n8n 3.0 enters beta with breaking changes and a focus on stability

A release built around the foundation

n8n says version 3.0 focuses on internal changes. It clears out legacy features, tightens security defaults and reworks parts of how n8n runs under the hood. The company describes it as groundwork for the improvements it is building next.

The major version number changes because n8n follows semantic versioning, which means breaking changes are not shipped without a new major version. According to n8n, it collected a list of such changes over the past year, including legacy code paths to remove, defaults to make safer and a few features to retire. Version 3.0 brings them together in one release.

New features have not been held back, the company says. It ships features continuously and has published over 45 releases since 2.0 came out in December 2025, roughly one a week. Everything new after the stable release will ship on 3.x.

What changes in 3.0

The full list is in the 3.0 breaking changes docs. n8n highlights these themes:

• Reliability: in queue mode, manual executions now always run on workers. The in-memory binary data mode is removed, so instances use the filesystem, or S3 and other external storage. The default Code node timeout (task runner) drops from 5 minutes to 1 minute and is configurable. Decompression limits are lower to guard against zip bombs. The old Cron and Interval nodes are replaced by the Schedule Trigger.
• Security: encryption key rotation is always on, Slack credentials require a signing secret, and the default SSRF block list is larger when SSRF protection is enabled. Unverified community packages are off by default.
• Self-hosting: self-hosted n8n now runs on Docker. Installing with npm or npx n8n is no longer supported, partly because new security features depend on a container setup. n8n offers a one-line setup script as an alternative. Kubernetes and Helm deployments are not affected.
• Cleanup: legacy nodes are removed, including Function, Function Item, Item Lists, Cron, Interval and the legacy OpenAI node. Most have a direct replacement, for example Function becomes the Code node, and many migrate automatically.

Some features are retired too. Chat Hub is off by default and can be turned back on for 3.x, as the n8n AI assistant and agents are replacing it. Import from URL is gone from the editor, and the Ask AI tab is gone from the Code node.

The Migration Report and how to upgrade

Every instance on version 2.39 or later has a Migration Report under Settings > Migration Report. n8n recommends updating to the latest 2.x first, since it has the newest version of the report. The report lists affected workflows and instance-level settings and fixes many issues automatically. Each fix is saved as a new workflow version for review and publishing, while published workflows keep running on v2.

It also suggests an owner for each workflow, based on who edited it last, lets admins reassign owners and emails owners what to fix. Workflows that are unpublished or have not run in a long time can be filtered out and marked "won't fix". A CSV summary can be exported. Admins see every workflow, while other users see those they can access.

The recommended path is to update to the latest 2.x, fix or dismiss everything flagged, take a full backup, and upgrade a test or staging instance before production.

Availability and what it means for users

The beta needs no sign-up. Self-hosted users install it like any other beta release, and n8n Cloud users pick 3.0.0 Beta (early access) when changing their version. n8n warns that there is no way back to 2.x, so going back means restoring a backup.

Everything in 3.0 applies to self-hosted Community, Cloud, and Enterprise/Business. After the stable release, 2.x gets security and critical bug fixes for 12 months, while new features ship on 3.x only. Users still on 1.x must upgrade to 2.x first, as there is no direct path to 3.x, and support for 1.x ends December 31, 2026. n8n says an upgrade needs a short restart, and credentials and execution history carry over.

The company also noted that GitHub stars grew from about 160,000 at the 2.0 release to over 208,000, and community forum members from 115,192 to over 183,000.