Looping and handling array of data

[Petar_Vukovic]

How can I add a delay (e.g., 30 seconds or 1 minute) before each input item is processed by an LLM Chain node inside a Loop node in n8n?

I have a workflow where a list of languages is split using a Split Out node, and then processed one-by-one in a Loop Over Items. Inside that loop, the first step is an LLM Chain node (Google AI), which translates SRT subtitle chunks.

I want to introduce a Wait or delay between each iteration — so that there’s a 30–60 second pause before each request goes to the LLM Chain. The idea is to prevent rate-limiting or overloading the API.

What’s the correct way to insert a Wait node that delays each loop iteration before sending it to the LLM node?

Any best practices or patterns for this use case?

[Gallo_AIA]

Hello @Petar_Vukovic welcome here!

i’ll tell you what I think then you will evaluate if it can be good for you or not.

You can use the Wait node inside your loop.

1. After the Loop Over Items node, insert a Wait node

2. In the Wait node:
   Mode: Wait for time duration
   Value: 30 seconds (or 1 minute, depending on your preference)

3. Then connect the Wait node to the LLM Chain node

This will introduce a delay before each LLM call within the loop.

Note: if you’re working with long loops, be aware that this increases total workflow execution time significantly. If you’re using n8n cloud, check your execution timeout limits

Let me know!