Cannot rename workflows in dockerized n8n setup

Other Questions N8n
1

I have deployed n8n using Docker Compose and everything seems to work correctly. I can create new workflows, run them, and delete them without any issues. However, there’s one problem that’s bothering me - I cannot rename my workflows at all.

Here’s my docker-compose configuration:

version: '3.1'

services:
  automation:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    ports:
      - "8080:5678"
    environment:
      - N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=myencryptionkey123
      - N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=secretpass
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://example.com
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8ndb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=database
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=dbuser
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA=public
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=dbpass
    volumes:
      - automation_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      - database

  database:
    image: postgres:16.2
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=n8ndb
      - POSTGRES_USER=dbuser
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=dbpass
    volumes:
      - db_storage:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  automation_data:
  db_storage:

I’ve checked the environment variables but couldn’t find anything related to workflow naming permissions. Is there a specific configuration I’m missing or could this be a permission issue with the Docker setup?

2

Same thing happened to me last week. Clear your browser cache and cookies for the n8n site first - the UI gets stuck sometimes. Check if adblockers or extensions are blocking scripts too. My workflow renaming broke because uBlock Origin was messing with the interface. If none of that works, try incognito mode to see if it’s a browser issue.

3

Had this exact problem six months ago - it’s your database connection config. You’re running n8n on HTTP through port 8080 but have N8N_PROTOCOL=https set, which breaks stuff like workflow renaming. Either remove that line completely or change it to N8N_PROTOCOL=http since you’re accessing locally. Your WEBHOOK_URL=https://example.com is also wrong - it should match your actual n8n URL. If you’re hitting http://localhost:8080, set the webhook URL to match or just remove it so n8n can auto-detect. Restart your containers after changing this. Protocol mismatches mess up UI interactions in weird ways.

4

Check your browser’s dev console when you try renaming workflows - you’ll probably see CORS or auth errors. It’s likely your basic auth setup mixed with the protocol issues others mentioned. I’ve seen this before where basic auth messes with certain API calls in dockerized n8n setups. Try turning off basic auth temporarily with N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=false and see if renaming works. If it does, you’ll need to set up proper reverse proxy auth instead of using n8n’s built-in basic auth. Also double-check your PostgreSQL user has full database permissions - sometimes limited DB permissions make specific operations like renaming fail without any error message.