fix(core): Adjust starter node priority for manual executions with pinned activators

packages/cli/src/ActiveWorkflowRunner.ts

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import {
 	ErrorReporterProxy as ErrorReporter,
 	WebhookPathTakenError,
 	ApplicationError,
+	STARTERS_TO_IGNORE_IN_REGULAR_EXECUTION,
 } from 'n8n-workflow';
 
 import type { IWorkflowDb, IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess } from '@/Interfaces';
@@ -36,11 +37,7 @@ import * as WorkflowExecuteAdditionalData from '@/WorkflowExecuteAdditionalData'
 import type { WorkflowEntity } from '@db/entities/WorkflowEntity';
 import { ActiveExecutions } from '@/ActiveExecutions';
 import { ExecutionsService } from './executions/executions.service';
-import {
-	STARTING_NODES,
-	WORKFLOW_REACTIVATE_INITIAL_TIMEOUT,
-	WORKFLOW_REACTIVATE_MAX_TIMEOUT,
-} from '@/constants';
+import { WORKFLOW_REACTIVATE_INITIAL_TIMEOUT, WORKFLOW_REACTIVATE_MAX_TIMEOUT } from '@/constants';
 import { NodeTypes } from '@/NodeTypes';
 import { WorkflowRunner } from '@/WorkflowRunner';
 import { ExternalHooks } from '@/ExternalHooks';
@@ -599,7 +596,9 @@ export class ActiveWorkflowRunner {
 				settings: dbWorkflow.settings,
 			});
 
-			const canBeActivated = workflow.checkIfWorkflowCanBeActivated(STARTING_NODES);
+			const canBeActivated = workflow.checkIfWorkflowCanBeActivated(
+				STARTERS_TO_IGNORE_IN_REGULAR_EXECUTION,
+			);
 
 			if (!canBeActivated) {
 				throw new WorkflowActivationError(

packages/cli/src/WorkflowExecuteAdditionalData.ts

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ import type {
 import { NodeTypes } from '@/NodeTypes';
 import { Push } from '@/push';
 import * as WorkflowHelpers from '@/WorkflowHelpers';
-import { findSubworkflowStart, isWorkflowIdValid } from '@/utils';
+import { isWorkflowIdValid } from '@/utils';
 import { PermissionChecker } from './UserManagement/PermissionChecker';
 import { InternalHooks } from '@/InternalHooks';
 import { ExecutionRepository } from '@db/repositories/execution.repository';
@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ export async function getRunData(
 ): Promise<IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess> {
 	const mode = 'integrated';
 
-	const startingNode = findSubworkflowStart(workflowData.nodes);
+	const startingNode = Workflow.selectSubworkflowStarter(workflowData.nodes);
 
 	// Always start with empty data if no inputData got supplied
 	inputData = inputData || [

packages/cli/src/commands/execute.ts

@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import { PLACEHOLDER_EMPTY_WORKFLOW_ID } from 'n8n-core';
 import type { IWorkflowBase } from 'n8n-workflow';
-import { ApplicationError, ExecutionBaseError } from 'n8n-workflow';
+import { ApplicationError, ExecutionBaseError, Workflow } from 'n8n-workflow';
 
 import { ActiveExecutions } from '@/ActiveExecutions';
 import { WorkflowRunner } from '@/WorkflowRunner';
 import type { IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess } from '@/Interfaces';
-import { findCliWorkflowStart, isWorkflowIdValid } from '@/utils';
+import { isWorkflowIdValid } from '@/utils';
 import { BaseCommand } from './BaseCommand';
 import { Container } from 'typedi';
 import { WorkflowRepository } from '@db/repositories/workflow.repository';
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ export class Execute extends BaseCommand {
 			workflowId = undefined;
 		}
 
-		const startingNode = findCliWorkflowStart(workflowData.nodes);
+		const startingNode = Workflow.selectSubworkflowStarter(workflowData.nodes);
 
 		const user = await Container.get(OwnershipService).getInstanceOwner();
 		const runData: IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess = {

