refactor(core): Implement soft-deletions for executions (#7092)

Based on #7065 | Story: https://linear.app/n8n/issue/PAY-771

n8n on filesystem mode marks binary data to delete on manual execution
deletion, on unsaved execution completion, and on every execution
pruning cycle. We later prune binary data in a separate cycle via these
marker files, based on the configured TTL. In the context of introducing
an S3 client to manage binary data, the filesystem mode's mark-and-prune
setup is too tightly coupled to the general binary data management
client interface.

This PR...
- Ensures the deletion of an execution causes the deletion of any binary
data associated to it. This does away with the need for binary data TTL
and simplifies the filesystem mode's mark-and-prune setup.
- Refactors all execution deletions (including pruning) to cause soft
deletions, hard-deletes soft-deleted executions based on the existing
pruning config, and adjusts execution endpoints to filter out
soft-deleted executions. This reduces DB load, and keeps binary data
around long enough for users to access it when building workflows with
unsaved executions.
- Moves all execution pruning work from an execution lifecycle hook to
`execution.repository.ts`. This keeps related logic in a single place.
- Removes all marking logic from the binary data manager. This
simplifies the interface that the S3 client will meet.
- Adds basic sanity-check tests to pruning logic and execution deletion.

Out of scope:

- Improving existing pruning logic.
- Improving existing execution repository logic.
- Adjusting dir structure for filesystem mode.

---------

Co-authored-by: कारतोफ्फेलस्क्रिप्ट™ <aditya@netroy.in>

packages/cli/src/ActiveExecutions.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { createDeferredPromise, LoggerProxy } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import type { ChildProcess } from 'child_process';
 import type PCancelable from 'p-cancelable';
 import type {
+	ExecutionPayload,
 	IExecutingWorkflowData,
 	IExecutionDb,
 	IExecutionsCurrentSummary,
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ export class ActiveExecutions {
 		if (executionId === undefined) {
 			// Is a new execution so save in DB
 
-			const fullExecutionData: IExecutionDb = {
+			const fullExecutionData: ExecutionPayload = {
 				data: executionData.executionData!,
 				mode: executionData.executionMode,
 				finished: false,

packages/cli/src/GenericHelpers.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { Container } from 'typedi';
 import { Like } from 'typeorm';
 import config from '@/config';
 import * as Db from '@/Db';
-import type { ICredentialsDb, IExecutionDb, IWorkflowDb } from '@/Interfaces';
+import type { ExecutionPayload, ICredentialsDb, IWorkflowDb } from '@/Interfaces';
 import * as ResponseHelper from '@/ResponseHelper';
 import type { WorkflowEntity } from '@db/entities/WorkflowEntity';
 import type { CredentialsEntity } from '@db/entities/CredentialsEntity';
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ export async function createErrorExecution(
 		},
 	};
 
-	const fullExecutionData: IExecutionDb = {
+	const fullExecutionData: ExecutionPayload = {
 		data: executionData,
 		mode,
 		finished: false,

packages/cli/src/Interfaces.ts

@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ export type ICredentialsDecryptedResponse = ICredentialsDecryptedDb;
 export type SaveExecutionDataType = 'all' | 'none';
 
 export interface IExecutionBase {
-	id?: string;
+	id: string;
 	mode: WorkflowExecuteMode;
 	startedAt: Date;
 	stoppedAt?: Date; // empty value means execution is still running
@@ -189,6 +189,11 @@ export interface IExecutionDb extends IExecutionBase {
 	workflowData?: IWorkflowBase;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Payload for creating or updating an execution.
+ */
+export type ExecutionPayload = Omit<IExecutionDb, 'id'>;
+
 export interface IExecutionPushResponse {
 	executionId?: string;
 	waitingForWebhook?: boolean;

packages/cli/src/PublicApi/v1/handlers/executions/executions.handler.ts

@@ -1,13 +1,6 @@
 import type express from 'express';
 
