N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL sets url for test webhooks

[lawfulsoftware]

Bug Description

WEBHOOK_URL sets the base URL for production webhooks
N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL sets the base URL for test webhooks as well as the base URL for the REST API
N8N_HOST sets the URL of the UI

This has existed for a long time.

To Reproduce

My Configuration

Set N8N_HOST=n8n.domain.com
Set N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL=https://webhook.domain.com
Set WEBHOOK_URL=https://webhook.domain.com

Production webhooks use: https://webhook.domain.com/webhook
Test webhooks use: https://webhook.domain.com/webhook-test
REST API uses: https://webhook.domain.com/rest

UI can be accessed from both https://webhook.domain.com and https://n8n.domain.com

Expected Proper Configuration

Set N8N_HOST=n8n.domain.com
Set N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL=https://n8n.domain.com
Set WEBHOOK_URL=https://webhook.domain.com

Production webhooks use: https://webhook.domain.com/webhook
Test webhooks use: https://n8n.domain.com/webhook-test
REST API uses: https://n8n.domain.com/rest

UI can be accessed from both https://webhook.domain.com and https://n8n.domain.com

Expected behavior

WEBHOOK_URL should set the base URL for all webhooks.
UI should only be accessible from N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL

Operating System

n8nio/n8n:1.35.0

n8n Version

n8nio/n8n:1.35.0

Node.js Version

n8nio/n8n:1.35.0

Database

PostgreSQL

Execution mode

main (default)

[Joffcom]

Hey @lawfulsoftware,

Looking at this I would say it is working as expected, n8n_host is used to set the hostname n8n runs on and is used as a fallback if webhook_url is not set. (https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/configuration/configuration-examples/webhook-url/)

webhook_url is used to define the path to webhooks when running n8n behind a reverse proxy and n8n_editor_base_url is used to set the url used in email notifications.

By setting these n8n doesn't block any routing it is expected that a reverse proxy or load balancer would be handling that so on your reverse proxy you would to only allow /webhook/* traffic on your webhook_url and on your n8n_editor_base_url you would allow everything else including /webhook-test/* as test webhooks always need to hit the editor so you can see the result.

For now as this appears to be working as expected I am going to mark this as closed but let me know if you have any other questions on this one.

[lawfulsoftware]

Thank you @Joffcom .

I understand your explanation that test webhooks need to hit the editor and, while this makes sense, it is not expected given the current documentation.

The description for WEBHOOK_URL is "Used to manually provide the Webhook URL when running n8n behind a reverse proxy. See here for more details." The more details page does not clarify the behaviour.

The description for N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL is "Public URL where users can access the editor. Also used for emails sent from n8n."

Your explanation as to why N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL is used for test webhooks and the fact that WEBHOOK_URL does not set the webhook URL for test webhooks should probably be added to the documentation. @StarfallProjects

A simpler approach from the user's perspective would be to use WEBHOOK_URL for all webhooks and internally route any requests to N8N_ENDPOINT_WEBHOOK_TEST to the editor. I realise, however, that this approach would be more difficult to implement and there could be some further considerations that might militate against it.