fix: Prompt to save before manual run with autosave disabled (#32513)

Co-authored-by: n8n-cat-bot[bot] <n8n-cat-bot[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

packages/frontend/@n8n/i18n/src/locales/en.json

@@ -4002,6 +4002,10 @@
 	"workflowPreview.executionMode.showError.previewError.message": "Unable to preview workflow execution",
 	"workflowPreview.showError.previewError.title": "Preview error",
 	"workflowRun.noActiveConnectionToTheServer": "Lost connection to the server",
+	"workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.headline": "Save before running?",
+	"workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.message": "You have to save your workflow before running a manual execution.",
+	"workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.confirmButtonText": "Save & run",
+	"workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.cancelButtonText": "Cancel",
 	"workflowRun.showError.deactivate": "Deactivate workflow to execute",
 	"workflowRun.showError.title": "Problem running workflow",
 	"workflowRun.showError.payloadTooLarge": "Please execute the whole workflow, rather than just the node. (Existing execution data is too large.)",

packages/frontend/editor-ui/src/app/composables/useRunWorkflow.test.ts

@@ -215,6 +215,14 @@ vi.mock('@/app/composables/useToast', () => ({
 	}),
 }));
 
+vi.mock('@/app/composables/useMessage', () => ({
+	useMessage: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
+		confirm: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue('confirm'),
+		alert: vi.fn(),
+		prompt: vi.fn(),
+	}),
+}));
+
 vi.mock('@/app/composables/useWorkflowHelpers', () => ({
 	useWorkflowHelpers: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
 		saveCurrentWorkflow: vi.fn(),
@@ -448,7 +456,11 @@ describe('useRunWorkflow({ router })', () => {
 				expect(workflowSaving.saveCurrentWorkflow).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
 			});
 
-			it('should not save before execute when autosave is disabled and state is dirty', async () => {
+			it('should prompt the user and save when they confirm if autosave is disabled and state is dirty (ADO-5328)', async () => {
+				const { useMessage } = await import('@/app/composables/useMessage');
+				const messageMock = vi.mocked(useMessage)();
+				vi.mocked(messageMock.confirm).mockResolvedValueOnce('confirm');
+
 				vi.spyOn(settingsStore, 'isAutosaveEnabled', 'get').mockReturnValue(false);
 				vi.mocked(uiStore).stateIsDirty = true;
 				vi.mocked(workflowsStore).isWorkflowSaved = { '123': true };
@@ -457,7 +469,27 @@ describe('useRunWorkflow({ router })', () => {
 				const { runWorkflow } = useRunWorkflow({ router });
 				await runWorkflow({});
 
+				expect(messageMock.confirm).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+				expect(workflowSaving.saveCurrentWorkflow).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+			});
+
+			it('should not run when the user cancels the save-before-run prompt (ADO-5328)', async () => {
+				const { useMessage } = await import('@/app/composables/useMessage');
+				const messageMock = vi.mocked(useMessage)();
+				vi.mocked(messageMock.confirm).mockResolvedValueOnce('cancel');
+
+				vi.spyOn(settingsStore, 'isAutosaveEnabled', 'get').mockReturnValue(false);
+				vi.mocked(uiStore).stateIsDirty = true;
+				vi.mocked(workflowsStore).isWorkflowSaved = { '123': true };
+
+				const workflowSaving = useWorkflowSaving({ router });
+				const { runWorkflow } = useRunWorkflow({ router });
+				const result = await runWorkflow({});
+
+				expect(messageMock.confirm).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
 				expect(workflowSaving.saveCurrentWorkflow).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+				expect(workflowsStore.runWorkflow).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+				expect(result).toBeUndefined();
 			});
 
 			it('should save new workflow before execute even when autosave is disabled', async () => {

packages/frontend/editor-ui/src/app/composables/useRunWorkflow.ts

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import { retry } from '@n8n/utils/retry';
 import { computed, getCurrentInstance, type Ref } from 'vue';
 
 import { useToast } from '@/app/composables/useToast';
+import { useMessage } from '@/app/composables/useMessage';
 import { useNodeHelpers } from '@/app/composables/useNodeHelpers';
 
 import {
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ import {
 	CHAT_HITL_TOOL_NODE_TYPE,
 	CHAT_TRIGGER_NODE_TYPE,
 	IN_PROGRESS_EXECUTION_ID,
+	MODAL_CONFIRM,
 	RESPOND_TO_WEBHOOK_NODE_TYPE,
 } from '@/app/constants';
 
@@ -78,6 +80,7 @@ export function useRunWorkflow(useRunWorkflowOpts: {
 	const workflowHelpers = useWorkflowHelpers();
 	const i18n = useI18n();
 	const toast = useToast();
+	const message = useMessage();
 	const telemetry = useTelemetry();
 	const externalHooks = useExternalHooks();
 	const settingsStore = useSettingsStore();
@@ -182,7 +185,31 @@ export function useRunWorkflow(useRunWorkflowOpts: {
 			const runData = workflowsStore.getWorkflowRunData;
 
 			const isNewWorkflow = !workflowsStore.isWorkflowSaved[workflowDocumentStore.value.workflowId];
-			if (isNewWorkflow || (uiStore.stateIsDirty && settingsStore.isAutosaveEnabled)) {
+
+			// With N8N_WORKFLOWS_AUTOSAVE_DISABLED=true the editor no longer
+			// force-saves before executing, so canvas-only edits would be
+			// dropped by the executor (it only ever runs the DB copy). Prompt
+			// the user to save first so the run reflects the canvas. ADO-5328.
+			if (!isNewWorkflow && uiStore.stateIsDirty && !settingsStore.isAutosaveEnabled) {
+				const response = await message.confirm(i18n.baseText('workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.message'), {
+					title: i18n.baseText('workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.headline'),
+					type: 'info',
+					confirmButtonText: i18n.baseText('workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.confirmButtonText'),
+					cancelButtonText: i18n.baseText('workflowRun.saveBeforeRun.cancelButtonText'),
+					showClose: true,
+				});
+
+				if (response !== MODAL_CONFIRM) {
+					return undefined;
+				}
+
+				const saved = await workflowSaving.saveCurrentWorkflow({
+					id: workflowDocumentStore.value.workflowId,
+				});
+				if (!saved) {
+					return undefined;
+				}
+			} else if (isNewWorkflow || (uiStore.stateIsDirty && settingsStore.isAutosaveEnabled)) {
 				await workflowSaving.saveCurrentWorkflow({ id: workflowDocumentStore.value.workflowId });
 			}