I have a software background and I am trying to figure out how to use the loop as a way of doing all the functions inside the loop one at a time. They all apear to do in parallel which is cool, but not what I want in this case. Is there a single setting somewhere that I am missing.
It looks like your topic is missing some important information. Could you provide the following if applicable.
- n8n version:
- Database (default: SQLite):
- n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
- Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app):
- Operating system:
n8n doesn’t run in parallel, it runs item-per-item. It does this automatically for all nodes, without the use of any Loop node. The default data structure outputted by any node is an array of JSON objects, and the next node in the graph will deal with those one at a time before moving forward.
As for the explicit Loop node, you only need that to insert delays or to run items in batches, and is not used so often.
Your initial request of ‘doing all functions inside the loop one at a time’ is doable if you absolutely want it. For example, you could simply put the inner loop nodes inside a single Execute Workflow call, and then each item will run the entire inner loop before the next item.
However, once you familiarize yourself with n8n’s way of doing it, you’ll see why you don’t actually have to do that. It’s just a different paradigm you’ll get used to.
JayF appreciate the answer, I think you are right, I am still trying to make things work in my old software paradigm, and I am struggling with the implementation of a new way of doing it.
Let me ask a question, that may help me understand, but also others coming from the same background.
If I enter a loop with 100 json items, and then the first thing I do is ask an if statement that splits the data into a 56/40, then an array of 60 gets passed through true and 40 gets passed through false, if i am manipulating the data then i can’t bring the paths back togther,as they are different sizes, is that correct, once they are split up, they have to be dealt with independently
Sure, that is what merge is for. So you will find that splitting and merging are like fundamentals in building workflows. Here’s an example:
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