Custom AI Chat Hub: Self-Hosting & Automation
This blog details the creation of a custom AI chat platform integrating Open WebUI with n8n workflow automation, securely exposed via Cloudflare Tunnel. It covers motivations for building a personalized conversational interface over existing options, the choice of core components (Open WebUI for chat UI, n8n for automation, Cloudflare Tunnel for secure access), and the architectural setup using Docker Compose with dedicated networks and persistent volumes. A key highlight is the seamless integration enabling function calls from chat to trigger n8n workflows via webhooks without extra middleware. The blog also discusses DNS and proxy configuration challenges, container-specific nuances, security best practices, and lessons learned during setup. The resulting system offers a flexible, maintainable, and secure AI command center with persistent sessions and natural language automation interaction, primed for future enhancements including local model hosting and expanded API integrations.