Loop Over Items Only Processing Partial Batch - Workflow Completes Early Without Errors

[shravan-reckit]

I’m experiencing an issue where my workflow completes successfully but only processes a fraction of items in a loop, with no errors logged.

Setup:

• Workflow generates a list of items (30 items in this case)

• Items are split and processed in a “Loop Over Items” node

• Each iteration calls a sub-workflow to process individual items

• Workflow timeout: 40 minutes

• Actual execution time: 27 minutes

Expected behavior: All 30 items should be processed through the loop

Actual behavior: Only 9 items are processed before the workflow marks itself as complete. The execution shows:

• “Split Out” node: 30 items output ✓

• “Loop Over Dining Items”: Shows 8 items processed

• Workflow status: Success (no errors in logs)

What I’ve checked:

• All logged actions show as successful

• Execution is well within timeout limits

• Issue persists even when sub-workflow logic was inline (not as separate workflows)

Questions:

1. Are there any hidden item limits for Loop Over Items nodes?

2. Could this be related to sub-workflow execution limits?

3. Are there memory or resource constraints that could cause silent stopping?

4. What logs/settings should I check to diagnose why the loop exits early?

Here’s the screenshot of the flow:

[achamm]

Based on the GitHub issues and your description, this appears to be a known issue with the Loop Over Items node where it can stop processing items without completing all iterations. Here are some practical solutions to try:

**Immediate fixes:**

• Check your Loop Over Items node’s **batch size setting** - try setting it to 1 if processing items individually

• Verify the **Execute Once** setting isn’t enabled on nodes within the loop

• Try using the **Split in Batches** node instead of Loop Over Items, as mentioned in the [n8n documentation](Looping | n8n Docs)

**Debugging steps:**

• Add a **Set** node before and after the loop to log item counts and verify data flow

• Check if your sub-workflow has any memory limits or execution constraints

• Consider breaking the workflow into smaller batches (e.g., 10 items at a time) to isolate the issue

The [GitHub issue #19167](Loop Over Items node executes only 10 times · Issue #19167 · n8n-io/n8n · GitHub) shows similar behavior where loops stop at exactly 10 iterations, suggesting this might be a platform limitation rather than a configuration issue. If the problem persists, try restructuring without the Loop Over Items node and use Split in Batches with regular node connections instead.