feat(core): Handle cycles in workflows when partially executing them (#11187)

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/DirectedGraph.ts

@@ -286,6 +286,149 @@ export class DirectedGraph {
 		);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Returns all strongly connected components.
+	 *
+	 * Strongly connected components are a set of nodes where it's possible to
+	 * reach every node from every node.
+	 *
+	 * Strongly connected components are mutually exclusive in directed graphs,
+	 * e.g. they cannot overlap.
+	 *
+	 * The smallest strongly connected component is a single node, since it can
+	 * reach itself from itself by not following any edges.
+	 *
+	 * The algorithm implement here is Tarjan's algorithm.
+	 *
+	 * Example:
+	 * ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐
+	 * │node1├────►node2◄────┤node3├────►node5│
+	 * └─────┘    └──┬──┘    └──▲──┘    └▲───┬┘
+	 *               │          │        │   │
+	 *            ┌──▼──┐       │       ┌┴───▼┐
+	 *            │node4├───────┘       │node6│
+	 *            └─────┘               └─────┘
+	 *
+	 * The strongly connected components are
+	 * 1. node1
+	 * 2. node2, node4, node3
+	 * 3. node5, node6
+	 *
+	 * Further reading:
+	 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strongly_connected_component
+	 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUgWX0nc4NY
+	 */
+	getStronglyConnectedComponents(): Array<Set<INode>> {
+		let id = 0;
+		const visited = new Set<INode>();
+		const ids = new Map<INode, number>();
+		const lowLinkValues = new Map<INode, number>();
+		const stack: INode[] = [];
+		const stronglyConnectedComponents: Array<Set<INode>> = [];
+
+		const followNode = (node: INode) => {
+			if (visited.has(node)) {
+				return;
+			}
+
+			visited.add(node);
+			lowLinkValues.set(node, id);
+			ids.set(node, id);
+			id++;
+			stack.push(node);
+
+			const directChildren = this.getDirectChildConnections(node).map((c) => c.to);
+			for (const child of directChildren) {
+				followNode(child);
+
+				// if node is on stack min the low id
+				if (stack.includes(child)) {
+					const childLowLinkValue = lowLinkValues.get(child);
+					const ownLowLinkValue = lowLinkValues.get(node);
+					a.ok(childLowLinkValue !== undefined);
+					a.ok(ownLowLinkValue !== undefined);
+					const lowestLowLinkValue = Math.min(childLowLinkValue, ownLowLinkValue);
+
+					lowLinkValues.set(node, lowestLowLinkValue);
+				}
+			}
+
+			// after we visited all children, check if the low id is the same as the
+			// nodes id, which means we found a strongly connected component
+			const ownId = ids.get(node);
+			const ownLowLinkValue = lowLinkValues.get(node);
+			a.ok(ownId !== undefined);
+			a.ok(ownLowLinkValue !== undefined);
+
+			if (ownId === ownLowLinkValue) {
+				// pop from the stack until the stack is empty or we find a node that
+				// has a different low id
+				const scc: Set<INode> = new Set();
+				let next = stack.at(-1);
+
+				while (next && lowLinkValues.get(next) === ownId) {
+					stack.pop();
+					scc.add(next);
+					next = stack.at(-1);
+				}
+
+				if (scc.size > 0) {
+					stronglyConnectedComponents.push(scc);
+				}
+			}
+		};
+
+		for (const node of this.nodes.values()) {
+			followNode(node);
+		}
+
+		return stronglyConnectedComponents;
+	}
+
+	private depthFirstSearchRecursive(
+		from: INode,
+		fn: (node: INode) => boolean,
+		seen: Set<INode>,
+	): INode | undefined {
+		if (seen.has(from)) {
+			return undefined;
+		}
+		seen.add(from);
+
+		if (fn(from)) {
+			return from;
+		}
+
+		for (const childConnection of this.getDirectChildConnections(from)) {
+			const found = this.depthFirstSearchRecursive(childConnection.to, fn, seen);
+
+			if (found) {
+				return found;
+			}
+		}
+
+		return undefined;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Like `Array.prototype.find` but for directed graphs.
+	 *
+	 * Starting from, and including, the `from` node this calls the provided
+	 * predicate function with every child node until the predicate function
+	 * returns true.
+	 *
+	 * The search is depth first, meaning every branch is exhausted before the
+	 * next branch is tried.
+	 *
+	 * The first node for which the predicate function returns true is returned.
+	 *
+	 * If the graph is exhausted and the predicate function never returned true,
+	 * undefined is returned instead.
+	 */
+	depthFirstSearch({ from, fn }: { from: INode; fn: (node: INode) => boolean }): INode | undefined {
+		return this.depthFirstSearchRecursive(from, fn, new Set());
+	}
+
 	toWorkflow(parameters: Omit<WorkflowParameters, 'nodes' | 'connections'>): Workflow {
 		return new Workflow({
 			...parameters,