-import { BinaryDataManager } from 'n8n-core';
-
-import {
-	getExecutions,
-	getExecutionInWorkflows,
-	deleteExecution,
-	getExecutionsCount,
-} from './executions.service';
+import { getExecutions, getExecutionInWorkflows, getExecutionsCount } from './executions.service';
 import { ActiveExecutions } from '@/ActiveExecutions';
 import { authorize, validCursor } from '../../shared/middlewares/global.middleware';
 import type { ExecutionRequest } from '../../../types';
@@ -15,6 +8,7 @@ import { getSharedWorkflowIds } from '../workflows/workflows.service';
 import { encodeNextCursor } from '../../shared/services/pagination.service';
 import { Container } from 'typedi';
 import { InternalHooks } from '@/InternalHooks';
+import { ExecutionRepository } from '@/databases/repositories';
 
 export = {
 	deleteExecution: [
@@ -37,9 +31,7 @@ export = {
 				return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not Found' });
 			}
 
-			await BinaryDataManager.getInstance().deleteBinaryDataByExecutionIds([execution.id!]);
-
-			await deleteExecution(execution);
+			await Container.get(ExecutionRepository).softDelete(execution.id);
 
 			execution.id = id;
 
@@ -111,7 +103,7 @@ export = {
 
 			const executions = await getExecutions(filters);
 
-			const newLastId = !executions.length ? '0' : (executions.slice(-1)[0].id as string);
+			const newLastId = !executions.length ? '0' : executions.slice(-1)[0].id;
 
 			filters.lastId = newLastId;
 

packages/cli/src/PublicApi/v1/handlers/executions/executions.service.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import type { DeleteResult, FindOptionsWhere } from 'typeorm';
+import type { FindOptionsWhere } from 'typeorm';
 import { In, Not, Raw, LessThan } from 'typeorm';
 import { Container } from 'typedi';
 import type { ExecutionStatus } from 'n8n-workflow';
@@ -109,7 +109,3 @@ export async function getExecutionInWorkflows(
 		unflattenData: true,
 	});
 }
-
-export async function deleteExecution(execution: IExecutionBase): Promise<DeleteResult> {
-	return Container.get(ExecutionRepository).deleteExecution(execution.id as string);
-}

packages/cli/src/Server.ts

@@ -396,7 +396,6 @@ export class Server extends AbstractServer {
 				),
 				executions_data_prune: config.getEnv('executions.pruneData'),
 				executions_data_max_age: config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataMaxAge'),
-				executions_data_prune_timeout: config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataTimeout'),
 			},
 			deploymentType: config.getEnv('deployment.type'),
 			binaryDataMode: binaryDataConfig.mode,

packages/cli/src/WorkflowExecuteAdditionalData.ts

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars */
 
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-assignment */
-import { BinaryDataManager, UserSettings, WorkflowExecute } from 'n8n-core';
+import { UserSettings, WorkflowExecute } from 'n8n-core';
 
 import type {
 	IDataObject,
@@ -37,21 +37,16 @@ import {
 } from 'n8n-workflow';
 
 import { Container } from 'typedi';
-import type { FindOptionsWhere } from 'typeorm';
-import { LessThanOrEqual, In } from 'typeorm';
-import { DateUtils } from 'typeorm/util/DateUtils';
 import config from '@/config';
-import * as Db from '@/Db';
 import { ActiveExecutions } from '@/ActiveExecutions';
 import { CredentialsHelper } from '@/CredentialsHelper';
 import { ExternalHooks } from '@/ExternalHooks';
 import type {
-	IExecutionDb,
-	IExecutionFlattedDb,
 	IPushDataExecutionFinished,
 	IWorkflowExecuteProcess,
 	IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess,
 	IWorkflowErrorData,
+	ExecutionPayload,
 } from '@/Interfaces';
 import { NodeTypes } from '@/NodeTypes';
 import { Push } from '@/push';
@@ -184,77 +179,6 @@ export function executeErrorWorkflow(
 	}
 }
 
