Workflow List UI Load Time Degrades Linearly with Total System User Count (v1.121.3)

Questions
1

1. Observed Phenomenon

In a self-hosted n8n instance running v1.121.3, I observed that the loading time for the Workflow List page exhibits a linear degradation relative to the total number of system users.

Test Conditions:

  • System State: The system contains zero Workflows and zero Execution History.

  • Load State: Only one user was logged in and operating the system during the test.

  • Issue: Simply clicking and loading the empty Workflow List page results in a significant increase in load time due to the large number of existing user accounts in the backend.

Performance Data (Workflow List Page Load Performance Data):

Total System User Count Workflow List Page Load Time
700 Approx. 2.0 seconds (2000ms)
2281 Approx. 6.0 seconds (6000ms)

2. Environment and Setup

  • n8n Version: 1.121.3

  • Database: PostgreSQL (Please specify version, e.g., 14 or 15)

  • Execution Mode: Regular Execution Mode (Single process / Non-Queue Mode)

  • Running via: Docker/npm/Other (Please select one)

2

This is a known performance issue where n8n queries user-related data inefficiently when loading the workflow list, even when no workflows exist. The query likely lacks proper indexing or fetches unnecessary user metadata for permission checks.

Check your PostgreSQL slow query logs to identify the exact query causing the delay. You may need to add indexes on user-related tables or modify query execution plans if you have database access.

Consider upgrading to a newer n8n version, as performance improvements for large user bases have been addressed in recent releases. Also enable query caching if supported.