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/__tests__/DirectedGraph.test.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 // XX denotes that the node is disabled
 // PD denotes that the node has pinned data
 
+import type { INode } from 'n8n-workflow';
 import { NodeConnectionType } from 'n8n-workflow';
 
 import { createNodeData, defaultWorkflowParameter } from './helpers';
@@ -89,6 +90,115 @@ describe('DirectedGraph', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	describe('getStronglyConnectedComponents', () => {
+		// ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐
+		// │node1├───►│node2├───►│node4│
+		// └─────┘    └──┬──┘    └─────┘
+		//    ▲          │
+		//    │          │
+		// ┌──┴──┐       │
+		// │node3│◄──────┘
+		// └─────┘
+		test('find strongly connected components', () => {
+			// ARRANGE
+			const node1 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node1' });
+			const node2 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node2' });
+			const node3 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node3' });
+			const node4 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node4' });
+			const graph = new DirectedGraph()
+				.addNodes(node1, node2, node3, node4)
+				.addConnections(
+					{ from: node1, to: node2 },
+					{ from: node2, to: node3 },
+					{ from: node3, to: node1 },
+					{ from: node2, to: node4 },
+				);
+
+			// ACT
+			const stronglyConnectedComponents = graph.getStronglyConnectedComponents();
+
+			// ASSERT
+			expect(stronglyConnectedComponents).toHaveLength(2);
+			expect(stronglyConnectedComponents).toContainEqual(new Set([node4]));
+			expect(stronglyConnectedComponents).toContainEqual(new Set([node3, node2, node1]));
+		});
+
+		//                ┌────┐
+		//  ┌───────┐     │    ├─
+		//  │trigger├──┬──►loop│
+		//  └───────┘  │  │    ├────┐
+		//             │  └────┘    │
+		//             └─────────┐  │
+		//                ┌────┐ │  │
+		//            ┌───►node├─┘  │
+		//            │   └────┘    │
+		//            │             │
+		//            └─────────────┘
+		test('find strongly connected components even if they use different output indexes', () => {
+			// ARRANGE
+			const trigger = createNodeData({ name: 'trigger' });
+			const loop = createNodeData({ name: 'loop' });
+			const node = createNodeData({ name: 'node' });
+			const graph = new DirectedGraph()
+				.addNodes(trigger, loop, node)
+				.addConnections(
+					{ from: trigger, to: loop },
+					{ from: loop, outputIndex: 1, to: node },
+					{ from: node, to: loop },
+				);
+
+			// ACT
+			const stronglyConnectedComponents = graph.getStronglyConnectedComponents();
+
+			// ASSERT
+			expect(stronglyConnectedComponents).toHaveLength(2);
+			expect(stronglyConnectedComponents).toContainEqual(new Set([trigger]));
+			expect(stronglyConnectedComponents).toContainEqual(new Set([node, loop]));
+		});
+	});
+
+	describe('depthFirstSearch', () => {
+		// ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐
+		// │node0├───►│node1├───►│node2├───►│node4│───►│node5│
+		// └─────┘    └─────┘    └──┬──┘    └─────┘    └─────┘
+		//               ▲          │
+		//               │          │
+		//            ┌──┴──┐       │
+		//            │node3│◄──────┘
+		//            └─────┘
+		test('calls nodes in the correct order and stops when it found the node', () => {
+			// ARRANGE
+			const node0 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node0' });
+			const node1 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node1' });
+			const node2 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node2' });
+			const node3 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node3' });
+			const node4 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node4' });
+			const node5 = createNodeData({ name: 'Node5' });
+			const graph = new DirectedGraph()
+				.addNodes(node0, node1, node2, node3, node4, node5)
+				.addConnections(
+					{ from: node0, to: node1 },
+					{ from: node1, to: node2 },
+					{ from: node2, to: node3 },
+					{ from: node3, to: node1 },
+					{ from: node2, to: node4 },
+					{ from: node4, to: node5 },
+				);
+			const fn = jest.fn().mockImplementation((node: INode) => node === node4);
+
+			// ACT
+			const foundNode = graph.depthFirstSearch({
+				from: node0,
+				fn,
+			});
+
+			// ASSERT
+			expect(foundNode).toBe(node4);
+			expect(fn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(5);
+			expect(fn.mock.calls).toEqual([[node0], [node1], [node2], [node3], [node4]]);
+		});
+	});
+
 	describe('getParentConnections', () => {
 		// ┌─────┐   ┌─────┐   ┌─────┐   ┌─────┐
 		// │node1├──►│node2├──►│node3│──►│node4│

