N8n runs your workflow, routing the data to whichever apps or databases you've connected
You configure the extraction in Parseur once. N8n handles the routing from there.

Step-by-step: Connect Parseur to n8n
Step 1: Forward your documents to Parseur
Each Parseur mailbox has a dedicated email address. Forward a sample email or PDF to it. The document appears in your mailbox within seconds, including any attachments.
Set up an auto-forwarding rule in Gmail or Outlook to handle new incoming documents automatically.
Step 2: Define the fields you want to extract
For supported formats, Parseur extracts data automatically using its pre-built templates.
For custom documents, create a template by highlighting the fields you want to capture and naming each one. Parseur applies that logic to every future document of the same type. Table rows like line items are extracted as separate structured objects without any extra configuration.
Step 3: Add the Parseur node in n8n
Log in to n8n, start a new workflow, and search for the Parseur node. Connect it to your Parseur account using your API key, then choose your trigger event:
- Document Processed: standard event with full JSON payload
- Flattened Tables: useful when your documents contain multi-row tables
- Table Item Processed: fires separately for each row in a table field
- Export Failed: good for error notifications and Slack alerts
Step 4: Process a document and map your fields
Go to your Parseur mailbox and re-process a document. The parsed results appear in your n8n execution log. From there, add any action nodes you need (Google Sheets, Slack, Postgres, a CRM) and map the Parseur fields using {{ $json.field_name }}.
For the full setup walkthrough with screenshots, follow the official guide: Connecting Parseur to n8n.
Parseur connector vs generic webhook
Two options are available for connecting Parseur to n8n, and the right one depends on your setup:
| Option | Best for | Advantages | Things to note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parseur Connector (Recommended) | n8n Cloud users | Quick to set up, event-aware, purpose-built for Parseur | Still rolling out in beta. May not be available in every instance yet |
| Generic Webhook | Self-hosted n8n or users who want flexibility | Works everywhere, simple setup, full control over headers and routing | Requires manual webhook configuration in n8n |
For more detail on the webhook setup, see the guide on sending parsed data via webhooks.
N8n, Make, or Zapier?
All three work with Parseur. N8n is the best fit for developer and technical teams who want to self-host, need custom JavaScript logic in their workflows, or are connecting to databases and APIs that require more flexibility. Make is better for complex multi-step visual workflows without self-hosting. Zapier is the fastest path for simple two-app connections with no technical overhead. For a detailed breakdown, see the Zapier vs Make vs n8n comparison.
Free tools for related document types
If you need to convert standalone documents without setting up a full workflow, these free tools work in the browser with no account required:
- PDF to JSON converter: export PDF data as structured JSON, ready for n8n
- Invoice to JSON converter: extract invoice fields as a JSON object
- PDF to Excel converter: convert a PDF to a spreadsheet
- PDF to CSV converter: export PDF table data as a CSV file
If the same document type arrives regularly by email, the full Parseur and n8n integration processes each one automatically as it arrives.





