n8n: where a deprecated OpenAI model lives

Where the model id lives

The OpenAI Chat Model page has a Model parameter: select the model used to generate the completion. It says n8n dynamically loads models from OpenAI, and you only see the models available to your account. That page does not name a default model id.

The OpenAI node text operations page also has a Model field, on Generate a Chat Completion and on Generate a Model Response. For Generate a Chat Completion it says that if you are not sure which model to use, try gpt-4o for higher intelligence or gpt-4o-mini for speed and cost. Those are suggestions on the page, not a stored default in the parameter table.

The credential is the OpenAI API key on the credential, not the model id. This page does not show a key.

Sources: n8n OpenAI Chat Model , n8n OpenAI text operations , checked October 25, 2026.

How to pin or swap it

Select a specific model in the Model field. That is the pin. To swap a shutdown, select the official replacement from the table instead of the retiring id.

The chat model page does not document a fallback list or a router alias. The text operations suggestion of gpt-4o is not a promise that the short id has no dated snapshot behind it. Read the alias sentence under the table.

Sources: n8n OpenAI Chat Model , n8n OpenAI text operations , checked October 25, 2026.

GPT-6 function tools

The OpenAI Chat Model page says the node defaults to the Chat Completions API. Turn on Use Responses API to generate output with the Responses API. Built-in tools on that page, Web Search, File Search, and Code Interpreter, require the toggle, and the page says they work with the AI Agent node.

The OpenAI node page says OpenAI node V2 is available from n8n 1.117.0. It supports the Responses API. It renames Message a Model to Generate a Chat Completion, for the Chat Completions API, and adds Generate a Model Response, for the Responses API.

OpenAI's Using GPT-6 guide says GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol tool calling requires the Responses API. Leaving the chat model node on the default Chat Completions path is the wrong endpoint for those tools. The error pages describe the failure. n8n's pages do not name gpt-6-astra or gpt-6.1-sol.

Sources: n8n OpenAI Chat Model , n8n OpenAI node , Using GPT-6 , checked October 25, 2026.

Upcoming shutdowns in this dataset

gpt-4.1-2025-04-14, gpt-4.1-mini-2025-04-14, gpt-4o-2024-08-06, gpt-4o-2024-11-20, and gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18 shut down on 2027-01-14. The official replacement on these rows is gpt-6-luna.

gpt-4.1, gpt-4.1-mini, gpt-4o, and gpt-4o-mini have no shutdown date on their own records. A request that sends the short id is not the dated snapshot row. Open the model page before you treat the short id as shut down.

Rows are upcoming OpenAI chat models in the gpt-4o, gpt-4.1, gpt-4-turbo, gpt-4, and gpt-3.5-turbo families. Audio, realtime, transcribe, and search ids are not in this table. The same id on another platform is in the other-platforms column. The full calendar is upcoming shutdowns. Provider wording for the shutdown day is on what happens on shutdown day.

Detect a dying model

These checks read SunsetDiff. They do not call the model provider.

• upcoming.json lists dated shutdowns in the next 90 days. No API key. Field notes are on the API docs.
• lookup/gpt-4o.json reads one id. Replace gpt-4o with the string in your config.
• The MCP server tools are check_model, upcoming_shutdowns, migration_diff, and scan_text.
• A status badge shows the stored status for a model page.
• The scan page builds a local search for retiring ids. Nothing is uploaded.

Questions