n8n 3.0 is out as a beta: npm and npx are gone, the Code node stops after a minute by default, and there is no way back to 2.x without a backup

The n8n 3.0 beta came out on 27 October, and the first thing to know about it is how you go back. You don't. n8n says it in one line: “moving to 3.x is one way”.

So the list of changes reads like a checklist. Here is what you will feel first. If you installed n8n with npm or npx, that is no longer supported and you move the instance to Docker; n8n says part of the new protections depend on the container, and gives a one-line setup script. If you have a Code node that runs longer than a minute, the new default limit stops it unless you raise it. And the old Cron and Interval become the Schedule Trigger, Function becomes the Code node, and many of them migrate on their own.

The backup before the upgrade is your only road back.

The good news is that n8n gives you a way to check. The Migration Report under Settings shows which workflows and settings are affected, fixes many of them on its own and saves the fixes as new workflow versions, while the published ones keep running on v2 as you review them. The path n8n recommends: the latest 2.x, the report and its fixes, a full backup, a test instance, and only then production.

Try the beta on a test instance, with a backup next to it. Production waits for the stable release, and if you are still on 1.x, your first step is 2.x: there is no direct path to 3.x.

The visual is generated code-art, no third-party images.