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/__tests__/cleanRunData.test.ts

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe('cleanRunData', () => {
 		};
 
 		// ACT
-		const newRunData = cleanRunData(runData, graph, [node1]);
+		const newRunData = cleanRunData(runData, graph, new Set([node1]));
 
 		// ASSERT
 		expect(newRunData).toEqual({});
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ describe('cleanRunData', () => {
 		};
 
 		// ACT
-		const newRunData = cleanRunData(runData, graph, [node2]);
+		const newRunData = cleanRunData(runData, graph, new Set([node2]));
 
 		// ASSERT
 		expect(newRunData).toEqual({ [node1.name]: runData[node1.name] });
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ describe('cleanRunData', () => {
 		};
 
 		// ACT
-		const newRunData = cleanRunData(runData, graph, [node2]);
+		const newRunData = cleanRunData(runData, graph, new Set([node2]));
 
 		// ASSERT
 		// TODO: Find out if this is a desirable result in milestone 2

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/__tests__/findStartNodes.test.ts

@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 
 		const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph, trigger: node, destination: node });
 
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node);
 	});
 
 	//                 ►►
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		{
 			const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph, trigger, destination });
 
-			expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+			expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-			expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(trigger);
+			expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(trigger);
 		}
 
 		// if the trigger has run data
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 
 			const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph, trigger, destination, runData });
 
-			expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+			expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-			expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(destination);
+			expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(destination);
 		}
 	});
 
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph, trigger, destination: node, runData });
 
 		// ASSERT
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node);
 	});
 
 	//             ┌─────┐              ┌─────┐          ►►
@@ -156,9 +156,9 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 			const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph, trigger, destination: node4 });
 
 			// ASSERT
-			expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+			expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
 			// no run data means the trigger is the start node
-			expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(trigger);
+			expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(trigger);
 		}
 
 		{
@@ -175,8 +175,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 			const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph, trigger, destination: node4, runData });
 
 			// ASSERT
-			expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+			expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-			expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node4);
+			expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node4);
 		}
 	});
 
@@ -211,8 +211,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		});
 
 		// ASSERT
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node);
 	});
 
 	//                     ►►
@@ -246,8 +246,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		});
 
 		// ASSERT
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node);
 	});
 
 	//                     ►►
@@ -286,8 +286,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		});
 
 		// ASSERT
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node);
 	});
 
 	//                     ►►
@@ -324,8 +324,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		});
 
 		// ASSERT
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node3);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node3);
 	});
 
 	//                                    ►►
@@ -360,8 +360,8 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		});
 
 		// ASSERT
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node2);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node2);
 	});
 
 	//                              ►►
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ describe('findStartNodes', () => {
 		const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph, trigger, destination: node2, runData, pinData });
 
 		// ASSERT
-		expect(startNodes).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
-		expect(startNodes[0]).toEqual(node2);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(node2);
 	});
 });

