Versioning

n8n supports node versioning. You can make changes to existing nodes without breaking the existing behavior by introducing a new version.

Be aware of how n8n decides which node version to load:

• If a user builds and saves a workflow using version 1, n8n continues to use version 1 in that workflow, even if you create and publish a version 2 of the node.

• When a user creates a new workflow and browses for nodes, n8n always loads the latest version of the node.

Versioning type restricted by node style

If you build a node using the declarative style, you can't use full versioning.

## Light versioning

This is available for all node types.

One node can contain more than one version, allowing small version increments without code duplication. To use this feature:

1. Change the main version parameter to an array, and add your version numbers, including your existing version.

2. You can then access the version parameter with @version in your displayOptions in any object (to control which versions n8n displays the object with). You can also query the version from a function using const nodeVersion = this.getNode().typeVersion;.

As an example, say you want to add versioning to the NasaPics node from the Declarative node tutorial, then configure a resource so that n8n only displays it in version 2 of the node. In your base NasaPics.node.ts file:

{
    displayName: 'NASA Pics',
    name: 'NasaPics',
    icon: 'file:nasapics.svg',
    // List the available versions
    version: [1,2,3],
    // More basic parameters here
    properties: [
        // Add a resource that's only displayed for version2
        {
            displayName: 'Resource name',
            // More resource parameters
            displayOptions: {
                show: {
                    '@version': 2,
                },
            },
        },
    ],
}

Feature-based versioning

Feature flags let you control parameter visibility and execution logic based on named features tied to node versions.

Defining features

Add a features object to your node type description. Each feature uses @version conditions to specify which versions enable it:

{
    version: [2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4],
    features: {
        useNewApi: { '@version': [{ _cnd: { gte: 2.2 } }] },
        useLegacyAuth: { '@version': [{ _cnd: { lte: 2.1 } }] },
        useSpecialMode: { '@version': [2] },
    },
    // More basic parameters here
}

Available conditions: gte, lte, gt, lt. Pass a plain version number to match a specific version.

Using @feature in displayOptions

Use @feature in displayOptions to control parameter visibility based on feature flags:

{
    displayName: 'New API Field',
    name: 'newApiField',
    type: 'string',
    displayOptions: {
        show: {
            '@feature': ['useNewApi'],
        },
    },
}

To show a parameter when a feature is not enabled, use the condition syntax:

displayOptions: {
    show: {
        '@feature': [{ _cnd: { not: 'useNewApi' } }],
    },
}

You can combine @feature with other display conditions:

displayOptions: {
    show: {
        resource: ['myResource'],
        '@feature': [{ _cnd: { eq: 'useNewApi' } }],
    },
}

Checking features in code

Use this.isNodeFeatureEnabled() in execution contexts (such as IExecuteFunctions or IWebhookFunctions):

if (this.isNodeFeatureEnabled('useNewApi')) {
    // Process with new API
} else {
    // Process with legacy API
}

Full versioning

This isn't available for declarative-style nodes.

As an example, refer to the Mattermost node.

Full versioning summary:

• The base node file should extend NodeVersionedType instead of INodeType.

• The base node file should contain a description including the defaultVersion (usually the latest), other basic node metadata such as name, and a list of versions. It shouldn't contain any node functionality.

• n8n recommends using v1, v2, and so on, for version folder names.