packages/cli/src/commands/executeBatch.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import fs from 'fs';
 import os from 'os';
 import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import type { IRun, ITaskData } from 'n8n-workflow';
-import { ApplicationError, jsonParse, sleep } from 'n8n-workflow';
+import { ApplicationError, Workflow, jsonParse, sleep } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import { sep } from 'path';
 import { diff } from 'json-diff';
 import pick from 'lodash/pick';
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import { ActiveExecutions } from '@/ActiveExecutions';
 import { WorkflowRunner } from '@/WorkflowRunner';
 import type { IWorkflowDb, IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess } from '@/Interfaces';
 import type { User } from '@db/entities/User';
-import { findCliWorkflowStart } from '@/utils';
 import { BaseCommand } from './BaseCommand';
 import { Container } from 'typedi';
 import type {
@@ -635,7 +634,7 @@ export class ExecuteBatch extends BaseCommand {
 			}, ExecuteBatch.executionTimeout);
 
 			try {
-				const startingNode = findCliWorkflowStart(workflowData.nodes);
+				const startingNode = Workflow.selectSubworkflowStarter(workflowData.nodes);
 
 				const runData: IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess = {
 					executionMode: 'cli',

packages/cli/src/constants.ts

@@ -21,12 +21,6 @@ export function getN8nPackageJson() {
 	return jsonParse<n8n.PackageJson>(readFileSync(join(CLI_DIR, 'package.json'), 'utf8'));
 }
 
-export const STARTING_NODES = [
-	'@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.manualChatTrigger',
-	'n8n-nodes-base.start',
-	'n8n-nodes-base.manualTrigger',
-];
-
 export const N8N_VERSION = getN8nPackageJson().version;
 
 export const NODE_PACKAGE_PREFIX = 'n8n-nodes-';

packages/cli/src/utils.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-assignment */
-import { CliWorkflowOperationError, SubworkflowOperationError } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import type { INode } from 'n8n-workflow';
-import { STARTING_NODES } from './constants';
 
 /**
  * Returns if the given id is a valid workflow id
@@ -11,34 +9,6 @@ export function isWorkflowIdValid(id: string | null | undefined): boolean {
 	return typeof id === 'string' && id?.length <= 16;
 }
 
-function findWorkflowStart(executionMode: 'integrated' | 'cli') {
-	return function (nodes: INode[]) {
-		const executeWorkflowTriggerNode = nodes.find(
-			(node) => node.type === 'n8n-nodes-base.executeWorkflowTrigger',
-		);
-
-		if (executeWorkflowTriggerNode) return executeWorkflowTriggerNode;
-
-		const startNode = nodes.find((node) => STARTING_NODES.includes(node.type));
-
-		if (startNode) return startNode;
-
-		const title = 'Missing node to start execution';
-		const description =
-			"Please make sure the workflow you're calling contains an Execute Workflow Trigger node";
-
-		if (executionMode === 'integrated') {
-			throw new SubworkflowOperationError(title, description);
-		}
-
-		throw new CliWorkflowOperationError(title, description);
-	};
-}
-
-export const findSubworkflowStart = findWorkflowStart('integrated');
-
-export const findCliWorkflowStart = findWorkflowStart('cli');
-
 export const alphabetizeKeys = (obj: INode) =>
 	Object.keys(obj)
 		.sort()

packages/cli/src/workflows/workflow.request.ts

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ export declare namespace WorkflowRequest {
 	type ManualRunPayload = {
 		workflowData: IWorkflowDb;
 		runData: IRunData;
-		pinData: IPinData;
+		pinData?: IPinData;
 		startNodes?: string[];
 		destinationNode?: string;
 	};

packages/cli/src/workflows/workflow.service.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import Container, { Service } from 'typedi';
-import type { INode, IPinData } from 'n8n-workflow';
+import type { INode } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import { NodeApiError, Workflow } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import pick from 'lodash/pick';
 import omit from 'lodash/omit';
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { ExternalHooks } from '@/ExternalHooks';
 import { hasSharing, type ListQuery } from '@/requests';
 import type { WorkflowRequest } from '@/workflows/workflow.request';
 import { TagService } from '@/services/tag.service';
-import type { IWorkflowDb, IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess } from '@/Interfaces';
+import type { IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess } from '@/Interfaces';
 import { NodeTypes } from '@/NodeTypes';
 import { WorkflowRunner } from '@/WorkflowRunner';
 import * as WorkflowExecuteAdditionalData from '@/WorkflowExecuteAdditionalData';
@@ -51,48 +51,6 @@ export class WorkflowService {
 		private readonly activeWorkflowRunner: ActiveWorkflowRunner,
 	) {}
 
