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execution (exec) – workflow runs

Lists, reads and deletes executions – the record n8n keeps each time a workflow runs. 8cli cannot start a run; n8n's public API has no endpoint for it.

Subcommand What it does
exec list List recent executions
exec get Print one execution
exec delete Delete one execution

Error codes work differently here. When n8n answers with an error, exec passes it through as ERR_HTTP_<status> (for example ERR_HTTP_404), or n8n's own code if it sends one. The ERR_EXECUTION_* codes appear only when the request never got an answer, for example fetch failed or a refused http:// URL. See where an error code comes from.

exec list

Lists executions, newest first. Unlike other list commands it makes one request and returns at most --limit results; it does not page through everything.

8cli exec list [--workflow <id>] [--status <status>] [--limit <n>]
Option Required Default Meaning
--workflow <id> No Only executions of this workflow
--status <status> No Only executions with this status (see below)
--limit <n> No 20 At most this many executions

--status takes n8n's values: canceled, crashed, error, new, running, success, unknown, waiting. Any other value is refused by n8n with ERR_HTTP_400.

8cli exec list --workflow BQLsNfoyvbhwTPTP --limit 5
[
  {
    "id": "7",
    "finished": true,
    "mode": "webhook",
    "retryOf": null,
    "retrySuccessId": null,
    "status": "success",
    "startedAt": "2026-09-23T22:24:32.381Z",
    "stoppedAt": "2026-09-23T22:24:32.386Z",
    "workflowId": "BQLsNfoyvbhwTPTP",
    "waitTill": null
  },
  {
    "id": "6",
    "finished": true,
    "mode": "webhook",
    "retryOf": null,
    "retrySuccessId": null,
    "status": "success",
    "startedAt": "2026-09-23T22:24:25.437Z",
    "stoppedAt": "2026-09-23T22:24:25.443Z",
    "workflowId": "BQLsNfoyvbhwTPTP",
    "waitTill": null
  }
]

With --table (run when only one execution existed):

┌────────┬──────────┬──────────┬────────────────────────┬────────────────────────┐
│ ID     │ Workflow │ Status   │ Started at             │ Stopped at             │
├────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ 6      │ BQLsNfo… │ success  │ 2026-09-23T22:24:25.4… │ 2026-09-23T22:24:25.4… │
└────────┴──────────┴──────────┴────────────────────────┴────────────────────────┘

Output: an array of n8n's execution summaries, passed through: id, finished, mode, retryOf, retrySuccessId, status, startedAt, stoppedAt, workflowId, waitTill. The id is a number written as a string.

Errors: ERR_HTTP_<status> from n8n, for example:

{
  "error": "request/query/status Invalid enum value. Expected 'canceled' | 'crashed' | 'error' | 'new' | 'running' | 'success' | 'unknown' | 'waiting', received 'finished'",
  "code": "ERR_HTTP_400"
}

ERR_EXECUTION_LIST when n8n could not be reached.

exec get

Prints one execution. Add --data for everything each node received and produced.

8cli exec get <id> [--data]
Option Required Meaning
--data No Include the full run data (data, workflowData, customData) 
8cli exec get 6
{
  "id": "6",
  "finished": true,
  "mode": "webhook",
  "retryOf": null,
  "retrySuccessId": null,
  "status": "success",
  "createdAt": "2026-09-23T22:24:25.432Z",
  "startedAt": "2026-09-23T22:24:25.437Z",
  "stoppedAt": "2026-09-23T22:24:25.443Z",
  "deletedAt": null,
  "workflowId": "BQLsNfoyvbhwTPTP",
  "waitTill": null,
  "storedAt": "db",
  "tracingContext": null,
  "deduplicationKey": null,
  "jsonSizeBytes": 2177,
  "binaryDataSizeBytes": 0,
  "workflowVersionId": "601c8cd7-9d08-4751-8ac4-9f3a6df2da9e",
  "usedPrivateCredentials": false
}

With --data the output is much larger. To pull out the payload a webhook received:

8cli exec get 6 --data | jq -c '.data.resultData.runData.Webhook[0].data.main[0][0].json.body'
{"orderId":"A-1002","total":19.9}

Output: n8n's execution object, passed through. Without --data it has the fields above. With --data it also has data (with resultData.runData, one entry per node), workflowData and customData.

Execution data can contain personal or business data from the run; handle it with care.

Errors: ERR_HTTP_404 when there is no such execution; ERR_EXECUTION_GET when n8n could not be reached.

8cli exec get 7
{
  "error": "Not Found",
  "code": "ERR_HTTP_404"
}

exec delete

Deletes one execution.

8cli exec delete <id>

No options. Ignores --dry.

8cli exec delete 7
{
  "id": "7",
  "deleted": true
}

Output: { id, deleted: true }.

Errors: ERR_HTTP_404 when there is no such execution (for example, it is already deleted); ERR_EXECUTION_DELETE when n8n could not be reached.