-/**
- * Prunes Saved Execution which are older than configured.
- * Throttled to be executed just once in configured timeframe.
- * TODO: Consider moving this whole function to the repository or at least the queries
- */
-let throttling = false;
-async function pruneExecutionData(this: WorkflowHooks): Promise<void> {
-	if (!throttling) {
-		Logger.verbose('Pruning execution data from database');
-
-		throttling = true;
-		const timeout = config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataTimeout'); // in seconds
-		const maxAge = config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataMaxAge'); // in h
-		const maxCount = config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataMaxCount');
-		const date = new Date(); // today
-		date.setHours(date.getHours() - maxAge);
-
-		// date reformatting needed - see https://github.com/typeorm/typeorm/issues/2286
-
-		const utcDate = DateUtils.mixedDateToUtcDatetimeString(date);
-
-		const toPrune: Array<FindOptionsWhere<IExecutionFlattedDb>> = [
-			{ stoppedAt: LessThanOrEqual(utcDate) },
-		];
-
-		if (maxCount > 0) {
-			const executions = await Db.collections.Execution.find({
-				select: ['id'],
-				skip: maxCount,
-				take: 1,
-				order: { id: 'DESC' },
-			});
-
-			if (executions[0]) {
-				toPrune.push({ id: LessThanOrEqual(executions[0].id) });
-			}
-		}
-
-		try {
-			setTimeout(() => {
-				throttling = false;
-			}, timeout * 1000);
-			let executionIds: Array<IExecutionFlattedDb['id']>;
-			do {
-				executionIds = (
-					await Db.collections.Execution.find({
-						select: ['id'],
-						where: toPrune,
-						take: 100,
-					})
-				).map(({ id }) => id);
-				await Db.collections.Execution.delete({ id: In(executionIds) });
-				// Mark binary data for deletion for all executions
-				await BinaryDataManager.getInstance().markDataForDeletionByExecutionIds(executionIds);
-			} while (executionIds.length > 0);
-		} catch (error) {
-			ErrorReporter.error(error);
-			throttling = false;
-			Logger.error(
-				`Failed pruning execution data from database for execution ID ${this.executionId} (hookFunctionsSave)`,
-				{
-					...error,
-					executionId: this.executionId,
-					sessionId: this.sessionId,
-					workflowId: this.workflowData.id,
-				},
-			);
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 /**
  * Returns hook functions to push data to Editor-UI
  *
@@ -522,11 +446,6 @@ function hookFunctionsSave(parentProcessMode?: string): IWorkflowExecuteHooks {
 					workflowId: this.workflowData.id,
 				});
 
-				// Prune old execution data
-				if (config.getEnv('executions.pruneData')) {
-					await pruneExecutionData.call(this);
-				}
-
 				const isManualMode = [this.mode, parentProcessMode].includes('manual');
 
 				try {
@@ -554,8 +473,7 @@ function hookFunctionsSave(parentProcessMode?: string): IWorkflowExecuteHooks {
 					}
 
 					if (isManualMode && !saveManualExecutions && !fullRunData.waitTill) {
-						// Data is always saved, so we remove from database
-						await Container.get(ExecutionRepository).deleteExecution(this.executionId, true);
+						await Container.get(ExecutionRepository).softDelete(this.executionId);
 
 						return;
 					}
@@ -586,8 +504,7 @@ function hookFunctionsSave(parentProcessMode?: string): IWorkflowExecuteHooks {
 								this.executionId,
 								this.retryOf,
 							);
-							// Data is always saved, so we remove from database
-							await Container.get(ExecutionRepository).deleteExecution(this.executionId);
+							await Container.get(ExecutionRepository).softDelete(this.executionId);
 
 							return;
 						}
@@ -682,11 +599,6 @@ function hookFunctionsSaveWorker(): IWorkflowExecuteHooks {
 					workflowId: this.workflowData.id,
 				});
 				try {
-					// Prune old execution data
-					if (config.getEnv('executions.pruneData')) {
-						await pruneExecutionData.call(this);
-					}
-
 					if (isWorkflowIdValid(this.workflowData.id) && newStaticData) {
 						// Workflow is saved so update in database
 						try {
@@ -973,7 +885,7 @@ async function executeWorkflow(
 		// Therefore, database might not contain finished errors.
 		// Force an update to db as there should be no harm doing this
 
