fix: Improve Node CLI error messages and dev command exit behavior (#19637)

packages/@n8n/create-node/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@n8n/create-node",
-  "version": "0.7.0",
+  "version": "0.8.0",
   "description": "Official CLI to create new community nodes for n8n",
   "bin": {
     "create-node": "bin/create-node.cjs"

packages/@n8n/node-cli/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@n8n/node-cli",
-  "version": "0.7.0",
+  "version": "0.8.0",
   "description": "Official CLI for developing community nodes for n8n",
   "bin": {
     "n8n-node": "bin/n8n-node.mjs"

packages/@n8n/node-cli/src/commands/dev/index.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { intro, outro, spinner, log } from '@clack/prompts';
+import { intro, log, outro, spinner } from '@clack/prompts';
 import { Command, Flags } from '@oclif/core';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ export default class Dev extends Command {
 		'custom-user-folder': Flags.directory({
 			default: path.join(os.homedir(), '.n8n-node-cli'),
 			description:
-				'Folder to use to store user-specific n8n data. By default it will use ~/.n8n-node-cli.',
+				'Folder to use to store user-specific n8n data. By default it will use ~/.n8n-node-cli. The node CLI will install your node here.',
 		}),
 	};
 
@@ -74,41 +74,44 @@ export default class Dev extends Command {
 			log.warn(picocolors.dim('First run may take a few minutes while dependencies are installed'));
 
 			// Run n8n with hot reload enabled, always attempt to use latest n8n
-			// TODO: Use n8n@latest. Currently using n8n@next because of broken hot reloading before n8n@1.111.0
+			try {
-			await Promise.race([
+				await Promise.race([
-				new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+					new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
-					runPersistentCommand('npx', ['-y', '--quiet', '--prefer-online', 'n8n@next'], {
+						runPersistentCommand('npx', ['-y', '--quiet', '--prefer-online', 'n8n@latest'], {
-						cwd: n8nUserFolder,
+							cwd: n8nUserFolder,
-						env: {
+							env: {
-							...process.env,
+								...process.env,
-							N8N_DEV_RELOAD: 'true',
+								N8N_DEV_RELOAD: 'true',
-							N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED: 'true',
+								N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED: 'true',
-							DB_SQLITE_POOL_SIZE: '10',
+								DB_SQLITE_POOL_SIZE: '10',
-							N8N_USER_FOLDER: n8nUserFolder,
+								N8N_USER_FOLDER: n8nUserFolder,
-							N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS: 'false',
+							},
-						},
+							name: 'n8n',
-						name: 'n8n',
+							color: picocolors.green,
-						color: picocolors.green,
+							allowOutput: (line) => {
-						allowOutput: (line) => {
+								if (line.includes('Initializing n8n process')) {
-							if (line.includes('Initializing n8n process')) {
+									resolve();
-								resolve();
+								}
-							}
 
-							return setupComplete;
+								return setupComplete;
-						},
+							},
-					});
+						});
-				}),
+					}),
-				new Promise<void>((_, reject) => {
+					new Promise<void>((_, reject) => {
-					setTimeout(() => {
+						setTimeout(() => {
-						const error = new Error('n8n startup timeout after 120 seconds');
+							const error = new Error('n8n startup timeout after 120 seconds');
-						onCancel(error.message);
+							reject(error);
-						reject(error);
+						}, 120_000);
-					}, 120_000);
+					}),
-				}),
+				]);
-			]);
 
-			setupComplete = true;
+				setupComplete = true;
-			npxN8nSpinner.stop('Started n8n dev server');
+				npxN8nSpinner.stop('Started n8n dev server');
+			} catch (error) {
+				npxN8nSpinner.stop('Failed to start n8n dev server');
+				onCancel(error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error occurred', 1);
+				return;
+			}
 		}
 
 		outro('✓ Setup complete');

packages/@n8n/node-cli/src/commands/dev/utils.ts

@@ -7,22 +7,100 @@ import { jsonParse } from '../../utils/json';
 
 export function commands() {
 	const childProcesses: ChildProcess[] = [];
+	let isShuttingDown = false;
 
-	function registerChild(child: ChildProcess) {
+	const registerChild = (child: ChildProcess): void => {
 		childProcesses.push(child);
-	}
+	};
 
-	function cleanup(signal: 'SIGINT' | 'SIGTERM') {
+	const killChild = (child: ChildProcess, signal: NodeJS.Signals): void => {
-		for (const child of childProcesses) {
+		if (!child.killed) {
 			child.kill(signal);
 		}
-		process.exit();
+	};
-	}
 
-	process.on('SIGINT', () => cleanup('SIGINT'));
+	const forceKillAllChildren = (): void => {
-	process.on('SIGTERM', () => cleanup('SIGTERM'));
+		childProcesses.forEach((child) => killChild(child, 'SIGKILL'));
+		process.exit(1);
+	};
 
