ci: Run nightly e2e on test-enabled -pc image build (#37104)

.github/actions/build-n8n-docker/action.yml

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ description: 'Builds n8nio/n8n + n8nio/runners test images and publishes them as
 
 inputs:
   build-variant:
-    description: 'standard or coverage. Coverage uses build:docker:coverage.'
+    description: 'standard, coverage, or pc. Coverage uses build:docker:coverage. pc builds n8n on the pointer-compressed Node base images.'
     required: false
     default: 'standard'
 
@@ -35,6 +35,20 @@ runs:
         enable-docker-cache: true
       env:
         INCLUDE_TEST_CONTROLLER: 'true'
+        # Keep the pc pins in sync with the -pc build in docker-build-push.yml.
+        BUILDER_IMAGE: ${{ inputs.build-variant == 'pc' && 'n8nio/node-pc:26.7.0-dev@sha256:c64642dcb9464e50bd08aef8504affafeb795d01aed2f7ab158976c334a36ef6' || '' }}
+        RUNTIME_IMAGE: ${{ inputs.build-variant == 'pc' && 'n8nio/node-pc:26.7.0@sha256:6577d0742ad043baaa39db7dda2ce8aeb73f32c84eb241c49bf716f170c53297' || '' }}
+
+    - name: Assert pointer compression
+      if: steps.cache-check.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' && inputs.build-variant == 'pc'
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        docker run --rm --entrypoint node n8nio/n8n:local -e "
+          if (!process.config.variables.v8_enable_pointer_compression) {
+            throw new Error('pc variant image is not pointer-compressed');
+          }
+          console.log(process.version, 'pointer compression: on');
+        "
 
     - name: Save image tarball
       if: steps.cache-check.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'

.github/actions/load-n8n-docker/action.yml

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ description: 'Restores the zstd-compressed n8n + runners image tarball from the
 
 inputs:
   build-variant:
-    description: 'Variant of the image to load. Must match what build-n8n-docker used (standard or coverage).'
+    description: 'Variant of the image to load. Must match what build-n8n-docker used (standard, coverage, or pc).'
     required: false
     default: 'standard'
   cache-sha:

.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml

@@ -220,8 +220,8 @@ jobs:
             NODE_VERSION=${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
             N8N_VERSION=${{ needs.determine-build-context.outputs.n8n_version }}
             N8N_RELEASE_TYPE=${{ needs.determine-build-context.outputs.release_type }}
-            BUILDER_IMAGE=n8nio/node-pc:26.5.1-dev@sha256:9ecfe9d5c7ea835bccc604d06c3cb76a837b64496d4a999338cb8b53a50bb0bd
-            RUNTIME_IMAGE=n8nio/node-pc:26.5.1@sha256:e535408e7815904c98f81fb0203f7f657047d7db3d4edc77de44d2ea72c6bf18
+            BUILDER_IMAGE=n8nio/node-pc:26.7.0-dev@sha256:c64642dcb9464e50bd08aef8504affafeb795d01aed2f7ab158976c334a36ef6
+            RUNTIME_IMAGE=n8nio/node-pc:26.7.0@sha256:6577d0742ad043baaa39db7dda2ce8aeb73f32c84eb241c49bf716f170c53297
             IMAGE_DESCRIPTION=Workflow Automation Tool (pointer-compressed variant, internal to n8n Cloud, no support or stability guarantees)
           platforms: ${{ matrix.docker_platform }}
           provenance: false # Disabled - using SLSA L3 generator for isolated provenance

.github/workflows/prepare-docker-reusable.yml

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ on:
   workflow_call:
     inputs:
       build-variant:
-        description: 'standard or coverage'
+        description: 'standard, coverage, or pc'
         required: false
         default: 'standard'
         type: string

.github/workflows/test-e2e-pc-nightly.yml

@@ -1,70 +1,106 @@
 name: 'Test: E2E on -pc image'
 
-# Boots the pointer-compressed n8n image and runs the e2e suite against it.
+# The e2e suite needs the test-only e2e controller, which published images
+# exclude. So: assert the published -pc image boots pointer-compressed, then
+# run the full suite against a test-enabled twin (build-variant: pc).
 
