Imported Workflows Break Credentials Across CMD and Render Instances #20049
Description
I am experiencing a persistent issue after importing workflows from another n8n instance. Here’s the situation:
I am running two separate n8n instances: one on CMD (local) and one on Render.
Initially, CMD workflows were working fine, and Render workflows would not save properly.
After importing someone else’s workflow, I started encountering errors where credentials appear in the global "Credentials" section but cannot be loaded or used in workflows.
The specific error I see is: unrecognized credential type: oauth2api.
Creating new credentials does not resolve the issue, and nodes referencing the old credential cannot be reassigned in bulk.
The issue affects all workflows and is reproducible on both CMD and Render instances after import.
I suspect this may be related to credential ID mismatches, encryption key inconsistencies, or import bugs.
Steps to Reproduce:
Set up n8n on CMD and Render with working credentials.
Import a workflow created in another instance (possibly using different credential IDs).
Attempt to open nodes that reference the imported credentials.
Observe that credentials cannot be loaded or reassigned, and workflows fail.
Expected Behavior:
Imported workflows should either automatically map to existing credentials or allow for smooth reassignment without causing workflow failure.
Actual Behavior:
Imported workflows fail to recognize credentials, forcing manual re-mapping for every node, and sometimes credentials appear missing even though they exist globally.
Additional Notes:
This issue prevents proper workflow execution and affects both CMD and Render instances. It seems to occur consistently when importing workflows from other n8n environments.
