Group nodes [With Sticky Notes too]

[brahimh]

The idea is:

Be able to group elements inside a workflow, I have multiple automations with multiple triggers inside the same n8n workflow, and a Sticky node background for each automation.

I want to be able to group/ungroup the sticky note, with all the nodes that constitute that automation, and do the same for the others, this allow me to move automations around and organize them easily.

My use case:

I have multiple automations with multiple triggers inside the same n8n workflow, and a Sticky node background for each automation.
I want to be able to group/ungroup the sticky note, with all the nodes that constitute that automation, and do the same for the others, this allow me to move automations around and organize them easily.

I think it would be beneficial to add this because:

Having more control over the canvas elements.

[S_v_e_n]

I completely agree with the potential of this idea!

Grouping nodes within a workflow would significantly improve organization and usability, especially for larger workflows with multiple automations.

To add to this, there’s also the issue of Sticky Notes interfering with navigation. When trying to move the viewport, you often end up dragging the Sticky Notes instead, as there’s currently no way to pin them in place. A feature like grouping AND pinning Sticky Notes would not only enhance workflow organization but also make navigation much smoother.

Sticky Note - Pin on whiteboard

I would like to suggest that when adding a sticky it is possible to lock it, as it is very easy to move it, this ends up getting in the way, I have some that I use to divide the flow, but when navigating the flow sometimes it ends up moving the sticky note, and this is bad. It would be really cool to be able to fix it wherever you want, and a differential that I ended up seeing in a request is that you can change the color.

[brahimh]

Thinking, we might need another type of ‘Sticky notes’ that’s more like a node that have an input and output, then that goes directly to the first node inside the “StackNote”, which can be collapsible, and only have the title appear when closed.

This is more like Sub-Workflows, but a little better, having everything in the same workflow, and have it be collapsible, and when moved, it moves all at once, and it shows the number of nodes inside, it could be expanded into a center peak view to inspect closely.

Here’s a quick Mockup:

Or could be an extension of sub workflows where I could just open it there and build directly without leaving the parent workflow.

[chanon_jinpisoot]

Is there any updates about these features?

[chris90]

This would be a fantastic way to organize workflows. It reminds me of dealing with long, unreadable functions in code—where you hit “Extract Method” to clean things up and improve readability. The n8n equivalent would be “Extract to Sub-workflow.” It would be amazing if sub-workflows were both expandable/editable inline and accessible as separate workflows. That kind of flexibility would really support a wide range of use cases.

[Christian1]

I was looking for a feature to group nodes and asked chatgpt. The old hallucinator said I needed to install the latest version, n8n 1.102.0 or higher to get the grouping (in fact, currently - April 28, 2025 - 1.90.2 seems to be the latest version). But maybe grouping will be available before 1.102.0.

[SIAN]

I also very much would support some kind of node grouping via sticky nodes but also lock single nodes in place. That would really help to clean up large workspaces. +1 from me.