Inconsistent behavior with disabled manual trigger

[PhilippMundhenk]

Bug Description

I am currently working on n8n-nodes-kodi. While testing, I accidentally deactivated the manual trigger in my workflow (D; very similar to ctrl+D). When I open and edit the settings of my node, I can still "Execute Step" and everything works as expected. However, on every second "Execute Step" run, I get the message "Problem running workflow: Connect a trigger to run this node". While technically correct, as the trigger is deactivated, I would expect this error to show up either every time or never, but not alternating.

To Reproduce

1. Create a workflow
2. Add manual trigger
3. Deactivate manual trigger
4. Add another node (e.g., n8n-nodes-kodi), connect to trigger
5. Double click other node to edit settings
6. Click "Execute Step"
7. Wait for execution to finish
8. Click "Execute Step" again

Expected behavior

I would expect this error to show up either every time or never, but not alternating.

Debug Info

Debug info

core

• n8nVersion: 1.107.3
• platform: docker (self-hosted)
• nodeJsVersion: 22.17.0
• database: sqlite
• executionMode: regular
• concurrency: -1
• license: enterprise (production)

storage

• success: all
• error: all
• progress: false
• manual: true
• binaryMode: filesystem

pruning

• enabled: true
• maxAge: 336 hours
• maxCount: 10000 executions

client

• isTouchDevice: false

Generated at: 2025-08-19T19:31:48.080Z

Operating System

Official Docker Container (current latest)

n8n Version

1.107.3

Node.js Version

unknown

Database

SQLite (default)

Execution mode

main (default)

Hosting

self hosted

[Joffcom]

Hey @PhilippMundhenk,

Thank you for reaching out! We’ve received your issue and are looking into it. To help us track this internally, we’ve created a Linear ticket with the reference: "GHC-3882".

We’ll keep you updated as we make progress, but if you have any additional details or context to share, feel free to add them here - it’s always helpful!

Thanks for your patience and for bringing this to our attention.

[n8n-assistant]

Hi @PhilippMundhenk 👋

Thanks so much for your patience while we’ve been improving n8n. We know it’s taken some time to review this issue, and we’re currently updating our triage process to better keep up with our growth.

There have been a lot of improvements in recent releases, so we’d really appreciate it if you could check whether this issue still occurs in the latest release.

When you have a moment, please copy and paste the checklist below as a comment so our system can update the status automatically:

[ ] I have updated to the latest stable version of n8n [please specify version number] and I am still experiencing this issue
[ ] Please close this issue – I am no longer experiencing it
[ ] Please close this issue – [please specify a reason]

If we don’t hear from you in the next 14 days this issue will be automatically closed, feel free to reopen - don’t forget to add the checklist above so that our automated systems notify us of the issue.

Thanks again for helping us keep n8n healthy and up-to-date 💚

[PhilippMundhenk]

[x] I have updated to the latest stable version of n8n 1.117.3 and I am still experiencing this issue

[krisn0x]

Hi @PhilippMundhenk ,

Thanks for reporting this issue! We’ve attempted to reproduce the problem, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to replicate it on the latest n8n versions 2.1.0+

If you’re still encountering this issue, please provide any additional details or steps to reproduce it, and we’d be happy to reopen and investigate further. Thanks for your understanding!

Best regards,
n8n Team