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/__tests__/handleCycles.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+// NOTE: Diagrams in this file have been created with https://asciiflow.com/#/
+// If you update the tests, please update the diagrams as well.
+// If you add a test, please create a new diagram.
+//
+// Map
+// 0  means the output has no run data
+// 1  means the output has run data
+// ►► denotes the node that the user wants to execute to
+// XX denotes that the node is disabled
+// PD denotes that the node has pinned data
+
+import { createNodeData } from './helpers';
+import { DirectedGraph } from '../DirectedGraph';
+import { handleCycles } from '../handleCycles';
+
+describe('handleCycles', () => {
+	//                 ┌────┐          ┌─────────┐
+	//┌───────┐        │    ├──────────►afterLoop│
+	//│trigger├────┬───►loop│          └─────────┘
+	//└───────┘    │   │    ├─┐    ►►
+	//             │   └────┘ │   ┌──────┐
+	//             │          └───►inLoop├────┐
+	//             │              └──────┘    │
+	//             │                          │
+	//             └──────────────────────────┘
+	test('if the start node is within a cycle it returns the start of the cycle as the new start node', () => {
+		// ARRANGE
+		const trigger = createNodeData({ name: 'trigger' });
+		const loop = createNodeData({ name: 'loop' });
+		const inLoop = createNodeData({ name: 'inLoop' });
+		const afterLoop = createNodeData({ name: 'afterLoop' });
+		const graph = new DirectedGraph()
+			.addNodes(trigger, loop, inLoop, afterLoop)
+			.addConnections(
+				{ from: trigger, to: loop },
+				{ from: loop, outputIndex: 0, to: afterLoop },
+				{ from: loop, outputIndex: 1, to: inLoop },
+				{ from: inLoop, to: loop },
+			);
+		const startNodes = new Set([inLoop]);
+
+		// ACT
+		const newStartNodes = handleCycles(graph, startNodes, trigger);
+
+		// ASSERT
+		expect(newStartNodes.size).toBe(1);
+		expect(newStartNodes).toContainEqual(loop);
+	});
+
+	//                 ┌────┐          ┌─────────┐
+	//┌───────┐        │    ├──────────►afterLoop│
+	//│trigger├────┬───►loop│          └─────────┘
+	//└───────┘    │   │    ├─┐    ►►
+	//             │   └────┘ │   ┌──────┐
+	//             │          └───►inLoop├────┐
+	//             │              └──────┘    │
+	//             │                          │
+	//             └──────────────────────────┘
+	test('does not mutate `startNodes`', () => {
+		// ARRANGE
+		const trigger = createNodeData({ name: 'trigger' });
+		const loop = createNodeData({ name: 'loop' });
+		const inLoop = createNodeData({ name: 'inLoop' });
+		const afterLoop = createNodeData({ name: 'afterLoop' });
+		const graph = new DirectedGraph()
+			.addNodes(trigger, loop, inLoop, afterLoop)
+			.addConnections(
+				{ from: trigger, to: loop },
+				{ from: loop, outputIndex: 0, to: afterLoop },
+				{ from: loop, outputIndex: 1, to: inLoop },
+				{ from: inLoop, to: loop },
+			);
+		const startNodes = new Set([inLoop]);
+
+		// ACT
+		handleCycles(graph, startNodes, trigger);
+
+		// ASSERT
+		expect(startNodes.size).toBe(1);
+		expect(startNodes).toContainEqual(inLoop);
+	});
+
+	//                                  ►►
+	//                 ┌────┐          ┌─────────┐
+	//┌───────┐        │    ├──────────►afterLoop│
+	//│trigger├────┬───►loop│          └─────────┘
+	//└───────┘    │   │    ├─┐
+	//             │   └────┘ │   ┌──────┐
+	//             │          └───►inLoop├────┐
+	//             │              └──────┘    │
+	//             │                          │
+	//             └──────────────────────────┘
+	test('if the start node is not within a cycle it returns the same node as the new start node', () => {
+		// ARRANGE
+		const trigger = createNodeData({ name: 'trigger' });
+		const loop = createNodeData({ name: 'loop' });
+		const inLoop = createNodeData({ name: 'inLoop' });
+		const afterLoop = createNodeData({ name: 'afterLoop' });
+		const graph = new DirectedGraph()
+			.addNodes(trigger, loop, inLoop, afterLoop)
+			.addConnections(
+				{ from: trigger, to: loop },
+				{ from: loop, outputIndex: 0, to: afterLoop },
+				{ from: loop, outputIndex: 1, to: inLoop },
+				{ from: inLoop, to: loop },
+			);
+		const startNodes = new Set([afterLoop]);
+
+		// ACT
+		const newStartNodes = handleCycles(graph, startNodes, trigger);
+
+		// ASSERT
+		expect(newStartNodes.size).toBe(1);
+		expect(newStartNodes).toContainEqual(afterLoop);
+	});
+});

