Running n8n Offline: How to Prevent Chat Interface from Reaching Out to CDN?

Below is some guidance that may help resolve the issue:

Background

n8n’s UI components (including parts of the chat interface) by default reference some external assets hosted on a CDN. When running n8n completely offline, these external names can’t be resolved (resulting in ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED), which then causes UI rendering problems.

Options to Solve This

Since n8n doesn’t currently include an official “offline mode” toggle for all static assets, you could consider one of the following workarounds:

1. Mirror the CDN Assets Locally

• Set up a local server (for example, an Nginx container) that serves the needed CDN assets.
• Redirect the CDN hostname to your local server by editing your system’s hosts file (or using your DNS) so that requests for those assets are served locally.

Example (in your system’s hosts file):

PLAINTEXTCopied
127.0.0.1    cdn.example.com

(Replace “cdn.example.com” with the actual domain that n8n’s chat interface is trying to load.)

2. Modify Asset Paths in the Interface (if possible)

If you have control over configuration in your deployment, check whether you can override or remap the asset URLs to point to local locations. This isn’t an officially documented setting so you may need to experiment or check newer releases for improved offline support.

3. Upgrade n8n

Some behavior around asset loading has been refined in later versions. If possible, test a newer version of n8n to see if the offline experience has been improved regarding loading assets.

Final Notes

– The issue isn’t with the core Docker setup (and your current setup using SQLite and n8nEXECUTIONS_PROCESS in “own, main” mode isn’t directly affecting the asset loading).
– The workaround requires hosting the assets locally (or resolving their names locally) so that when offline, your n8n interface finds everything it needs.

If the above workarounds do not meet your needs, consider raising an issue on the n8n GitHub repository. The community and maintainers can provide further guidance or prioritize an improvement for future releases.

Let me know if you need more detailed instructions on setting up a local CDN mirror or further troubleshooting steps.