n8n-io/n8n · error

NO_NODES

NO_NODES

Error message

Workflow has no nodes

What it means

Error "Workflow has no nodes" thrown in n8n-io/n8n.

Source

Thrown at packages/@n8n/workflow-sdk/src/workflow-builder/plugins/validators/no-nodes-validator.ts:28

/**
 * Validator that checks for empty workflows.
 *
 * Returns an error if the workflow has no nodes, since an empty workflow
 * cannot perform any operations.
 */
export const noNodesValidator: ValidatorPlugin = {
	id: 'core:no-nodes',
	name: 'No Nodes Validator',
	priority: 100, // High priority - should run early

	// Per-node validation not used - we do workflow-level validation
	validateNode: (): ValidationIssue[] => [],

	validateWorkflow(ctx: PluginContext): ValidationIssue[] {
		if (ctx.nodes.size === 0) {
			return [
				{
					code: 'NO_NODES',
					message: 'Workflow has no nodes',
					severity: 'error',
					violationLevel: 'critical',
				},
			];
		}
		return [];
	},
};

View on GitHub (pinned to 5ac6606e81)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/@n8n/workflow-sdk/src/workflow-builder/plugins/validators/no-nodes-validator.ts:28 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of n8n-io/n8n@5ac6606e81 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6655ba27d93b2eec. Report an issue: GitHub.