Execution Modes

n8n workflows can execute in different modes depending on how they are triggered. Each mode has unique characteristics that affect execution behavior, data flow, and error handling.

Overview of Execution Modes

Execution modes are defined by the WorkflowExecuteMode type:

// From execution-context.ts:33-44
type WorkflowExecuteModeValues = 
  | 'cli'          // Executed via CLI command
  | 'error'        // Error workflow execution
  | 'integrated'   // Embedded execution
  | 'internal'     // Internal system execution
  | 'manual'       // Test execution from UI
  | 'retry'        // Retry after failure
  | 'trigger'      // Triggered automatically
  | 'webhook'      // Webhook request
  | 'evaluation'   // Evaluation/testing mode
  | 'chat';        // Chat interface

Manual Mode

Manual mode is used for testing workflows in the n8n editor.

Characteristics

Execution
Trigger Behavior
Data Handling

// Manual execution always starts from a trigger node
const mode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'manual';

// Workflow must have a manual trigger node
const manualTrigger: INode = {
  name: 'Manual Trigger',
  type: 'n8n-nodes-base.manualTrigger',
  typeVersion: 1,
  position: [250, 300],
  parameters: {}
};

Key Points:

Executions are saved only if saveManualExecutions setting is enabled
Full execution data is available in the UI
Debugging information is more detailed

// From triggers-and-pollers.ts:45-86
async runTrigger(
  workflow: Workflow,
  node: INode,
  mode: WorkflowExecuteMode
) {
  if (mode === 'manual') {
    // Manual mode adds special promise resolution
    const triggerResponse = await nodeType.trigger.call(triggerFunctions);
    
    // Wait for first data emission
    triggerResponse.manualTriggerResponse = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
      triggerFunctions.emit = (data) => {
        resolve(data);  // Resolve when data arrives
      };
      
      triggerFunctions.emitError = (error) => {
        reject(error);  // Reject on error
      };
    });
    
    return triggerResponse;
  }
}

Behavior:

Trigger nodes wait for first data emission
UI displays “Waiting for trigger event”
Timeout can cancel waiting execution

// Manual executions can use pinned data
const pinData: IPinData = {
  'HTTP Request': [
    {
      json: { id: 1, name: 'Test' }
    }
  ]
};

// Pinned data overrides actual execution
const workflow = new Workflow({
  // ... other params
  pinData
});

Features:

Pin data to test specific scenarios
Edit input data between runs
Inspect intermediate node outputs

Use Cases

Testing workflow logic before activation
Debugging node configurations
Validating expressions with sample data
Developing new integrations

Trigger Mode

Trigger mode is used when workflows are activated and run automatically.

Characteristics

const mode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'trigger';

// Trigger nodes run continuously
const triggerResponse = await nodeType.trigger.call(triggerFunctions);

// Response includes cleanup function
interface ITriggerResponse {
  closeFunction?: () => Promise<void>;
  manualTriggerFunction?: () => Promise<void>;
}

Trigger Types

Event-Based Triggers

Listen for external events:

// Webhook trigger
const webhook: INode = {
  name: 'Webhook',
  type: 'n8n-nodes-base.webhook',
  parameters: {
    path: 'my-webhook',
    httpMethod: 'POST'
  }
};

// Activated: http://n8n.instance/webhook/my-webhook

Examples:

Webhook triggers (HTTP requests)
Form triggers (form submissions)
Chat triggers (chat messages)

Schedule-Based Triggers

Run on a schedule:

// Schedule trigger
const schedule: INode = {
  name: 'Schedule',
  type: 'n8n-nodes-base.scheduleTrigger',
  parameters: {
    rule: {
      interval: [
        {
          field: 'hours',
          hoursInterval: 1
        }
      ]
    }
  }
};

// Runs every hour

Examples:

Cron schedules
Interval-based execution
Time-based triggers

Poll-Based Triggers

Check external sources periodically:

// From triggers-and-pollers.ts:92-110
async runPoll(
  workflow: Workflow,
  node: INode,
  pollFunctions: IPollFunctions
): Promise<INodeExecutionData[][] | null> {
  const nodeType = workflow.nodeTypes.getByNameAndVersion(
    node.type,
    node.typeVersion
  );
  
  if (!nodeType.poll) {
    throw new ApplicationError(
      'Node type does not have a poll function defined'
    );
  }
  
  return await nodeType.poll.call(pollFunctions);
}

Examples:

