n8n-io/n8n · error · NodeOperationError

The provided workflow is not valid JSON

Error message

The provided workflow is not valid JSON: "${(error as Error).message}"

What it means

Retriever Workflow node in 'parameter' source mode tried to JSON.parse the workflowJson parameter into an IWorkflowBase and the parse threw — the pasted workflow JSON is syntactically invalid (truncation, stray characters). The parse error message is chained.

Solutions

1. Fix the JSON syntax in the workflowJson parameter (validate it in an editor)
2. Load the workflow by URL or id instead of pasting JSON

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/@n8n/nodes-langchain/nodes/retrievers/RetrieverWorkflow/RetrieverWorkflow.node.ts:345 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/4d66337f71379a27. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/@n8n/nodes-langchain/nodes/retrievers/RetrieverWorkflow/RetrieverWorkflow.node.ts:345

						const { value } = this.executeFunctions.getNodeParameter(
							'workflowId',
							itemIndex,
							{},
						) as INodeParameterResourceLocator;
						workflowInfo.id = value as string;
					}

					baseMetadata.workflowId = workflowInfo.id;
				} else if (source === 'parameter') {
					// Read workflow from parameter
					const workflowJson = this.executeFunctions.getNodeParameter(
						'workflowJson',
						itemIndex,
					) as string;
					try {
						workflowInfo.code = JSON.parse(workflowJson) as IWorkflowBase;
					} catch (error) {
						throw new NodeOperationError(
							this.executeFunctions.getNode(),
							`The provided workflow is not valid JSON: "${(error as Error).message}"`,
							{
								itemIndex,
							},
						);
					}

					// same as current workflow
					baseMetadata.workflowId = workflowProxy.$workflow.id;
				}

				const rawData: IDataObject = { query };

				const workflowFieldsJson = this.executeFunctions.getNodeParameter(
					'fields.values',
					itemIndex,
					[],

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