Automated Handwritten Food Order Processing with n8n and Claude's Vision API

A family firend run food business was drowning in handwritten orders. Here's how I built an n8n pipeline that uses vision API to read handwritten order slips and log them automatically to Google Sheets without the need for manual data entry. In this article I'll walk you through exactly how I built it, the specific problems I hit along the way, and how you can replicate it in an afternoon. Prerequisites: Before you start you'll need: A running n8n instance (cloud or self-hosted) An Anthropic API key A Google account with Drive and Sheets access Basic familiarity with n8n nodes Step 1: Setting Up the Trigger I used a Google Drive trigger node set to watch a specific folder called Orders. Whenever a new image file lands in that folder — whether dropped there manually or sent from a phone — the workflow fires. To configure it: Add a Google Drive Trigger node in n8n Connect your Google account via OAuth (more on the gotcha here later) Set the event to "File Created" Point it at your incomi