RSS feed polling
Email inbox polling
API endpoint polling

Lifecycle Management

// Active workflows are managed by ActiveWorkflows class
class ActiveWorkflows {
  // Add workflow to active list
  async add(
    workflowId: string,
    workflow: Workflow,
    mode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'trigger'
  ): Promise<void> {
    // Start triggers and pollers
    const triggerNodes = workflow.getTriggerNodes();
    for (const node of triggerNodes) {
      const triggerResponse = await runTrigger(workflow, node);
      
      // Store cleanup function
      this.triggers[workflowId] = triggerResponse?.closeFunction;
    }
  }
  
  // Remove workflow from active list
  async remove(workflowId: string): Promise<void> {
    // Call cleanup functions
    const closeFunction = this.triggers[workflowId];
    if (closeFunction) {
      await closeFunction();
    }
  }
}

Webhook Mode

Webhook mode handles incoming HTTP requests to webhook endpoints.

Request Handling

const mode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'webhook';

// Webhook functions have access to HTTP request
interface IWebhookFunctions {
  getRequestObject(): express.Request;
  getResponseObject(): express.Response;
  getBodyData(): IDataObject;
  getHeaderData(): IDataObject;
  getQueryData(): IDataObject;
  getParamsData(): IDataObject;
}

Response Patterns

// Webhook node returns response immediately
async webhook(this: IWebhookFunctions): Promise<IWebhookResponseData> {
  const body = this.getBodyData();
  
  return {
    // Response sent to caller
    webhookResponse: {
      status: 200,
      body: { received: true }
    },
    // Data passed to workflow
    workflowData: [
      [{ json: body }]
    ]
  };
}

Webhook Paths

// Webhook URL format:
// Production: https://your-n8n.com/webhook/{path}
// Test: https://your-n8n.com/webhook-test/{path}

const webhookNode: INode = {
  name: 'Webhook',
  type: 'n8n-nodes-base.webhook',
  parameters: {
    path: 'github-events',
    httpMethod: 'POST',
    authentication: 'headerAuth'
  },
  credentials: {
    headerAuth: {
      id: 'header-auth-id',
      name: 'GitHub Webhook Auth'
    }
  }
};

Internal Mode

Internal mode is used for system operations and subworkflows.

Subworkflow Execution

// Execute Workflow node runs subworkflows in internal mode
const executeWorkflow: INode = {
  name: 'Execute Workflow',
  type: 'n8n-nodes-base.executeWorkflow',
  parameters: {
    workflowId: 'subworkflow-id',
    mode: 'integrated'  // Run in same process
  }
};

// Subworkflow executes in 'internal' mode
const subworkflowMode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'internal';

Execution Context Inheritance

// From execution-context.ts:48-86
interface IExecutionContext {
  version: 1;
  establishedAt: number;
  source: WorkflowExecuteMode;
  triggerNode?: {
    name: string;
    type: string;
  };
  // Parent execution ID for subworkflows
  parentExecutionId?: string;
  // Encrypted credential context
  credentials?: string;
}

// Subworkflow inherits context from parent
const subworkflowContext = establishExecutionContext({
  source: 'internal',
  parentExecutionId: parentExecution.id,
  credentials: parentExecution.context.credentials
});

Error Mode

Error mode runs error workflows when other workflows fail.

Error Workflow Execution

const mode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'error';

// Error workflow receives error data
const errorData: IExecutionError = {
  execution: {
    id: 'exec-123',
    mode: 'trigger',
    startedAt: new Date(),
    workflowId: 'workflow-456',
    workflowName: 'Data Sync'
  },
  workflow: {
    id: 'workflow-456',
    name: 'Data Sync'
  },
  node: {
    name: 'HTTP Request',
    type: 'n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest',
    parameters: { url: 'https://api.example.com' }
  },
  error: {
    message: 'Request failed with status code 404',
    stack: '...',
    context: { itemIndex: 0 }
  }
};

Error Workflow Pattern

Configure Error Workflow

const workflowSettings: IWorkflowSettings = {
  errorWorkflow: 'error-handler-id'
};