 on:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '0 2 * * *' # after the nightly Docker build at midnight
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
-      image:
-        description: 'n8n image to test'
+      published-image:
+        description: 'Published -pc image to health-check'
         required: false
         default: 'n8nio/n8n:nightly-pc'
         type: string
-      runners-image:
-        description: 'Task runner image to boot beside it'
-        required: false
-        default: 'n8nio/runners:nightly'
-        type: string
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
-env:
-  TEST_IMAGE_N8N: ${{ inputs.image || 'n8nio/n8n:nightly-pc' }}
-  TEST_IMAGE_TASK_RUNNER: ${{ inputs.runners-image || 'n8nio/runners:nightly' }}
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
-  e2e-pc:
-    name: E2E on -pc image (${{ matrix.shard }}/4)
-    runs-on: blacksmith-4vcpu-ubuntu-2204
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        shard: [1, 2, 3, 4]
+  assert-published:
+    name: Published -pc image health check
+    runs-on: blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
+    timeout-minutes: 10
     steps:
-      - uses: useblacksmith/checkout@41cdeedae8edb2e684ba22896a5fd2a3cb85db6b # v1
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: Pull image and assert pointer compression
+      - name: Assert pointer compression and boot to healthz
+        env:
+          PUBLISHED_IMAGE: ${{ inputs.published-image || 'n8nio/n8n:nightly-pc' }}
         run: |
-          docker pull --quiet "$TEST_IMAGE_N8N"
-          docker run --rm --entrypoint node "$TEST_IMAGE_N8N" -e "
+          docker pull --quiet "$PUBLISHED_IMAGE"
+          docker run --rm --entrypoint node "$PUBLISHED_IMAGE" -e "
             if (!process.config.variables.v8_enable_pointer_compression) {
               throw new Error('image is not pointer-compressed');
             }
             console.log(process.version, 'pointer compression: on');
           "
+          docker run -d --name published-pc -p 5678:5678 "$PUBLISHED_IMAGE"
+          for i in $(seq 1 24); do
+            if curl -sf http://localhost:5678/healthz > /dev/null; then
+              echo "healthz reachable after ~$((i * 5))s"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            sleep 5
+          done
+          echo '::error::published image did not reach /healthz within 120s'
+          docker logs published-pc 2>&1 | tail -50
+          exit 1
 
-      - name: Build the test harness
+  prepare-docker:
+    name: Prepare Docker (pc)
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/prepare-docker-reusable.yml
+    with:
+      build-variant: pc
+      runner: blacksmith-8vcpu-ubuntu-2204
+    secrets: inherit
+
+  generate-matrix:
+    name: Generate shard matrix
+    runs-on: blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
+    outputs:
+      matrix: ${{ steps.gen.outputs.matrix }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: useblacksmith/checkout@41cdeedae8edb2e684ba22896a5fd2a3cb85db6b # v1
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Setup
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-nodejs
         with:
-          build-command: 'pnpm turbo build --filter=n8n-playwright...'
+          build-command: pnpm turbo run build --filter=@n8n/playwright-janitor
 
-      - name: Install Playwright browsers
-        working-directory: packages/testing/playwright
-        run: npx playwright install chromium --with-deps
+      - name: Generate matrix (16 shards, duration-weighted)
+        id: gen
+        run: |
+          MATRIX=$(node packages/testing/playwright/scripts/distribute-tests.mjs --matrix 16 --orchestrate)
+          echo "matrix=$MATRIX" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
-      - name: Run e2e against the image
-        working-directory: packages/testing/playwright
-        run: pnpm test:container:sqlite:e2e -- --shard=${{ matrix.shard }}/4
+  e2e:
+    name: E2E on the pc twin
+    needs: [prepare-docker, generate-matrix]
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/test-e2e-reusable.yml
+    with:
+      test-mode: docker-artifact
+      test-command: pnpm --filter=n8n-playwright test:container:sqlite:e2e
+      workers: '1'
+      runner: blacksmith-4vcpu-ubuntu-2204
+      timeout-minutes: 55
+      pre-generated-matrix: ${{ needs.generate-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
+      artifact-prefix: pc
+      build-variant: pc
+      currents-project-id: 'LRxcNt'
+    secrets: inherit
 
   notify-on-failure:
     name: Notify Cats on -pc e2e failure
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [e2e-pc]
-    if: always() && needs.e2e-pc.result == 'failure' && github.event_name == 'schedule'
+    needs: [assert-published, prepare-docker, generate-matrix, e2e]
+    if: always() && contains(needs.*.result, 'failure') && github.event_name == 'schedule'
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
         with:

.github/workflows/test-e2e-reusable.yml

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ on:
         default: 'e2e'
         type: string
       build-variant:
-        description: 'Build variant for docker-artifact mode. Must match the variant used by prepare-docker (standard or coverage).'
+        description: 'Build variant for docker-artifact mode. Must match the variant used by prepare-docker (standard, coverage, or pc).'
         required: false
         default: 'standard'
         type: string