Workflow very slow when running in "Edit Mode" – possible out-of-sync issue?

Questions
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1

Hi everyone,
I’m experiencing a frustrating issue when running a workflow manually in the editor (“Edit mode”).
When I execute the workflow manually from the canvas to test it node by node, the execution is very slow, and it feels like there’s some kind of delay or out-of-sync behavior between the nodes. Even simple nodes like Set or If are taking several seconds to run.
Here are a few more details:
:white_check_mark: When the workflow runs in production (triggered automatically), everything works fine and fast.
:brain: The slowness only happens during manual execution from the editor.
:repeat_button: I’ve tried duplicating the workflow, but the issue persists.
:hammer_and_wrench: I’m using a self-hosted and updated version of n8n (I can provide technical details if needed).
Questions:
Has anyone experienced something similar?
Is there a way to profile or trace the execution step-by-step to understand where it slows down?
Could it be related to WebSocket or frontend/backend sync issues?
Any advice or shared experience would be greatly appreciated — even just to understand whether it’s a known issue or a misconfiguration on my side.
Thanks in advance! :folded_hands:

  • n8n version: 1.123.14
  • Running n8n via n8n cloud
  • Operating system: windows
2

This is a known behavior in n8n, the execution in “Edit Mode” can be slower than automated executions due to the real-time updates and debugging features in the editor. To understand where the slowdown is happening, you can use the “Show Execution Data” option for each node. This will display the execution time for each node, helping you pinpoint bottlenecks. You might also check your n8n logs for any errors or warnings that occur during manual execution.