Add Error Trigger

const errorTrigger: INode = {
  name: 'Error Trigger',
  type: 'n8n-nodes-base.errorTrigger',
  typeVersion: 1,
  position: [250, 300],
  parameters: {}
};

Process Error

// Access error details in subsequent nodes
{{
  subject: `Error in ${$json.workflow.name}`,
  body: `
    Node: ${$json.node.name}
    Error: ${$json.error.message}
    Time: ${$json.execution.startedAt}
  `
}}

Retry Mode

Retry mode re-executes failed workflows or nodes.

const mode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'retry';

// Retry maintains original execution context
const retryExecution = {
  mode: 'retry',
  originalExecutionId: 'exec-123',
  retryOf: 'exec-123',
  // Retry uses same input data as original
  workflowData: originalExecution.data
};

CLI Mode

CLI mode executes workflows via command line.

# Execute workflow via CLI
n8n execute --id workflow-id

# Execute with custom data
n8n execute --id workflow-id --data '{"key": "value"}'

const mode: WorkflowExecuteMode = 'cli';

// CLI executions:
// - Run synchronously
// - Output to stdout/stderr
// - Exit with status code
// - No web UI interaction

Execution Context

Each execution has a context that persists throughout execution:

// From execution-context.ts
export const establishExecutionContext = (
  source: WorkflowExecuteMode,
  triggerNode?: { name: string; type: string },
  parentExecutionId?: string
): IExecutionContext => {
  return {
    version: 1,
    establishedAt: Date.now(),
    source,
    triggerNode,
    parentExecutionId
  };
};

Mode-Specific Behavior

Feature	Manual	Trigger	Webhook	Internal	Error
Save Execution	Optional	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Live Updates	Yes	No	No	No	No
Timeout	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Pin Data	Yes	No	No	No	No
Wait Nodes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Static Data	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W	Read
Credentials	All	Active	Active	All	All

Best Practices

Test in manual mode: Always test workflows before activation
Handle webhook timeouts: Return quick responses, process async
Use appropriate triggers: Match trigger type to use case
Configure error workflows: Set up centralized error handling
Monitor active workflows: Track webhook calls and schedule runs
Cleanup resources: Ensure trigger nodes cleanup properly
Consider execution limits: Be aware of timeout settings

Mode Detection in Nodes:

// Access execution mode in expressions
{{$execution.mode}}

// Conditional logic based on mode
{{
  $execution.mode === 'manual' 
    ? 'Test data' 
    : 'Production data'
}}

Getting Started

Self-Hosting

Building Workflows

AI Workflows

Node Development

CLI Reference

Execution Modes

Execution Modes

Overview of Execution Modes

Manual Mode

Characteristics

Use Cases

Trigger Mode

Characteristics

Trigger Types

Lifecycle Management

Webhook Mode

Request Handling

Response Patterns

Webhook Paths

Internal Mode

Subworkflow Execution

Execution Context Inheritance

Error Mode

Error Workflow Execution

Error Workflow Pattern

Retry Mode

CLI Mode

Execution Context

Mode-Specific Behavior

Best Practices

Next Steps

Creating Workflows

Error Handling

Getting Started

Self-Hosting

Building Workflows

AI Workflows

Node Development

CLI Reference

​Execution Modes

​Overview of Execution Modes

​Manual Mode

​Characteristics

​Use Cases

​Trigger Mode

​Characteristics

​Trigger Types

​Lifecycle Management

​Webhook Mode

​Request Handling

​Response Patterns

​Webhook Paths

​Internal Mode

​Subworkflow Execution

​Execution Context Inheritance

​Error Mode

​Error Workflow Execution

​Error Workflow Pattern

​Retry Mode

​CLI Mode

​Execution Context

​Mode-Specific Behavior

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Creating Workflows

Error Handling

Execution Modes

Overview of Execution Modes

Manual Mode

Characteristics

Use Cases

Trigger Mode

Characteristics

Trigger Types

Lifecycle Management

Webhook Mode

Request Handling

Response Patterns

Webhook Paths

Internal Mode

Subworkflow Execution

Execution Context Inheritance

Error Mode

Error Workflow Execution

Error Workflow Pattern

Retry Mode

CLI Mode

Execution Context

Mode-Specific Behavior

Best Practices

Next Steps