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/__tests__/recreateNodeExecutionStack.test.ts

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ describe('recreateNodeExecutionStack', () => {
 			.addConnections({ from: trigger, to: node });
 
 		const workflow = findSubgraph({ graph, destination: node, trigger });
-		const startNodes = [node];
+		const startNodes = new Set([node]);
 		const runData: IRunData = {
 			[trigger.name]: [toITaskData([{ data: { value: 1 } }])],
 		};
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ describe('recreateNodeExecutionStack', () => {
 		const workflow = new DirectedGraph()
 			.addNodes(trigger, node)
 			.addConnections({ from: trigger, to: node });
-		const startNodes = [trigger];
+		const startNodes = new Set([trigger]);
 		const runData: IRunData = {};
 		const pinData: IPinData = {};
 
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ describe('recreateNodeExecutionStack', () => {
 		const workflow = new DirectedGraph()
 			.addNodes(trigger, node)
 			.addConnections({ from: trigger, to: node });
-		const startNodes = [node];
+		const startNodes = new Set([node]);
 		const runData: IRunData = {};
 		const pinData: IPinData = {
 			[trigger.name]: [{ json: { value: 1 } }],
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ describe('recreateNodeExecutionStack', () => {
 			.addNodes(trigger, node1, node2)
 			.addConnections({ from: trigger, to: node1 }, { from: node1, to: node2 });
 
-		const startNodes = [node2];
+		const startNodes = new Set([node2]);
 		const runData: IRunData = {
 			[trigger.name]: [toITaskData([{ data: { value: 1 } }])],
 		};
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ describe('recreateNodeExecutionStack', () => {
 				{ from: node2, to: node3 },
 			);
 
-		const startNodes = [node3];
+		const startNodes = new Set([node3]);
 		const runData: IRunData = {
 			[trigger.name]: [toITaskData([{ data: { value: 1 } }])],
 			[node1.name]: [toITaskData([{ data: { value: 1 } }])],
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ describe('recreateNodeExecutionStack', () => {
 				{ from: node1, to: node3, inputIndex: 0 },
 				{ from: node2, to: node3, inputIndex: 1 },
 			);
-		const startNodes = [node3];
+		const startNodes = new Set([node3]);
 		const runData: IRunData = {
 			[trigger.name]: [toITaskData([{ data: { value: 1 } }])],
 			[node1.name]: [toITaskData([{ data: { value: 1 } }])],

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/cleanRunData.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import type { DirectedGraph } from './DirectedGraph';
 export function cleanRunData(
 	runData: IRunData,
 	graph: DirectedGraph,
-	startNodes: INode[],
+	startNodes: Set<INode>,
 ): IRunData {
 	const newRunData: IRunData = { ...runData };
 

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/findCycles.ts

@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-import type { Workflow } from 'n8n-workflow';
-
-export function findCycles(_workflow: Workflow) {
-	// TODO: implement depth first search or Tarjan's Algorithm
-	return [];
-}

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/findStartNodes.ts

@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ export function findStartNodes(options: {
 	destination: INode;
 	runData?: IRunData;
 	pinData?: IPinData;
-}): INode[] {
+}): Set<INode> {
 	const graph = options.graph;
 	const trigger = options.trigger;
 	const destination = options.destination;
@@ -156,5 +156,5 @@ export function findStartNodes(options: {
 		new Set(),
 	);
 
