“The specified package could not be loaded” when using n8n community nodes

Updated 2 months ago

After restarting n8n, users may see an error message when loading certain community nodes (for example, n8n-nodes-hostinger-api).
This issue usually happens when leftover files in the n8n node directory prevent modules from being reloaded correctly.

You might see this error message in the n8n logs or dashboard:

Error loading package "n8n-nodes-hostinger-api": The specified package could not be loaded. Cause: Class could not be found. Please check if the class is named correctly.

Root Cause

This happens when stale dependencies (for example, package.json or node_modules) remain inside /home/node/.n8n/nodes after a reinstall or node update.
These leftover files can prevent n8n from properly loading community node classes.

Solution

You can fix the issue with a single command.

  1. Run this command:

    docker exec -it root-n8n-1 sh -c "cd /home/node/.n8n/nodes && rm -rf package.json node_modules"

  2. Restart the container:

    docker restart root-n8n-1

  3. Reinstall the desired node (for example, n8n-nodes-hostinger-api) from the n8n UI or CLI.

Additional Notes

  • The issue can also occur after uninstalling or updating other nodes (for example, n8n-nodes-puppeteer).

  • Always restart n8n after modifying anything in /home/node/.n8n/nodes.

  • Removing the package.json and node_modules ensures n8n rebuilds dependencies from scratch.