Feature Suggestion – Display Connector Types in the Open Nodes Panel

Feature Requests
1

I would like to suggest an improvement related to the Open Nodes Panel interface in n8n.
Currently, within the workflow canvas, nodes visually display their input and output connector types (represented by circle and diamond icons). This makes it much easier to understand compatibility between nodes.
However, this same information is not available in the Open Nodes Panel. As a result, during workflow creation, users often need to drag nodes by trial and error until they find one that is compatible with the node already present in the workflow.
Suggestion:
Display the input and output connector type icons in the Open Nodes Panel, using the same symbols that are already shown inside the workflow canvas.
Expected Benefits:
Significant reduction in development time;
Less frustration caused by dragging incompatible nodes;
Improved usability and learning curve;
Increased productivity when building complex workflows.
Since this information is already available and displayed in the workflow view, it seems feasible to reuse it in the node selection panel, bringing more consistency to the user experience.
Currently, the absence of these indicators leads to unnecessary time loss and friction in the development process, especially in larger workflows.
I believe this improvement would have a direct positive impact on user efficiency and overall platform experience.

The idea is:

My use case:

I think it would be beneficial to add this because:

Any resources to support this?

Are you willing to work on this?

2

Even though, technically, all nodes in n8n can be connected to each other, the connector types (circle / diamond) mainly have a semantic and educational purpose: they indicate the role of a node in the workflow (data flow vs. control flow, conditional branches, etc.).

For experienced users, these distinctions are already well known, and the node selection panel mainly serves as a shortcut.
However, for beginners or occasional users, the absence of these indicators in the Open Nodes Panel forces them to add nodes by trial and error just to understand their function, which slows down workflow creation and makes the learning process more frustrating.

Displaying the same connector icons directly in the node selection panel would:

  • make the intent and role of a node clearer before adding it to the canvas;

  • reduce unnecessary back-and-forth between the panel and the workflow;

  • improve the learning curve without changing n8n’s internal behavior.

Since this information is already visible on nodes within the canvas, this would mainly be a UI consistency and usability improvement rather than a new feature.

As a user, I believe this would be a meaningful UX improvement, especially for new users discovering n8n.