fix: use 'updates' property consistently in updateNode operations

- Changed UpdateNodeOperation interface to use 'updates' instead of 'changes'
- Updated UpdateConnectionOperation for consistency
- Fixed implementation in workflow-diff-engine.ts
- Updated Zod schema validation
- Fixed documentation and examples
- Updated tests to match new property name

This resolves GitHub issues #159 and #168 where partial workflow updates
were failing, forcing AI agents to fall back to expensive full updates.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/mcp/handlers-workflow-diff.ts

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const workflowDiffSchema = z.object({
     node: z.any().optional(),
     nodeId: z.string().optional(),
     nodeName: z.string().optional(),
-    changes: z.any().optional(),
+    updates: z.any().optional(),
     position: z.tuple([z.number(), z.number()]).optional(),
     // Connection operations
     source: z.string().optional(),

src/mcp/tool-docs/workflow_management/n8n-update-partial-workflow.ts

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ export const n8nUpdatePartialWorkflowDoc: ToolDocumentation = {
     },
     returns: 'Updated workflow object or validation results if validateOnly=true',
     examples: [
-      '// Update node parameter\nn8n_update_partial_workflow({id: "abc", operations: [{type: "updateNode", nodeName: "HTTP Request", changes: {"parameters.url": "https://api.example.com"}}]})',
+      '// Update node parameter\nn8n_update_partial_workflow({id: "abc", operations: [{type: "updateNode", nodeName: "HTTP Request", updates: {"parameters.url": "https://api.example.com"}}]})',
       '// Add connection between nodes\nn8n_update_partial_workflow({id: "xyz", operations: [{type: "addConnection", source: "Webhook", target: "Slack", sourceOutput: "main", targetInput: "main"}]})',
       '// Multiple operations in one call\nn8n_update_partial_workflow({id: "123", operations: [\n  {type: "addNode", node: {name: "Transform", type: "n8n-nodes-base.code", position: [400, 300]}},\n  {type: "addConnection", source: "Webhook", target: "Transform"},\n  {type: "updateSettings", settings: {timezone: "America/New_York"}}\n]})',
       '// Validate before applying\nn8n_update_partial_workflow({id: "456", operations: [{type: "removeNode", nodeName: "Old Process"}], validateOnly: true})'
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ export const n8nUpdatePartialWorkflowDoc: ToolDocumentation = {
       'Operations validated together - all must be valid',
       'Order matters for dependent operations (e.g., must add node before connecting to it)',
       'Node references accept ID or name, but name must be unique',
-      'Dot notation for nested updates: use "parameters.url" not nested objects'
+      'Use "updates" property for updateNode operations: {type: "updateNode", updates: {...}}'
     ],
     relatedTools: ['n8n_update_full_workflow', 'n8n_get_workflow', 'validate_workflow', 'tools_documentation']
   }

src/services/workflow-diff-engine.ts

@@ -453,8 +453,8 @@ export class WorkflowDiffEngine {
     const node = this.findNode(workflow, operation.nodeId, operation.nodeName);
     if (!node) return;
     
-    // Apply changes using dot notation
+    // Apply updates using dot notation
-    Object.entries(operation.changes).forEach(([path, value]) => {
+    Object.entries(operation.updates).forEach(([path, value]) => {
       this.setNestedProperty(node, path, value);
     });
   }
@@ -545,18 +545,18 @@ export class WorkflowDiffEngine {
       type: 'removeConnection',
       source: operation.source,
       target: operation.target,
-      sourceOutput: operation.changes.sourceOutput,
+      sourceOutput: operation.updates.sourceOutput,
-      targetInput: operation.changes.targetInput
+      targetInput: operation.updates.targetInput
     });
     
     this.applyAddConnection(workflow, {
       type: 'addConnection',
       source: operation.source,
       target: operation.target,
-      sourceOutput: operation.changes.sourceOutput,
+      sourceOutput: operation.updates.sourceOutput,
-      targetInput: operation.changes.targetInput,
+      targetInput: operation.updates.targetInput,
-      sourceIndex: operation.changes.sourceIndex,
+      sourceIndex: operation.updates.sourceIndex,
-      targetIndex: operation.changes.targetIndex
+      targetIndex: operation.updates.targetIndex
     });
   }
 

src/types/workflow-diff.ts

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export interface UpdateNodeOperation extends DiffOperation {
   type: 'updateNode';
   nodeId?: string; // Can use either ID or name
   nodeName?: string;
-  changes: {
+  updates: {
     [path: string]: any; // Dot notation paths like 'parameters.url'
   };
 }
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ export interface UpdateConnectionOperation extends DiffOperation {
   type: 'updateConnection';
   source: string;
   target: string;
-  changes: {
+  updates: {
     sourceOutput?: string;
     targetInput?: string;
     sourceIndex?: number;

tests/unit/services/workflow-diff-engine.test.ts

@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ describe('WorkflowDiffEngine', () => {
       const operation: UpdateNodeOperation = {
         type: 'updateNode',
         nodeId: 'http-1',
-        changes: {
+        updates: {
           'parameters.method': 'POST',
           'parameters.url': 'https://new-api.example.com'
         }
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ describe('WorkflowDiffEngine', () => {
       const operation: UpdateNodeOperation = {
         type: 'updateNode',
         nodeName: 'Slack',
-        changes: {
+        updates: {
           'parameters.resource': 'channel',
           'parameters.operation': 'create',
           'credentials.slackApi.name': 'New Slack Account'
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ describe('WorkflowDiffEngine', () => {
       const operation: UpdateNodeOperation = {
         type: 'updateNode',
         nodeId: 'non-existent',
-        changes: {
+        updates: {
           'parameters.test': 'value'
         }
       };
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ describe('WorkflowDiffEngine', () => {
         type: 'updateConnection',
         source: 'IF',
         target: 'slack-1',
-        changes: {
+        updates: {
           sourceOutput: 'false',
           sourceIndex: 0,
           targetIndex: 0
@@ -1039,7 +1039,7 @@ describe('WorkflowDiffEngine', () => {
       const operation: UpdateNodeOperation = {
         type: 'updateNode',
         nodeId: 'Webhook', // Using name as ID
-        changes: {
+        updates: {
           'parameters.path': 'new-webhook-path'
         }
       };