Chat Trigger node: "Waiting for you to submit the chat", self-hosted

Questions
1

I’m self hosting the community version, via Docker. I originally had “latest” in my .yaml, and upgraded yesterday to 1.81.0. Unfortunately, due to a problem I had to downgrade, so I’m now running 1.78.1. I’m suspecting something has happened that has broken my installation of n8n and am hoping for any pointers for how to fix the problem.

I’m creating a simple workflow with a Chat Trigger node, an AI Agent node and a slack node for sending a message.

When sending a message in the chat, it does proceed to the AI Agent node, gets a response from the language model and proceeds to send the message. But, the visual execution hangs in the Chat Trigger node. The message displayed is: “Waiting for you to submit the chat” and no node turn green. The chat window also shows three animated dots, and another message cannot be sent in.

Screenshot 2025-02-27 at 13.48.30
Screenshot 2025-02-27 at 13.48.301700×950 59.9 KB

Is this expected behaviour? I’m new, as you probably can tell.

Information on my n8n setup

  • n8n version: 1.78.1
  • Database (default: SQLite): Using the default.
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main): main
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Docker
  • Operating system: Ubuntu 24.04.1
2

Can you trying recreating that workflow into a new one, please?
Sometimes, small bugs like this are easy to fix.

If that doesn’t work, the new 1.80.5 version might resolve the issue for you.

This is unusual behavior—I haven’t seen it before. If nothing else works, the ultimate fix would be to reinstall your instance.

But let’s stay hopeful! :blush:

If my reply helps, please remember to mark it as the solution.

3

This is a known issue with the Chat Trigger node in v1.78.1, particularly after downgrading. The execution appears to succeed (Slack message is sent) but the visual feedback and chat state don’t resolve properly.

Try these fixes:

  1. Add a Function node at the end of your workflow:
// Send a chat completion signal
$sendResponse({
  chatTrigger: {
    response: $input.item.json.response || $input.item.json.output || "Done!",
    sessionId: $input.item.json.sessionId,
    status: 'completed'
  }
});
return $input.item;
  1. Connect all branches back to Chat Trigger:
  • Make sure your Slack node connects back to the Chat Trigger (even indirectly)
  • This helps the Chat Trigger know when execution is complete
  1. Check your webhook URL settings:
  • Ensure your self-hosted instance is properly accessible from the outside
  • Verify WEBHOOK_URL environment variable is correctly set in your Docker config
  1. Consider upgrading again:
  • The issue was fixed in more recent versions
  • Try upgrading to v1.80+ with proper data migration
4

Thank you for taking time to reply and propose solutions, also @solomon.

Firstly, I’ve recreated the workflow without any changes - so that did not help.

@Yo_its_prakash I can’t seem to make either the Slack or an added Function node connect back to the Chat Trigger - since it’s a trigger node it does not take any input other than from chat. Do you know of any way to do this?

I’ve checked my WEBHOOK_URL in the Docker config and that is set as it should. It’s on a VPS so I access it from the outside already, through a url.

Yes, it may be that I need to upgrade the whole installation. Thankfully this is my first workflow so I don’t have a lot of data to migrate.

Again, I appreciate your time and suggestions!

5

Hello, @amado88.

This very same bug just happened to me. I am using version 1.91.3.

I just left the page and reopened the workflow, and then it worked.