Do you ever get an error in an app and you have no idea what it means or what you should do to fix it?

“Yes, Troy. Several times a week. What a stupid question.”

So get this . . .

I’m working with one of the students in the Build Your Own AI Assistant Boot Camp, and we’re using n8n for the AI Assistant.

It was throwing an error and I couldn’t understand the actual root cause.

Normally this is a big issue, but n8n is open-source.

So here’s what I did:

• Downloaded the entire source code in about 15 seconds.

• Opened the code in my code editor

• Pinpointed the behavior in about 5 minutes

I didn’t spend hours spinning wheels, trying random things to try to get it to work.

I opened the source code and read EXACTLY how it works.

Does that then mean I can fix it? Sometimes.

Every open-source project has their own collaboration rules.

A more common situation is when a program is expecting a specific file format or JSON or some other value and we’re getting an error while importing a file or submitting a value in a web form.

I can see if I’m missing a JSON value or if I need quotation marks, etc.

“Troy, I don’t have a coding background. How does this help me?”

Well . . if you ARE having problems with an open-source tool and you DO follow someone—say they publish a daily newsletter or you follow them on LinkedIn . . .

. . . they might be willing to take a look at the source code out of the sheer kindness of their heart. 🙂 

Something you could NEVER do with closed-source commercial software.

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Disclaimer: Just a heads-up! Some of the links in this newsletter might be affiliate links, which means I could earn a small commission if you make a purchase. No extra cost to you… just a way to keep the magic coming!