-		const fullExecutionData: IExecutionDb = {
+		const fullExecutionData: ExecutionPayload = {
 			data: fullRunData.data,
 			mode: fullRunData.mode,
 			finished: fullRunData.finished ? fullRunData.finished : false,

packages/cli/src/WorkflowHelpers.ts

@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@ import {
 } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import { v4 as uuid } from 'uuid';
 import * as Db from '@/Db';
-import type { IExecutionDb, IWorkflowErrorData, IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess } from '@/Interfaces';
+import type {
+	ExecutionPayload,
+	IWorkflowErrorData,
+	IWorkflowExecutionDataProcess,
+} from '@/Interfaces';
 import { NodeTypes } from '@/NodeTypes';
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/no-cycle
 import { WorkflowRunner } from '@/WorkflowRunner';
@@ -186,7 +190,7 @@ export async function executeErrorWorkflow(
 					initialNode,
 				);
 
-				const fullExecutionData: IExecutionDb = {
+				const fullExecutionData: ExecutionPayload = {
 					data: fakeExecution.data,
 					mode: fakeExecution.mode,
 					finished: false,

packages/cli/src/WorkflowRunner.ts

@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ export class WorkflowRunner {
 						(workflowDidSucceed && saveDataSuccessExecution === 'none') ||
 						(!workflowDidSucceed && saveDataErrorExecution === 'none')
 					) {
-						await Container.get(ExecutionRepository).deleteExecution(executionId);
+						await Container.get(ExecutionRepository).softDelete(executionId);
 					}
 					// eslint-disable-next-line id-denylist
 				} catch (err) {

packages/cli/src/commands/BaseCommand.ts

@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ export abstract class BaseCommand extends Command {
 	}
 
 	async initLicense(instanceType: N8nInstanceType = 'main'): Promise<void> {
+		config.set('generic.instanceType', instanceType);
+
 		const license = Container.get(License);
 		await license.init(this.instanceId, instanceType);
 

packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import { eventBus } from '@/eventbus';
 import { BaseCommand } from './BaseCommand';
 import { InternalHooks } from '@/InternalHooks';
 import { License } from '@/License';
+import { ExecutionRepository } from '@/databases/repositories/execution.repository';
 
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-assignment, @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
 const open = require('open');
@@ -103,6 +104,8 @@ export class Start extends BaseCommand {
 			// Note: While this saves a new license cert to DB, the previous entitlements are still kept in memory so that the shutdown process can complete
 			await Container.get(License).shutdown();
 
+			Container.get(ExecutionRepository).clearTimers();
+
 			await Container.get(InternalHooks).onN8nStop();
 
 			const skipWebhookDeregistration = config.getEnv(

packages/cli/src/config/schema.ts

@@ -322,12 +322,6 @@ export const schema = {
 			default: 336,
 			env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE',
 		},
-		pruneDataTimeout: {
-			doc: 'Timeout (seconds) after execution data has been pruned',
-			format: Number,
-			default: 3600,
-			env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_TIMEOUT',
-		},
 
 		// Additional pruning option to delete executions if total count exceeds the configured max.
 		// Deletes the oldest entries first
@@ -438,6 +432,12 @@ export const schema = {
 			default: 'America/New_York',
 			env: 'GENERIC_TIMEZONE',
 		},
+
+		instanceType: {
+			doc: 'Type of n8n instance',
+			format: ['main', 'webhook', 'worker'] as const,
+			default: 'main',
+		},
 	},
 
 	// How n8n can be reached (Editor & REST-API)
@@ -919,12 +919,6 @@ export const schema = {
 			env: 'N8N_BINARY_DATA_STORAGE_PATH',
 			doc: 'Path for binary data storage in "filesystem" mode',
 		},
-		binaryDataTTL: {
-			format: Number,
-			default: 60,
-			env: 'N8N_BINARY_DATA_TTL',
-			doc: 'TTL for binary data of unsaved executions in minutes',
-		},
 	},
 
 	deployment: {

packages/cli/src/constants.ts

@@ -94,3 +94,12 @@ export const CREDENTIAL_BLANKING_VALUE = '__n8n_BLANK_VALUE_e5362baf-c777-4d57-a
 
 export const UM_FIX_INSTRUCTION =
 	'Please fix the database by running ./packages/cli/bin/n8n user-management:reset';
+
+/**
+ * Units of time in milliseconds
+ */
+export const TIME = {
+	SECOND: 1000,
+	MINUTE: 60 * 1000,
+	HOUR: 60 * 60 * 1000,
+};

packages/cli/src/databases/entities/ExecutionEntity.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
 	OneToOne,
 	PrimaryColumn,
 	Relation,
+	DeleteDateColumn,
 } from 'typeorm';
 import { datetimeColumnType } from './AbstractEntity';
 import { idStringifier } from '../utils/transformers';
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ export class ExecutionEntity {
 	@Column({ type: datetimeColumnType, nullable: true })
 	stoppedAt: Date;
 
