Severe editor UI issue when executing workflows - backend runs but UI often does not update

glenbenatiro · April 2, 2026, 1:36pm

Hi n8n team,

I’m a heavy daily n8n Cloud user and currently build and maintain automations for 3 different clients, and all three have their own separate n8n Cloud instances.

Over the past few weeks, my experience with the editor UI has become much worse, and it’s now affecting a big part of my daily work.

Main issue

The biggest problem happens when I click the orange “Execute Workflow” button.

A lot of the time:

the button starts spinning
I can see the Stop button
but the editor canvas does not show the workflow running
node states and outputs do not update in the UI

When I open the Executions tab, I can clearly see that the workflow is already running in the backend, so I know the trigger was sent successfully.

So it feels like the execution starts fine, but the editor UI often does not reflect the run properly.

Other things I’m seeing

A few other related things I’ve noticed:

Sometimes clicking Stop suddenly makes the UI update, and I can instantly see the full node outputs and execution state
The same issue also happens with Execute Step
Sometimes clicking execute does nothing at all
Sometimes the UI eventually starts showing the run, but only after 3, 5, or even 10+ seconds

I’m wondering if this delay could be related to autosave still running, but I’m not sure.

Frequency / impact

This is happening very often now.

I’d estimate around 40-50% of my daily work in n8n is now spent dealing with this issue:

waiting for the UI to update
checking the Executions tab
refreshing the page
re-running after refresh

Refreshing usually helps, but only temporarily:

sometimes only for the first run
sometimes just for a few minutes
sometimes the second run already fails again
sometimes even a refresh still does not fix it

This is becoming really frustrating because most of my workday is spent inside the n8n editor.

What I already tried

I’ve already tried restarting the n8n instance from the admin panel, and I’ve also sometimes moved back to the stable version from beta to test if that helps, but the issue still keeps happening. I’ve also updated my Google Chrome version to the most recent version to be sure.

A Few Observations in DevTools

I’m not sure if this is related or this helps, but here are a few things I’ve noticed in DevTools:

Sentry 403 errors

I often see errors like:

WorkflowExecutionsView.vue:140
POST https://o1420875.ingest.us.sentry.io/api/4503960699273216/envelope/… 403 (Forbidden)

WebSocket connection lost

I do sometimes see:

console.js:36 [WebSocketClient] Connection lost, code=1005
console.js:36 [WebSocketClient] Attempting to reconnect in 1000ms

Not always, but it does happen from time to time. So I’m not sure if this helps, but sharing it just in case.

I never had this issue a few months ago, especially during n8n v1 and even earlier v2 versions. From memory, this started becoming noticeable after some of the more recent updates. I tend to update very frequently, usually as soon as a new stable or beta version is available, so I’m wondering if something changed in the newer releases.

I’m usually active during 11:00 PM to 11:00 AM UTC every weekday, if that helps with checking logs.

This issue is slowing me down a lot, and I’d really appreciate help investigating it. Happy to further provide screen recordings or browser console logs.

Thanks.

Information on your n8n setup

n8n version: 2.15.0
Database (default: SQLite):
n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): n8n cloud
Operating system: Windows 11 Pro

tamy.santos · April 2, 2026, 1:41pm

welcome to n8n community @glenbenatiro
To me, that looks like a frontend/realtime sync issue rather than a failure in the workflow itself. At this point I’d raise it with n8n Cloud support and include the browser console logs, especially the WebSocket disconnects, the approximate time window when it happens, and the fact that the backend execution continues while the editor stays stale.

Anshul_Namdev · April 2, 2026, 1:44pm

Hi @glenbenatiro Welcome!
N8N Cloud is awesome! Even for big use case like yours, but if you are facing frequent issues with it and even some major issues with it, first consider restarting as always, and if the issues persists, consider reaching out to support first:

And now what i would say is that if your use case is highly depended and resource intensive which i suppose it must be by seeing the things you are facing, consider self hosting n8n with a valid enterprise license on a powerful VPS, i personally am a big fan of n8n cloud and i use it daily but for my intensive tasks and client projects and major things i use a powerful VPS on a self hosted n8n instnace. Let me know what works for you.

111100001 · April 2, 2026, 11:50pm

for me this happens with large data in the nodes.

my vps is pretty good, 23 Gb ram, with Ampere, (Oracle free tier)

im currently facing the same issue and im on Chrome on Windows 11.

Recording 2026-04-03 023129 (Small)

here is my docker compose if it matters at all:

services:
  n8n:
    container_name: n8n
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    restart: always
    labels:
      - traefik.enable=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.rule=Host(`${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}`)
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.tls=true
      - traefik.docker.network=traefik_default
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.entrypoints=websecure
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.tls.certresolver=le
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSSeconds=31536000
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.browserXSSFilter=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.contentTypeNosniff=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.forceSTSHeader=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.SSLHost=${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSIncludeSubdomains=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSPreload=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.middlewares=n8n@docker
    environment:
      
  
      - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL=*
      - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=*

      
      - N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS=true
      - N8N_HOST=${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}/
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
      - TZ=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
      - N8N_MIGRATE_FS_STORAGE_PATH=true
      
      #runners env
      - N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN=superlongrandomstring2387423987423


      - N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true
      - N8N_RUNNERS_MODE=external
      - N8N_RUNNERS_BROKER_LISTEN_ADDRESS=0.0.0.0
      - N8N_RUNNERS_BROKER_PORT=5679
      - N8N_NATIVE_PYTHON_RUNNER=true
    networks:
      - traefik_default
      


    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
      - ./local-files:/files

  task-runners:
    image: n8nio/runners:latest
    container_name: n8n-runners
    environment:
      - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL=*
      - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=*
      - N8N_RUNNERS_STDLIB_ALLOW=*
     
      - N8N_RUNNERS_PYTHON_ENABLE=true
      - N8N_RUNNERS_TASK_BROKER_URI=http://n8n:5679
      - N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN=superlongrandomstring2387423987423

    networks:
      - traefik_default
    depends_on:
      - n8n
    volumes:
      - /home/ubuntu/images/n8n-task-runners-custom-image/n8n-task-runners.json:/etc/n8n-task-runners.json
networks:
  traefik_default:
    external: true
    
volumes:
  n8n_data:

Anshul_Namdev · April 3, 2026, 7:32am

@111100001 to be really honest, sometimes this happens and sometimes it works smoothly as it does so you know I would say that restarting would help a little.

Benjamin_Behrens · April 3, 2026, 8:07pm

The WebSocket disconnect you’re seeing is almost certainly the direct cause. When the WebSocket between the editor and backend drops, execution updates stop reaching the UI — which explains exactly the pattern you’re describing: workflow running in the backend, editor canvas staying frozen. That also explains why clicking Stop or refreshing temporarily fixes it, since both force a state sync. Including those WebSocket disconnect logs (with timestamps from your 11 PM–11 AM UTC window) when you contact n8n Cloud support will give them the most actionable data to work with.

AndreMTS · April 10, 2026, 7:19am

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing the same issue described in this thread

When I execute a workflow, the backend processes it successfully, but the Editor UI often fails to update the execution status or show the data flow in real-time.

I am planning to update my instance. Can anyone confirm if this specific UI sync bug has been addressed in version 2.15.0 (stable)?

Thanks!