Hey there! We've found the following might help you get unblocked faster:

• 🧵 Can't get n8n enterprise SSO to work

• 🧵 Lost data after trial railway expiration

• 🧵 N8N crashed suddenly and stopped working

• 🧵 Running n8n w/ webhook processors on Railway + MCP Server

If you find the answer from one of these, please let us know by solving the thread!

Well, it had my license key, which I thought was sensitive information. I've edited the content to remove that.

Weird, If you cannot remove the license yourself from the db/deployment then n8n support should be able to deactivate (and or renew) the license.

How much time has it been since you deleted the deployment with that license?

It's only been a few days. I deleted the instance over the weekend because it crashed and I could not get it to redeploy (and thus, couldn't access n8n to do anything, much less deactivate the license myself). Once I deleted the instance and rebuilt it from the template, I wasn't able to activate the new instance with the license because it was listed as already being activated on the old (deleted) instance.

I reached out to n8n support first, and they said they couldn't help me directly because all n8n licenses through Railway deployments are

"controlled by your hosting provider (Railway). The relationship works like this:

• n8n provides the license to Railway

• Railway provides hosting services to you"

Here's the exchange I had with them (license keys redacted):
Me: "Hello! I have an n8n instance on Railway that had some critical failure and I wasn't able to get it to initiate again. I had all my workflows backed up, so I deleted the entire instance and rebuilt it from the original template of the first. I logged in, and tried to use my license key (xxxx), but it was still active on the previous instance that I deleted. Can you deactivate it on your end for me?"

n8n: "Thank you for reaching out to us.

Unfortunately, since your account is hosted through Railway, we don't have access to manage or troubleshoot issues with your instance. I'm genuinely sorry I can't provide the direct assistance you're looking for.

For the best support with your n8n setup, please contact Railway directly at: https://station.railway.com/

Their team will have full access to your hosting environment and can properly address any issues you're experiencing with your n8n instance.

I wish I could be of more help with this matter."

Me: "Is Railway capable of deactivating my current n8n license? I assumed that would be something n8n would need to do, not Railway since they're just hosting the virtual server."

n8n: "This could be an internal issue with Railway. We don't revoke licenses unless explicitly requested due to security and compliance reasons.

How Licensing Works:

The license you're using is controlled by your hosting provider (Railway). The relationship works like this:

• n8n provides the license to Railway

• Railway provides hosting services to you

Since the licensing relationship is between n8n and Railway, and then between Railway and you, you'll need to work with Railway to resolve any license-related issues on their platform.

I recommend contacting Railway's support team directly, as they'll have access to your specific hosting configuration and can address any licensing problems."

Okay, for the record, this is involving one the of free community licenses n8n gives when you register with your email address. I actually misunderstood the original error message "Activation key has already been used on this instance." as meaning the license key was locked to the old instance. But, in fact, when I created the new instance of n8n, the simple act of logging in with my registered email credentials ensured the community licenses carried over to this new instance. So, it's all been a wild goose chase because I didn't clearly read and understand the error message. Sorry everyone!