# n8n error troubleshooting prompt: free ChatGPT template > Paste an n8n error and a short description of your workflow, and get a plain explanation, likely causes in order and one change to try at a time. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/n8n-error-troubleshooting-prompt · Updated 2026-10-01 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [SOPs and operations](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#job-sops-and-operations) · Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot Updated October 1, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) Use this when a node turns red and the message means nothing to you. You give the AI the exact error, the node it came from and a short description of the workflow, and it explains the error in plain words and lists likely causes from most to least likely, each with one thing to check. It is told to say when it isn't sure a setting exists, because n8n changes between versions and a confident wrong fix can cost you an afternoon. ## The prompt Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every `[BLANK]` with your own details. It uses the four parts from [Prompt Writing 101](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format): Role, Context, Task and Format. Copy prompt ```text Role: You are a patient n8n helper explaining an error to a small-business owner who built their first workflow. Context: The workflow [WORKFLOW SUMMARY]. The error appeared on the [NODE] node. What I did just before: [RECENT CHANGE]. The exact error text is between the dashes below. If you aren't sure a setting exists in my version of n8n, say so instead of guessing. Task: Explain what the error means in two plain sentences. Then list the likely causes from most to least likely, each with one thing to check and one change to try. If there is a quick fix and a proper fix, say which is better long term and why. Format: A short explanation, then a numbered list of causes. One change per step, so I can rerun after each. No code except an expression I'd paste into a field. Error text: ----- [ERROR TEXT] ----- ``` ## Fill in the blanks **`[WORKFLOW SUMMARY]`** What the workflow does, node by node, finishing the sentence "The workflow...". Include settings you changed from the defaults. **`[NODE]`** The name of the node that turned red, as it appears on the canvas. **`[RECENT CHANGE]`** What you did right before: first run, added a node, changed a credential. Most errors follow a change. **`[ERROR TEXT]`** The error copied word for word from the node or the execution. Remove any customer names or email addresses in it. ## Example, filled in **A made-up example** from the free lesson [AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/ai-email-responder-gmail-drafts-n8n). Greenline Pest Control is the made-up company in the AI Email Responder lesson. On the first test run, the Simple Memory node turned red with the same error the lesson walks through. Copy example ```text Role: You are a patient n8n helper explaining an error to a small-business owner who built their first workflow. Context: The workflow watches our Gmail inbox with a Gmail Trigger and sends each new email to an AI Agent with an OpenAI Chat Model, a Gmail Tool set to create drafts in the same thread, and Simple Memory left on its default settings. The error appeared on the Simple Memory node. What I did just before: I clicked Execute workflow for the first time after adding the memory. The exact error text is between the dashes below. If you aren't sure a setting exists in my version of n8n, say so instead of guessing. Task: Explain what the error means in two plain sentences. Then list the likely causes from most to least likely, each with one thing to check and one change to try. If there is a quick fix and a proper fix, say which is better long term and why. Format: A short explanation, then a numbered list of causes. One change per step, so I can rerun after each. No code except an expression I'd paste into a field. Error text: ----- Error in sub-node Simple Memory: No session ID found ----- ``` ## What a good answer looks like - A plain explanation: memory looks for a chat session ID, and an email isn't a chat, so it has nothing to tell conversations apart. - The proper fix spelled out: set Session ID to Define below and use the email's thread ID, {{ $json.threadId }}, so memory keeps one conversation per thread. - The quick fix named honestly: removing the memory clears the error, but the agent then forgets what it already told a customer in that thread. - One change per step, each followed by "run it again". ## How to check it before you use it An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the [Reply Faster lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-to-customer-emails): check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out. - Paste the exact error, not your memory of it. One word can change the cause. - If a setting the AI names isn't in your node, say so in your next message. It may be describing another version. - After the fix, check the result, not just the green checks. For this workflow, open Gmail and read the draft. - Change one thing at a time, so you know which change worked. ## Why this prompt works Asking for causes in order with one change each stops you from changing four settings and not knowing which one mattered. The lesson's own example shows why the proper fix is worth it: thread ID memory is better than no memory at all. ## Practice it in the free lesson **[AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/ai-email-responder-gmail-drafts-n8n)**: Build an n8n agent that watches your Gmail, reads each new customer email, and writes a reply as a draft in the same thread, ready for you to check and send. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/email-responder) Also useful: [n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets) ## Terms used here [Error handling](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/error-handling) · [Session ID](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/session-id) · [Execution](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/execution) · [Expression](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/expression) ## Related prompts - [n8n workflow documentation prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/workflow-documentation-prompt): Document an n8n workflow so your team can live with it: what starts it, what each step does, which accounts it uses, signs it… - [AI agent test messages prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/agent-test-messages-prompt): Test an AI agent before launch with realistic messages: normal requests, borderline cases, missing details and tricky ones, each… - [AI agent system message prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/agent-system-message-draft-prompt): Draft the system message for an n8n AI Agent: who it is, what it knows, its rules and how it writes, including a rule never to… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)