-	@Column(datetimeColumnType)
+	@DeleteDateColumn({ type: datetimeColumnType, nullable: true })
 	deletedAt: Date;
 
 	@Column({ nullable: true })

packages/cli/src/databases/repositories/execution.repository.ts

@@ -1,29 +1,31 @@
 import { Service } from 'typedi';
-import { DataSource, In, LessThanOrEqual, MoreThanOrEqual, Repository } from 'typeorm';
+import { Brackets, DataSource, In, LessThanOrEqual, MoreThanOrEqual, Repository } from 'typeorm';
+import { DateUtils } from 'typeorm/util/DateUtils';
 import type {
 	FindManyOptions,
 	FindOneOptions,
 	FindOptionsWhere,
 	SelectQueryBuilder,
 } from 'typeorm';
-import { ExecutionEntity } from '../entities/ExecutionEntity';
 import { parse, stringify } from 'flatted';
+import { LoggerProxy as Logger } from 'n8n-workflow';
+import type { IExecutionsSummary, IRunExecutionData } from 'n8n-workflow';
+import { BinaryDataManager } from 'n8n-core';
 import type {
+	ExecutionPayload,
 	IExecutionBase,
-	IExecutionDb,
 	IExecutionFlattedDb,
 	IExecutionResponse,
 } from '@/Interfaces';
-import { LoggerProxy } from 'n8n-workflow';
-import type { IExecutionsSummary, IRunExecutionData } from 'n8n-workflow';
-import { ExecutionDataRepository } from './executionData.repository';
-import type { ExecutionData } from '../entities/ExecutionData';
+
+import config from '@/config';
 import type { IGetExecutionsQueryFilter } from '@/executions/executions.service';
 import { isAdvancedExecutionFiltersEnabled } from '@/executions/executionHelpers';
+import type { ExecutionData } from '../entities/ExecutionData';
+import { ExecutionEntity } from '../entities/ExecutionEntity';
 import { ExecutionMetadata } from '../entities/ExecutionMetadata';
-import { DateUtils } from 'typeorm/util/DateUtils';
-import { BinaryDataManager } from 'n8n-core';
-import config from '@/config';
+import { ExecutionDataRepository } from './executionData.repository';
+import { TIME } from '@/constants';
 
 function parseFiltersToQueryBuilder(
 	qb: SelectQueryBuilder<ExecutionEntity>,
@@ -66,11 +68,59 @@ function parseFiltersToQueryBuilder(
 
 @Service()
 export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
+	private logger = Logger;
+
+	deletionBatchSize = 100;
+
+	private intervals: Record<string, NodeJS.Timer | undefined> = {
+		softDeletion: undefined,
+		hardDeletion: undefined,
+	};
+
+	private rates: Record<string, number> = {
+		softDeletion: 1 * TIME.HOUR,
+		hardDeletion: 15 * TIME.MINUTE,
+	};
+
+	private isMainInstance = config.get('generic.instanceType') === 'main';
+
+	private isPruningEnabled = config.getEnv('executions.pruneData');
+
 	constructor(
 		dataSource: DataSource,
 		private readonly executionDataRepository: ExecutionDataRepository,
 	) {
 		super(ExecutionEntity, dataSource.manager);
+
+		if (!this.isMainInstance) return;
+
+		if (this.isPruningEnabled) this.setSoftDeletionInterval();
+
+		this.setHardDeletionInterval();
+	}
+
+	clearTimers() {
+		if (!this.isMainInstance) return;
+
+		this.logger.debug('Clearing soft-deletion and hard-deletion intervals for executions');
+
+		clearInterval(this.intervals.softDeletion);
+		clearInterval(this.intervals.hardDeletion);
+	}
+
+	setSoftDeletionInterval() {
+		this.logger.debug('Setting soft-deletion interval (pruning) for executions');
+
+		this.intervals.softDeletion = setInterval(async () => this.prune(), this.rates.hardDeletion);
+	}
+
+	setHardDeletionInterval() {
+		this.logger.debug('Setting hard-deletion interval for executions');
+
+		this.intervals.hardDeletion = setInterval(
+			async () => this.hardDelete(),
+			this.rates.hardDeletion,
+		);
 	}
 
 	async findMultipleExecutions(
@@ -203,7 +253,7 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 		return rest;
 	}
 
