Node-RED 5.0.4: searching/revealing a node on another workspace causes Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'label') and corrupts workspace rendering
Current Behavior
In Node-RED 5.0.4, searching for a node and navigating to a search result on another flow tab can corrupt the editor workspace.
This happens with both the Explorer search and the normal Ctrl+F search.
When selecting certain search results, Node-RED tries to switch to the workspace containing the node and reveal/highlight it. At that moment the browser console reports:
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'label')
and:
RED.events.emit error: [workspace:change] TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'label')
The stack trace also contains Object.reveal.
After the error, the workspace display becomes corrupted. I see nodes from the previous workspace mixed with nodes from the new workspace, some nodes disappear, some appear duplicated, and nodes may reappear after navigating further.
Reloading the browser restores the correct workspace. The actual flows.json remains correct; the nodes are not really moved between flow tabs.
I can reproduce this consistently by searching for a string that occurs in nodes on multiple workspaces and stepping through the results.
Expected Behavior
Selecting a search result located on another flow tab/workspace should switch to the correct workspace and reveal/highlight the matching node.
The workspace should remain correctly rendered and no JavaScript exception should occur.
Nodes from the previous workspace should not remain visible, disappear, duplicate, or be mixed with nodes from the newly selected workspace.
Steps To Reproduce
Open Node-RED 5.0.4 with multiple flow tabs/workspaces.
Have the same search term present in nodes on more than one workspace. In my case I search for:
rkbvout3_3
Search for this string using Ctrl+F.
Navigate through the search results using the previous/next result buttons.
When a result is located on another workspace, Node-RED switches workspace and attempts to reveal the node.
After navigating through some results, the browser console reports:
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'label')
and:
RED.events.emit error: [workspace:change] TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'label')
The stack trace contains Object.reveal.
The workspace rendering then becomes corrupted. Nodes from different workspaces may be shown together, nodes may disappear, or nodes may appear duplicated.
Reloading the Node-RED editor restores the correct workspace.
The same problem can also be reproduced by navigating search results from the Explorer sidebar, but the Explorer sidebar is not required to trigger the bug.
Example flow
I have not yet reduced this to a minimal example flow.
The issue is consistently reproducible in my existing flow by searching for a term that occurs in nodes on multiple workspaces and navigating between those search results.
I can provide a sanitized/minimal flow if required.
Environment
- Node-RED version: 5.0.4
- Node.js version: 24.18.1
- npm version: not checked
- Platform/OS: Home Assistant OS 18.2 (amd64 / qemux86-64), Linux 6.18.39-haos x64
- Browser: Google Chrome 151 on Windows 11
- Node-RED Home Assistant add-on: 22.0.2
- Home Assistant Core: 2026.8.3
- Home Assistant Supervisor: 2026.07.5
Also reproduced in another browser.
Additional tests:
- reproduced in Node-RED Safe Mode
- reproduced with the default Node-RED theme
- reproduced with the right sidebar hidden
- reproduced using both Explorer search and Ctrl+F search
- Reproduced in Google Chrome on Windows 11
- Reproduced in Microsoft Edge on Windows 11
Source: node-red/node-red