Missing 'Credentials' and 'AI' in Settings Menu (Self-Hosted Docker, Owner User)

[David_Zbinden]

Hello n8n Community,

I’m encountering a strange issue with my self-hosted n8n instance (running via Docker Compose on an Ubuntu VPS - Infomaniak VPS Lite). The “Credentials” and “AI” menu items are completely missing from the Settings sidebar, even though I am logged in as the Owner user.

Details:

• n8n Version: Currently 1.89.1. The issue was also present when I was running 1.88.0.
• Hosting: Docker Compose on Ubuntu VPS.
• User: Logged in as the instance Owner.

Problem: The “Credentials” and “AI” options are not visible in the Settings menu (see attached screenshot). This prevents me from adding AI provider credentials or configuring the default AI model, and consequently, features like the $fromAI() button are not available.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

1. Confirmed User Role: Verified I am logged in as the “Owner”.
2. Browser: Cleared cache (hard refresh), tried Incognito/Private mode, tried a completely different browser. The issue persists.
3. Environment Variables: Simplified the n8n environment variables in docker-compose.yml, removing potentially old/redundant flags (like N8N_EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES, old AI flags, etc.). Kept essential DB, URL, NODE_ENV, N8N_TRUST_PROXY, N8N_AI_ENABLED variables.
4. Container Stability: Resolved an earlier issue where the n8n container would stop shortly after starting (related to Caddy reverse proxy headers, fixed by simplifying Caddyfile and adding N8N_TRUST_PROXY). The n8n container now runs stably.
5. Completely Fresh Install Test: This is the key test we performed.

• Stopped the instance (docker-compose down).
• Modified docker-compose.yml to use brand new, empty named volumes for both n8n data (n8n_data_test) and the PostgreSQL database (postgres_data_test).
• Started the instance (docker-compose up -d).
• Accessed the UI, successfully went through the initial owner account setup (proving it was a fresh start).
• Logged in with the newly created owner account.
• Result: Even on this 100% clean installation, the “Credentials” and “AI” menu items were still missing from the Settings sidebar.

Conclusion: The problem does not seem related to my existing data, specific n8n version (1.88 vs 1.89), user permissions, browser cache, or basic environment variables. It occurs even on a completely fresh install within my specific server environment.

Current Configuration:

• docker-compose.yml (Simplified & Working State):`YAMLversion: ‘3.8’

services:
postgres:
image: postgres:14
restart: always
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: n8n
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: n8npassword # Note: Use secrets in production
POSTGRES_DB: n8n
volumes:
- postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data # Make sure this is back to original

n8n:
image: n8nio/n8n:1.89.1 # Or 1.88.0 if you reverted
restart: always
environment:
- DB_TYPE=postgresdb
- DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
- DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
- DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
- DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
- DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=n8npassword # Note: Use secrets in production
- N8N_HOST=n8n.timekraft.ch
- N8N_PORT=5678
- N8N_PROTOCOL=https
- N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL=https://n8n.timekraft.ch
- N8N_WEBHOOKS_HOST=n8n.timekraft.ch
- N8N_WEBHOOKS_PROTOCOL=https
- N8N_TUNNEL_WEBSOCKET_URL=https://n8n.timekraft.ch/websocket
- WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.timekraft.ch/
- GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Zurich
- NODE_ENV=production
- N8N_MCP_SERVER_ENABLED=true # Optional but likely harmless
- N8N_MCP_CLIENT_ENABLED=true # Optional but likely harmless
- N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE=true # Optional
- N8N_TRUST_PROXY=true # Added during troubleshooting
- N8N_AI_ENABLED=true # Added during troubleshooting
ports:
- “5678:5678”
volumes:
- n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n # Make sure this is back to original
depends_on:
- postgres

caddy:
image: caddy:latest
container_name: caddy
restart: always
ports:
- “80:80”
- “443:443”
volumes:
- ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
- caddy_data:/data
- caddy_config:/config
depends_on:
- n8n

volumes:
postgres_data:
n8n_data:
caddy_data:
caddy_config:`

• Caddyfile (Simplified & Working State):Extrait de coden8n.timekraft.ch { reverse_proxy n8n:5678 tls [email protected] }

Environment:

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04 lts 64-bits
• Hosting: Infomaniak VPS Lite

Has anyone encountered missing core Settings items like “Credentials” or “AI” before, especially on a clean installation? Could this point to an issue with the Docker image itself, or some incompatibility with the VPS environment? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[tridi]

Do you mean this menu?