-	async createNewExecution(execution: IExecutionDb) {
+	async createNewExecution(execution: ExecutionPayload) {
 		const { data, workflowData, ...rest } = execution;
 
 		const newExecution = await this.save(rest);
@@ -248,16 +298,6 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 		}
 	}
 
-	async deleteExecution(executionId: string, deferBinaryDataDeletion = false) {
-		const binaryDataManager = BinaryDataManager.getInstance();
-		if (deferBinaryDataDeletion) {
-			await binaryDataManager.markDataForDeletionByExecutionId(executionId);
-		} else {
-			await binaryDataManager.deleteBinaryDataByExecutionIds([executionId]);
-		}
-		return this.delete({ id: executionId });
-	}
-
 	async countExecutions(
 		filters: IGetExecutionsQueryFilter | undefined,
 		accessibleWorkflowIds: string[],
@@ -297,7 +337,7 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 			}
 		} catch (error) {
 			if (error instanceof Error) {
-				LoggerProxy.warn(`Failed to get executions count from Postgres: ${error.message}`, {
+				Logger.warn(`Failed to get executions count from Postgres: ${error.message}`, {
 					error,
 				});
 			}
@@ -341,7 +381,6 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 			// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/naming-convention
 			.orderBy({ 'execution.id': 'DESC' })
 			.andWhere('execution.workflowId IN (:...accessibleWorkflowIds)', { accessibleWorkflowIds });
-
 		if (excludedExecutionIds.length > 0) {
 			query.andWhere('execution.id NOT IN (:...excludedExecutionIds)', { excludedExecutionIds });
 		}
@@ -367,7 +406,7 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 		});
 	}
 
-	async deleteExecutions(
+	async deleteExecutionsByFilter(
 		filters: IGetExecutionsQueryFilter | undefined,
 		accessibleWorkflowIds: string[],
 		deleteConditions: {
@@ -399,7 +438,7 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 
 		if (!executions.length) {
 			if (deleteConditions.ids) {
-				LoggerProxy.error('Failed to delete an execution due to insufficient permissions', {
+				Logger.error('Failed to delete an execution due to insufficient permissions', {
 					executionIds: deleteConditions.ids,
 				});
 			}
@@ -407,13 +446,106 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 		}
 
 		const executionIds = executions.map(({ id }) => id);
+		do {
+			// Delete in batches to avoid "SQLITE_ERROR: Expression tree is too large (maximum depth 1000)" error
+			const batch = executionIds.splice(0, this.deletionBatchSize);
+			await this.softDelete(batch);
+		} while (executionIds.length > 0);
+	}
+
+	async prune() {
+		Logger.verbose('Soft-deleting (pruning) execution data from database');
+
+		const maxAge = config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataMaxAge'); // in h
+		const maxCount = config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataMaxCount');
+
+		// Find ids of all executions that were stopped longer that pruneDataMaxAge ago
+		const date = new Date();
+		date.setHours(date.getHours() - maxAge);
+
+		const toPrune: Array<FindOptionsWhere<ExecutionEntity>> = [
+			// date reformatting needed - see https://github.com/typeorm/typeorm/issues/2286
+			{ stoppedAt: LessThanOrEqual(DateUtils.mixedDateToUtcDatetimeString(date)) },
+		];
+
+		if (maxCount > 0) {
+			const executions = await this.find({
+				select: ['id'],
+				skip: maxCount,
+				take: 1,
+				order: { id: 'DESC' },
+			});
+
+			if (executions[0]) {
+				toPrune.push({ id: LessThanOrEqual(executions[0].id) });
+			}
+		}
+
+		const [timeBasedWhere, countBasedWhere] = toPrune;
+
+		await this.createQueryBuilder()
+			.update(ExecutionEntity)
+			.set({ deletedAt: new Date() })
+			.where(
+				new Brackets((qb) =>
+					countBasedWhere
+						? qb.where(timeBasedWhere).orWhere(countBasedWhere)
+						: qb.where(timeBasedWhere),
+				),
+			)
+			.execute();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Permanently delete all soft-deleted executions and their binary data, in batches.
+	 */
+	private async hardDelete() {
+		// Find ids of all executions that were deleted over an hour ago
+		const date = new Date();
+		date.setHours(date.getHours() - 1);
+
+		const executionIds = (
+			await this.find({
+				select: ['id'],
+				where: {
+					deletedAt: LessThanOrEqual(DateUtils.mixedDateToUtcDatetimeString(date)),
+				},
+				take: this.deletionBatchSize,
+
+				/**
+				 * @important This ensures soft-deleted executions are included,
+				 * else `@DeleteDateColumn()` at `deletedAt` will exclude them.
+				 */
+				withDeleted: true,
+			})
+		).map(({ id }) => id);
+
 		const binaryDataManager = BinaryDataManager.getInstance();
 		await binaryDataManager.deleteBinaryDataByExecutionIds(executionIds);
 
