RecipeAgents / n8n nodes / Chat Trigger
Node reference · data pulled Oct 26, 2026n8n Chat Trigger node: what the data shows
Starts a workflow from a chat message, in n8n's own chat window, a hosted page or an embedded widget.
What it does
It gives an AI workflow a chat interface without building one: test in the editor, share a hosted chat page, or embed the widget on a site. Options cover authentication, allowed origins, starter messages and whether to load earlier messages from memory.
More than half of Chat Trigger templates also contain Simple Memory, and many add vector stores and text splitters: the classic chat-with-your-documents build. Its share of new templates fell in 2026 (see the year table).
How often public templates use it
761 of the 13,574 public templates on n8n.io (5.6%) contain this node, in the snapshot we took on 2026-10-20. The table splits that by the year each template was published. 2026 runs to October 20.
| Year published | Templates with the node | Share of that year |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 35 of 462 | 7.6% |
| 2025 | 555 of 6,564 | 8.5% |
| 2026 | 167 of 5,845 | 2.9% |
The median template using this node has 1,365 views on n8n.io, against 284 for all templates. Template counts show what people publish, not what runs in production.
What it is used with
The most frequent partners are the nodes that appear most often in the same templates. "Lift" compares that with the whole library: 2× means the partner turns up twice as often next to this node as in an average template.
| Most frequent partner | Share of its templates | Lift |
|---|---|---|
| AI Agent | 83.2% | 2.66× |
| Simple Memory | 55.3% | 6.91× |
| OpenAI Chat Model | 55.1% | 2.41× |
| Edit Fields (Set) | 48.2% | 0.87× |
| Code | 35.7% | 0.60× |
| HTTP Request | 34.3% | 0.66× |
Strong pairings (in at least 5% of its templates, lift 1.5× or more): 19. The top ones:
| Strong partner | Share of its templates | Lift |
|---|---|---|
| Respond to Chat | 7.5% | 16.67× |
| Qdrant Vector Store | 5.9% | 7.72× |
| Call n8n Workflow Tool | 14.2% | 7.38× |
| Recursive Character Text Splitter | 12.5% | 7.03× |
| Simple Memory | 55.3% | 6.91× |
| Default Data Loader | 20.2% | 6.87× |
| Supabase Vector Store | 6.0% | 6.78× |
| Postgres Chat Memory | 5.5% | 6.57× |
Most viewed public templates that use it: Ai agent chat (1,847,731 views); Build your first ai agent (1,256,812 views); Chat with a database using ai (350,118 views).
Versions and changes
Node versions from the npm packages n8n-nodes-base and @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain, version 2.44.4. New workflows get the default version; workflows built earlier keep the version they were built with until you replace the node.
| Node | Versions | Default | Credential types | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat Trigger | 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 | 1.5 | Basic auth | – |
Source on GitHub: packages/@n8n/nodes-langchain/nodes/trigger/ChatTrigger: 93 commits since 2024-01-09, last on 2026-10-23.
Recent fixes and features
- 2026-10-23: feat(Chat Node): Allow Respond to Chat in embedded chat mode (PR #41955)
- 2026-09-04: fix(Chat Trigger Node): Re-authenticate hosted chat on session change (PR #37868)
- 2026-04-03: feat(Chat Trigger Node): Auto-add highlighted execution data (PR #18778)
- 2026-03-05: feat(Chat Node): Return chat message instead of input data if Chat is not waiting for user input (PR #26167)
Merged dates from GitHub. A fix only helps once your n8n instance runs a release that includes it, so check your version.
Known problems
- Previous messages not loading. Loading earlier messages from memory needs the same memory node connected to both the trigger and the agent. Source: n8n docs
- Passing page data into the chat. Data from the embedding page goes in through a metadata field on the widget. Source: n8n docs
- Authentication in test mode. Before August 2026 authentication was not applied to test webhook requests. Source: n8n PR #37296
- Hosted chat sessions. Hosted chat now re-authenticates when the session changes (September 2026). Source: n8n PR #37868
Forum trouble signal: not measured. The n8n community forum's terms forbid automated access, so we don't count forum threads.
Our recipes that use it
None of our 25 recipes uses this node yet. Browse all of them on the free n8n templates page.
Official docs and sources
Usage, pairings, AI share and views: our count of 13,574 public n8n.io templates (snapshot 2026-10-20). Versions: npm packages, version 2.44.4. Changes: n8n's GitHub repository. Docs read and data pulled Oct 26, 2026. We describe each node in our own words; the docs are the authority on settings.
Related nodes
- Schedule Trigger4,315 templates · score 52.8
- Webhook2,676 templates · score 51.0
- n8n Form Trigger1,559 templates · score 50.5
- All 22 nodesSortable table with the scoring method
Questions
- How many n8n templates use the Chat Trigger node?
- 761 of the 13,574 public templates on n8n.io (5.6%), in our snapshot of 2026-10-20.
- What is the Chat Trigger node most often used with?
- AI Agent, which appears in 83.2% of its templates. The most distinctive partner is Respond to Chat (lift 16.7×).
- Can I put an n8n chatbot on my website?
- Yes. Make the Chat Trigger public, choose embedded mode, and add n8n's chat widget to your page.
- Why does my n8n chat forget earlier messages?
- Attach a memory node to the agent and, if you load previous sessions, to the trigger too.