-	/**
-	 * Find the pinned trigger to execute the workflow from, if any.
-	 *
-	 * - In a full execution, select the _first_ pinned trigger.
-	 * - In a partial execution,
-	 *   - select the _first_ pinned trigger that leads to the executed node,
-	 *   - else select the executed pinned trigger.
-	 */
-	findPinnedTrigger(workflow: IWorkflowDb, startNodes?: string[], pinData?: IPinData) {
-		if (!pinData || !startNodes) return null;
-
-		const isTrigger = (nodeTypeName: string) =>
-			['trigger', 'webhook'].some((suffix) => nodeTypeName.toLowerCase().includes(suffix));
-
-		const pinnedTriggers = workflow.nodes.filter(
-			(node) => !node.disabled && pinData[node.name] && isTrigger(node.type),
-		);
-
-		if (pinnedTriggers.length === 0) return null;
-
-		if (startNodes?.length === 0) return pinnedTriggers[0]; // full execution
-
-		const [startNodeName] = startNodes;
-
-		const parentNames = new Workflow({
-			nodes: workflow.nodes,
-			connections: workflow.connections,
-			active: workflow.active,
-			nodeTypes: this.nodeTypes,
-		}).getParentNodes(startNodeName);
-
-		let checkNodeName = '';
-
-		if (parentNames.length === 0) {
-			checkNodeName = startNodeName;
-		} else {
-			checkNodeName = parentNames.find((pn) => pn === pinnedTriggers[0].name) as string;
-		}
-
-		return pinnedTriggers.find((pt) => pt.name === checkNodeName) ?? null; // partial execution
-	}
-
 	async getMany(sharedWorkflowIds: string[], options?: ListQuery.Options) {
 		const { workflows, count } = await this.workflowRepository.getMany(sharedWorkflowIds, options);
 
@@ -304,7 +262,16 @@ export class WorkflowService {
 		user: User,
 		sessionId?: string,
 	) {
-		const pinnedTrigger = this.findPinnedTrigger(workflowData, startNodes, pinData);
+		const pinnedTrigger =
+			pinData && startNodes
+				? new Workflow({
+						nodes: workflowData.nodes,
+						connections: workflowData.connections,
+						active: workflowData.active,
+						nodeTypes: this.nodeTypes,
+						pinData,
+				  }).selectPinnedActivatorStarter(startNodes)
+				: null;
 
 		// If webhooks nodes exist and are active we have to wait for till we receive a call
 		if (

packages/cli/test/integration/publicApi/workflows.test.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import type { SuperAgentTest } from 'supertest';
 import Container from 'typedi';
-import type { INode } from 'n8n-workflow';
-import { STARTING_NODES } from '@/constants';
+import { SUBWORKFLOW_STARTER_NODES, type INode } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import type { Role } from '@db/entities/Role';
 import type { TagEntity } from '@db/entities/TagEntity';
 import type { User } from '@db/entities/User';
@@ -809,7 +808,9 @@ describe('POST /workflows', () => {
 			},
 		});
 
-		const found = response.body.nodes.find((node: INode) => STARTING_NODES.includes(node.type));
+		const found = response.body.nodes.find((node: INode) =>
+			SUBWORKFLOW_STARTER_NODES.includes(node.type),
+		);
 
 		expect(found).toBeUndefined();
 	});

packages/workflow/src/Constants.ts

@@ -21,3 +21,21 @@ export const CREDENTIAL_EMPTY_VALUE =
 	'__n8n_EMPTY_VALUE_7b1af746-3729-4c60-9b9b-e08eb29e58da' as const;
 
 export const FORM_TRIGGER_PATH_IDENTIFIER = 'n8n-form';
+
+export const NODE_TYPES = {
+	EXECUTE_WORKFLOW_TRIGGER: 'n8n-nodes-base.executeWorkflowTrigger',
+	START: 'n8n-nodes-base.start',
+	MANUAL_TRIGGER: 'n8n-nodes-base.manualTrigger',
+	MANUAL_CHAT_TRIGGER: '@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.manualChatTrigger',
+};
+
+export const SUBWORKFLOW_STARTER_NODES = [
+	NODE_TYPES.EXECUTE_WORKFLOW_TRIGGER,
+	NODE_TYPES.MANUAL_CHAT_TRIGGER,
+	NODE_TYPES.START,
+	NODE_TYPES.MANUAL_TRIGGER,
+];
+
+export const STARTERS_TO_IGNORE_IN_REGULAR_EXECUTION = SUBWORKFLOW_STARTER_NODES.filter(
+	(node) => node !== NODE_TYPES.EXECUTE_WORKFLOW_TRIGGER,
+);