Warning messages when calling n8n publish:workflow

問題
1

Describe the problem/error/question

When use n8n CLI to publish workflow such as

n8n publish:workflow --id=<workflow-id>

it shows warning messages saying that I need to restart n8n to take effect if it is currently running. But I did a test to import and publish updated workflow while n8n is running and it looks that once published the next execution of the workflow will be using the updated one.

Is this warning message valid for earlier 2.x n8n, or valid under specific infra such as using runners and queue mode?

What is the error message (if any)?

Note: Changes will not take effect if n8n is running.
Please restart n8n for changes to take effect if n8n is currently running

Please share your workflow

Share the output returned by the last node

Information on your n8n setup

  • **n8n version: 2.4.8
  • **Database (default: SQLite): PostgreSQL
  • **n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main): main
  • **Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): docker
  • **Operating system: Ubuntu
2

welcome @Victor_Tseng

I just tested this on my side with n8n v2.9.0 in regular mode (not queue mode):

image
image860×156 6.58 KB

and i get those warning messages,

However, when I open the workflow without restarting, the change has already taken effect:

image
image321×171 6.04 KB

So these messages are probably meant for something else i guess,

3

Yeah this is kind of a legacy warning that doesn’t really apply to how n8n works anymore. The workflow definitions are stored in the database (PostgreSQL in your case) and n8n pulls them fresh when executing, so changes take effect immediately like you observed. Mohamed’s test confirms the same thing.

The warning is probably left over from older versions or maybe still relevant for some edge case with filesystem-based workflow storage, but for a standard database-backed setup in regular execution mode it’s safe to ignore. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets removed or updated in a future version since it’s clearly misleading for most users.

Personally, I just ignore them.