Zie619/n8n-workflows · error · HTTPException

Workflow not found in database

Error message

Workflow not found in database

What it means

A 404 from GET /api/workflows/{filename} raised when the filename passes validation and rate limiting but db.search_workflows(f'filename:"{filename}"', limit=1) returns no rows. The workflow lookup happens against the SQLite index, not the filesystem, so the DB has never heard of this file even if it exists on disk.

Source

Thrown at api_server.py:327

async def get_workflow_detail(filename: str, request: Request):
    """Get detailed workflow information including raw JSON."""
    try:
        # Security: Validate filename to prevent path traversal
        if not validate_filename(filename):
            print(f"Security: Blocked path traversal attempt for filename: {filename}")
            raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Invalid filename format")

        # Security: Rate limiting
        client_ip = request.client.host if request.client else "unknown"
        if not check_rate_limit(client_ip):
            raise HTTPException(
                status_code=429, detail="Rate limit exceeded. Please try again later."
            )

        # Get workflow metadata from database
        workflows, _ = db.search_workflows(f'filename:"{filename}"', limit=1)
        if not workflows:
            raise HTTPException(
                status_code=404, detail="Workflow not found in database"
            )

        workflow_meta = workflows[0]

        # Load raw JSON from file with security checks
        workflows_path = Path("workflows").resolve()

        # Find the file safely
        matching_file = None
        for subdir in workflows_path.iterdir():
            if subdir.is_dir():
                target_file = subdir / filename
                if target_file.exists() and target_file.is_file():
                    # Verify the file is actually within workflows directory
                    try:
                        target_file.resolve().relative_to(workflows_path)
                        matching_file = target_file

View on GitHub (pinned to 94007c1445)

Solutions

  1. Trigger a reindex (POST /api/reindex with a valid ADMIN_TOKEN) so newly added files enter the database.
  2. Take the exact filename value from GET /api/workflows results instead of constructing it by hand.
  3. Verify the file lives inside a subdirectory of workflows/ — the indexer and filesystem search both expect that layout.
  4. If reindexing does not pick the file up, check the file is valid JSON and matches the indexer's inclusion rules.

Example fix

# before
workflows, _ = db.search_workflows(f'filename:"{filename}"', limit=1)

# after (parameterized exact-match lookup, quote-safe)
workflows, _ = db.search_workflows(f'filename:"{filename.replace(chr(34), "")}"', limit=1)
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import urllib.request, json

def filename_in_index(base, name):
    with urllib.request.urlopen(f'{base}/api/workflows?q={name}', timeout=5) as r:
        items = json.load(r).get('workflows', [])
    return any(w.get('filename') == name for w in items)

Try / catch

try:
    meta = client.get(f'/api/workflows/{name}').json()
except HTTPError as e:
    if e.response.status_code == 404 and 'not found in database' in e.response.text:
        client.post(f'/api/reindex?admin_token={TOKEN}')  # then retry

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Requesting a workflow JSON that was added to workflows/ after the last indexing run; a filename whose exact string (case, spacing, .json suffix) differs from the indexed value; the DB being rebuilt from a different directory snapshot; a filename containing a double quote breaking the quoted query.

Common situations: Git-pulling new workflow files without reindexing; renaming files on disk; querying with a name copied from the filesystem listing rather than from the API's own search results.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Zie619/n8n-workflows@94007c1445 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b98f2493a6ef9167. Report an issue: GitHub.