-	return [...startNodes];
+	return startNodes;
 }

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/handleCycles.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import type { INode } from 'n8n-workflow';
+import * as a from 'node:assert/strict';
+
+import type { DirectedGraph } from './DirectedGraph';
+
+/**
+ * Returns a new set of start nodes.
+ *
+ * For every start node this checks if it is part of a cycle and if it is it
+ * replaces the start node with the start of the cycle.
+ *
+ * This is useful because it prevents executing cycles partially, e.g. figuring
+ * our which run of the cycle has to be repeated etc.
+ */
+export function handleCycles(
+	graph: DirectedGraph,
+	startNodes: Set<INode>,
+	trigger: INode,
+): Set<INode> {
+	// Strongly connected components can also be nodes that are not part of a
+	// cycle. They form a strongly connected component of one. E.g the trigger is
+	// always a strongly connected component by itself because it does not have
+	// any inputs and thus cannot build a cycle.
+	//
+	// We're not interested in them so we filter them out.
+	const cycles = graph.getStronglyConnectedComponents().filter((cycle) => cycle.size >= 1);
+	const newStartNodes: Set<INode> = new Set(startNodes);
+
+	// For each start node, check if the node is part of a cycle and if it is
+	// replace the start node with the start of the cycle.
+	if (cycles.length === 0) {
+		return newStartNodes;
+	}
+
+	for (const startNode of startNodes) {
+		for (const cycle of cycles) {
+			const isPartOfCycle = cycle.has(startNode);
+			if (isPartOfCycle) {
+				const firstNode = graph.depthFirstSearch({
+					from: trigger,
+					fn: (node) => cycle.has(node),
+				});
+
+				a.ok(
+					firstNode,
+					"the trigger must be connected to the cycle, otherwise the cycle wouldn't be part of the subgraph",
+				);
+
+				newStartNodes.delete(startNode);
+				newStartNodes.add(firstNode);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return newStartNodes;
+}

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/index.ts

@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@ export { DirectedGraph } from './DirectedGraph';
 export { findTriggerForPartialExecution } from './findTriggerForPartialExecution';
 export { findStartNodes } from './findStartNodes';
 export { findSubgraph } from './findSubgraph';
-export { findCycles } from './findCycles';
 export { recreateNodeExecutionStack } from './recreateNodeExecutionStack';
+export { cleanRunData } from './cleanRunData';
+export { handleCycles } from './handleCycles';

packages/core/src/PartialExecutionUtils/recreateNodeExecutionStack.ts

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import { getSourceDataGroups } from './getSourceDataGroups';
  */
 export function recreateNodeExecutionStack(
 	graph: DirectedGraph,
-	startNodes: INode[],
+	startNodes: Set<INode>,
 	destinationNode: INode,
 	runData: IRunData,
 	pinData: IPinData,

packages/core/src/WorkflowExecute.ts

@@ -51,13 +51,13 @@ import PCancelable from 'p-cancelable';
 import * as NodeExecuteFunctions from './NodeExecuteFunctions';
 import {
 	DirectedGraph,
-	findCycles,
 	findStartNodes,
 	findSubgraph,
 	findTriggerForPartialExecution,
+	cleanRunData,
+	recreateNodeExecutionStack,
+	handleCycles,
 } from './PartialExecutionUtils';
-import { cleanRunData } from './PartialExecutionUtils/cleanRunData';
-import { recreateNodeExecutionStack } from './PartialExecutionUtils/recreateNodeExecutionStack';
 
 export class WorkflowExecute {
 	private status: ExecutionStatus = 'new';
@@ -352,15 +352,11 @@ export class WorkflowExecute {
 		const filteredNodes = subgraph.getNodes();
 
 		// 3. Find the Start Nodes
-		const startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph: subgraph, trigger, destination, runData });
+		let startNodes = findStartNodes({ graph: subgraph, trigger, destination, runData });
 
 		// 4. Detect Cycles
-		const cycles = findCycles(workflow);
-
 		// 5. Handle Cycles
-		if (cycles.length) {
+		startNodes = handleCycles(graph, startNodes, trigger);
-			// TODO: handle
-		}
 
 		// 6. Clean Run Data
 		const newRunData: IRunData = cleanRunData(runData, graph, startNodes);