Node Red not starting up (even in Safe Mode) after HUE install

Third party integrations Node-RED
1

So,
I dit a Hue API install in Node red and after this Node Red crashed and wil not start up even in Safe mode… is there a way to delete the Hue packet without starting Node Red?

This is my log File;

Add-on: Node-RED

Flow-based programming for the Internet of Things

Add-on version: 20.2.3

You are running the latest version of this add-on.

System: Home Assistant OS 16.3 (aarch64 / odroid-n2)

Home Assistant Core: 2025.11.3

Home Assistant Supervisor: 2025.11.5

Please, share the above information when looking for help

or support in, e.g., GitHub, forums or the Discord chat.

s6-rc: info: service base-addon-banner successfully started

s6-rc: info: service fix-attrs: starting

s6-rc: info: service base-addon-log-level: starting

s6-rc: info: service fix-attrs successfully started

s6-rc: info: service base-addon-log-level successfully started

s6-rc: info: service legacy-cont-init: starting

s6-rc: info: service legacy-cont-init successfully started

s6-rc: info: service init-nginx: starting

s6-rc: info: service init-customizations: starting

s6-rc: info: service init-customizations successfully started

s6-rc: info: service init-nodered: starting

s6-rc: info: service init-nginx successfully started

up to date, audited 145 packages in 4s

19 packages are looking for funding

run npm fund for details

21 vulnerabilities (6 moderate, 13 high, 2 critical)

To address issues that do not require attention, run:

npm audit fix

Some issues need review, and may require choosing

a different dependency.

Run npm audit for details.

s6-rc: info: service init-nodered successfully started

s6-rc: info: service nodered: starting

s6-rc: info: service nodered successfully started

s6-rc: info: service nginx: starting

s6-rc: info: service nginx successfully started

s6-rc: info: service legacy-services: starting

s6-rc: info: service legacy-services successfully started

[08:47:17] INFO: Setting safe mode startup

[08:47:17] INFO: Starting Node-RED…

start

node $NODE_OPTIONS node_modules/node-red/red.js --safe --settings /etc/node-red/config.js

1 Dec 08:47:18 - [info]

Welcome to Node-RED

===================

1 Dec 08:47:18 - [info] Node-RED version: v4.1.1

1 Dec 08:47:18 - [info] Node.js version: v22.16.0

1 Dec 08:47:18 - [info] Linux 6.12.51-haos arm64 LE

1 Dec 08:47:18 - [info] Loading palette nodes

1 Dec 08:47:19 - [info] Node-RED Contrib Theme Collection version: v4.1.0

1 Dec 08:47:21 - [info] Dashboard version 3.6.6 started at /endpoint/ui

(node:307) [DEP0044] DeprecationWarning: The util.isArray API is deprecated. Please use Array.isArray() instead.

(Use node --trace-deprecation ... to show where the warning was created)

(node:307) [DEP0060] DeprecationWarning: The util._extend API is deprecated. Please use Object.assign() instead.

1 Dec 08:47:22 - [info] Settings file : /etc/node-red/config.js

1 Dec 08:47:22 - [info] Context store : ‘default’ [module=memory]

1 Dec 08:47:22 - [info] User directory : /config/

1 Dec 08:47:22 - [warn] Projects disabled : editorTheme.projects.enabled=false

1 Dec 08:47:22 - [info] Flows file : /config/flows.json

[red] Uncaught Exception:

1 Dec 08:47:22 - [error] Api Error: Unexpected response status; 404

at requireStatusCode200 (/config/node_modules/node-hue-api/hue-api/httpPromise.js:100:15)

at _fulfilled (/config/node_modules/q/q.js:787:54)

at /config/node_modules/q/q.js:816:30

at Promise.promise.promiseDispatch (/config/node_modules/q/q.js:749:13)

at /config/node_modules/q/q.js:557:44

at flush (/config/node_modules/q/q.js:108:17)

at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:85:11)

[08:47:22] INFO: Service Node-RED exited with code 1 (by signal 0)

s6-rc: info: service legacy-services: stopping

s6-rc: info: service legacy-services successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service nginx: stopping

[08:47:23] INFO: Service NGINX exited with code 256 (by signal 15)

s6-rc: info: service nginx successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service init-nginx: stopping

s6-rc: info: service nodered: stopping

s6-rc: info: service nodered successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service init-nodered: stopping

s6-rc: info: service init-nginx successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service init-nodered successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service init-customizations: stopping

s6-rc: info: service init-customizations successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service legacy-cont-init: stopping

s6-rc: info: service legacy-cont-init successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service fix-attrs: stopping

s6-rc: info: service base-addon-log-level: stopping

s6-rc: info: service base-addon-log-level successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service fix-attrs successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service base-addon-banner: stopping

s6-rc: info: service base-addon-banner successfully stopped

s6-rc: info: service s6rc-oneshot-runner: stopping

s6-rc: info: service s6rc-oneshot-runner successfully stopped

2

I placed a backup back to fix this, anybody knows if i just had bad luck or the The hue pallet is corrupt?:

3

Does the Hue pallet provide any feature that can not be reached through HA?

4

The main Node-RED core nodes are fully supported. Additional “contrib” nodes are written by anyone who has the inclination to do so, and therefore have varying degrees of success and ongoing support.

When installing new nodes using the Node-RED palette manager, this will advise you to click the link and read the publishing information on the Node-RED flows page (the link you have provided in your post).

This provide valuable insight into the state of the node, support, and use. I note that this node was developed and last updated almost 12 years ago. Anything over 2 years old has to be regarded with a degree of care. I note that there is only a low rating for the node, and I also note that there have only been 16 downloads in the past week. Probably most of whom have also just discovered like you that this node no longer works. A good, working, useful and up to date node I would expect downloads in the 100’s per week to be more of a ‘safe bet’.

Most of these nodes have the original code lifted from a GitHub repository, and you will also find a link View on GitHub. This is always useful to inspect, as it will hold the full history of the node development, include discussions and issues, and hopefully some documentation…

Now look at the issue list. Top one - NodeRed crashes… which is I suspect your issue and a clear warning flag that this node crashes.

Look at the next issue “new release with updated library”. This is a link off to someone else’s repository, relating to the Hue API. It provides an interesting read.

This issue (a dependency on an out of date library) was reported over five years ago. The discussion thread provides details of what the issue is, and how it has been fixed (elsewhere). Since the original owner of the contrib node that you have installed appears not to be supporting it, the only solution is to use another node. The discussion thread provides several alternatives, and I note that node-red-contrib-huemagic has 390 downloads in the past week, so almost certainly ‘not broken’, although you will have to do some more research to see if it meets your needs.

Since Node-RED is noted as being susceptible to these problems after installing corrupt, out of date nodes, particularly where nodes have fixed dependencies on libraries and modules that no longer work, it remains an absolute must to perform due diligence on any contrib node before installing it.

A backup before installing any contrib node is also a very good idea.

Dependency issues and failing API services at startup are noted for causing Node-RED to crash and stop like this. With access to the CLI, it is possible to run npm commands to list dependencies and to update or remove modules. I personally always use the NR palette manager, however npm commands can be run from CLI, or even the Exec node in NR. I think (untried) the uninstall command can be found in the npm documentation.

When Node-RED is run independently, CLI access is typically easy. As an HA add-on, CLI access requires getting into the container, which is not something I have any experience with although others have posted solutions. The easiest approach is, as you have found, restore from backup.