-		do {
-			// Delete in batches to avoid "SQLITE_ERROR: Expression tree is too large (maximum depth 1000)" error
-			const batch = executionIds.splice(0, 500);
-			await this.delete(batch);
-		} while (executionIds.length > 0);
+		this.logger.debug(`Hard-deleting ${executionIds.length} executions from database`, {
+			executionIds,
+		});
+
+		// Actually delete these executions
+		await this.delete({ id: In(executionIds) });
+
+		/**
+		 * If the volume of executions to prune is as high as the batch size, there is a risk
+		 * that the pruning process is unable to catch up to the creation of new executions,
+		 * with high concurrency possibly leading to errors from duplicate deletions.
+		 *
+		 * Therefore, in this high-volume case we speed up the hard deletion cycle, until
+		 * the number of executions to prune is low enough to fit in a single batch.
+		 */
+		if (executionIds.length === this.deletionBatchSize) {
+			clearInterval(this.intervals.hardDeletion);
+
+			setTimeout(async () => this.hardDelete(), 1 * TIME.SECOND);
+		} else {
+			if (this.intervals.hardDeletion) return;
+
+			this.setHardDeletionInterval();
+		}
 	}
 }

packages/cli/src/executionLifecycleHooks/shared/sharedHookFunctions.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { ExecutionStatus, IRun, IWorkflowBase } from 'n8n-workflow';
-import type { IExecutionDb } from '@/Interfaces';
+import type { ExecutionPayload, IExecutionDb } from '@/Interfaces';
 import pick from 'lodash/pick';
 import { isWorkflowIdValid } from '@/utils';
 import { LoggerProxy } from 'n8n-workflow';
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export function prepareExecutionDataForDbUpdate(parameters: {
 	workflowData: IWorkflowBase;
 	workflowStatusFinal: ExecutionStatus;
 	retryOf?: string;
-}): IExecutionDb {
+}) {
 	const { runData, workflowData, workflowStatusFinal, retryOf } = parameters;
 	// Although it is treated as IWorkflowBase here, it's being instantiated elsewhere with properties that may be sensitive
 	// As a result, we should create an IWorkflowBase object with only the data we want to save in it.
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ export function prepareExecutionDataForDbUpdate(parameters: {
 		'pinData',
 	]);
 
-	const fullExecutionData: IExecutionDb = {
+	const fullExecutionData: ExecutionPayload = {
 		data: runData.data,
 		mode: runData.mode,
 		finished: runData.finished ? runData.finished : false,

packages/cli/src/executions/executions.service.ts

@@ -351,9 +351,13 @@ export class ExecutionsService {
 			}
 		}
 
-		return Container.get(ExecutionRepository).deleteExecutions(requestFilters, sharedWorkflowIds, {
-			deleteBefore,
-			ids,
-		});
+		return Container.get(ExecutionRepository).deleteExecutionsByFilter(
+			requestFilters,
+			sharedWorkflowIds,
+			{
+				deleteBefore,
+				ids,
+			},
+		);
 	}
 }