Test execution of workflow saves the workflow

Questions
1

Describe the problem/error/question

thank you for the N8N_WORKFLOWS_AUTOSAVE_DISABLED=true variable, this is a lifesaver, very grateful that it’s been added.

however I made a couple changes to my workflow then tested the execution, and I noticed that the workflow was saved before it executed. prior to v.2 (when autosave was introduced), we could make changes to workflows and test them without the workflow being saved. so if we needed to quickly revert we could just refresh the page or reload the workflow.

will this behavior be restored, or is the autosaving of the workflow before (testing) execution the expected behavior?

What is the error message (if any)?

none, workflow still autosaves when executing.

Please share your workflow

any workflow

Share the output returned by the last node

Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version: 2.20 (self hosted)
  • Database (default: SQLite): default
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main): default
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): podman self hosted.
  • Operating system: linux
3

good morning @nixed
in my understanding it’s expected behavior.
i wouldn’t expect the previous behavior to automatically return.

4

thank you for the response. however, this isn’t a solution, and to be honest, having the save button is a lifesaver, thank you.

however, the challenge still exists where if we want to test small changes to our workflow, changing options in a node, etc, when we test our changes, I noticed that the workflow execution is on the last SAVED workflow, not the one I just made changes to so I could test.

in order to test changes, the workflow must be saved first. this defeats the purpose of one of the reasons why we wanted the save button restored post v.2.

how are people testing small changes in their workflow without constantly saving?

5

@nixed
Versioning is one thing and publishing is another.
Run the workflow, only what is published.
Versioning serves to save small changes and choose which one to publish.

In my view, this brings more autonomy to us, users.

6

Another point, for testing it works normally by choosing which version of the code I want to run.