-	function runPersistentCommand(
+	const gracefulShutdown = (signal: 'SIGINT' | 'SIGTERM'): void => {
+		if (childProcesses.length === 0) {
+			process.exit();
+			return;
+		}
+
+		let exitedCount = 0;
+		const totalChildren = childProcesses.length;
+
+		const forceExitTimer = setTimeout(forceKillAllChildren, 5000);
+
+		const onChildExit = () => {
+			exitedCount++;
+			if (exitedCount === totalChildren) {
+				clearTimeout(forceExitTimer);
+				process.exit();
+			}
+		};
+
+		childProcesses.forEach((child) => {
+			if (!child.killed) {
+				child.once('exit', onChildExit);
+				killChild(child, signal);
+
+				// Escalate to SIGKILL after 5 seconds
+				setTimeout(() => killChild(child, 'SIGKILL'), 5000);
+			} else {
+				onChildExit(); // Process already dead
+			}
+		});
+	};
+
+	const handleSignal = (signal: 'SIGINT' | 'SIGTERM'): void => {
+		if (isShuttingDown) {
+			// Second signal - force kill immediately
+			console.log('\nForce killing processes...');
+			forceKillAllChildren();
+			return;
+		}
+
+		isShuttingDown = true;
+		if (signal === 'SIGINT') {
+			console.log('\nShutting down gracefully... (press Ctrl+C again to force quit)');
+		}
+		gracefulShutdown(signal);
+	};
+
+	process.on('SIGINT', () => handleSignal('SIGINT'));
+	process.on('SIGTERM', () => handleSignal('SIGTERM'));
+
+	const stripAnsiCodes = (input: string): string =>
+		input
+			.replace(/\x1Bc/g, '') // Full reset
+			.replace(/\x1B\[2J/g, '') // Clear screen
+			.replace(/\x1B\[3J/g, '') // Clear scrollback
+			.replace(/\x1B\[H/g, '') // Move cursor to top-left
+			.replace(/\x1B\[0?m/g, ''); // Reset colors
+
+	const createLogger =
+		(name?: string, color?: Formatter, allowOutput?: (line: string) => boolean) =>
+		(text: string): void => {
+			if (allowOutput && !allowOutput(text)) return;
+
+			const prefix = name ? (color ? color(`[${name}]`) : `[${name}]`) : '';
+			console.log(prefix ? `${prefix} ${text}` : text);
+		};
+
+	const processOutput = (data: Buffer, logger: (text: string) => void): void => {
+		data
+			.toString()
+			.split('\n')
+			.map((line) => stripAnsiCodes(line).trim())
+			.filter(Boolean)
+			.forEach(logger);
+	};
+
+	const runPersistentCommand = (
 		cmd: string,
 		args: string[],
 		opts: {
@@ -32,7 +110,7 @@ export function commands() {
 			color?: Formatter;
 			allowOutput?: (line: string) => boolean;
 		} = {},
-	) {
+	): ChildProcess => {
 		const child = spawn(cmd, args, {
 			cwd: opts.cwd,
 			env: { ...process.env, ...opts.env },
@@ -41,46 +119,21 @@ export function commands() {
 
 		registerChild(child);
 
-		function stripClearCodes(input: string): string {
+		const logger = createLogger(opts.name, opts.color, opts.allowOutput);
-			// Remove clear screen/reset ANSI codes
+		const handleOutput = (data: Buffer) => processOutput(data, logger);
-			return input
-				.replace(/\x1Bc/g, '') // Full reset
-				.replace(/\x1B\[2J/g, '') // Clear screen
-				.replace(/\x1B\[3J/g, '') // Clear scrollback
-				.replace(/\x1B\[H/g, '') // Move cursor to top-left
-				.replace(/\x1B\[0?m/g, ''); // Reset colors
-		}
 
-		const log = (text: string) => {
+		child.stdout?.on('data', handleOutput);
-			if (opts.allowOutput && !opts.allowOutput(text)) return;
+		child.stderr?.on('data', handleOutput);
-			if (opts.name) {
-				const rawPrefix = `[${opts.name}]`;
-				const prefix = opts.color ? opts.color(rawPrefix) : rawPrefix;
-				console.log(`${prefix} ${text}`);
-			} else {
-				console.log(text);
-			}
-		};
-
-		const handleOutput = (data: Buffer): void => {
-			data
-				.toString()
-				.split('\n')
-				.map((line) => stripClearCodes(line).trim())
-				.filter(Boolean)
-				.forEach((line) => log(line));
-		};
-
-		child.stdout.on('data', handleOutput);
-		child.stderr.on('data', handleOutput);
 
 		child.on('close', (code) => {
-			console.log(`${opts.name ?? cmd} exited with code ${code}`);
+			if (!isShuttingDown) {
-			process.exit(code);
+				console.log(`${opts.name ?? cmd} exited with code ${code}`);
+				process.exit(code ?? 0);
+			}
 		});
 
 		return child;
-	}
+	};
 
 	return {
 		runPersistentCommand,

packages/@n8n/node-cli/src/commands/new/prompts.ts

@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ import { validateNodeName } from '../../utils/validation';
 export const nodeNamePrompt = async () =>
 	await withCancelHandler(
 		text({
-			message: 'What is your node called?',
+			message: "Package name (must start with 'n8n-nodes-' or '@org/n8n-nodes-')",
-			placeholder: 'n8n-nodes-example',
+			placeholder: 'n8n-nodes-my-app',
 			validate: validateNodeName,
-			defaultValue: 'n8n-nodes-example',
+			defaultValue: 'n8n-nodes-my-app',
 		}),
 	);
 

packages/@n8n/node-cli/src/utils/validation.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export const validateNodeName = (name: string): string | undefined => {
 	const regexUnscoped = /^n8n-nodes-([a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*)$/;
 
 	if (!regexScoped.test(name) && !regexUnscoped.test(name)) {
-		return 'Node name should be in the format @org/n8n-nodes-example or n8n-nodes-example';
+		return "Must start with 'n8n-nodes-' or '@org/n8n-nodes-'. Examples: n8n-nodes-my-app, @mycompany/n8n-nodes-my-app";
 	}
 	return;
 };