Describe the problem/error/question
I’m experiencing a puzzling memory issue where my n8n instance crashes consistently at the very end of workflow execution - specifically when the “Loop Over Items” node completes and should output to the done branch.
Background context: I originally had memory issues much earlier in my workflow because I was accumulating HTML from every details page HTTP request before extracting date/time data. To solve this, I introduced the Loop Over Items node with batching (batch size: 20), which successfully resolved the early memory problems.
Current issue: The workflow now processes all batches successfully through the loop, but crashes with a connection lost error - right when it should complete and output the done branch. This happens consistently on every execution.
The data being processed isn’t particularly large:
-
RSS feed with ~200 items
-
Each item goes through: RSS parsing → HTTP request → HTML parsing → data extraction
-
Final output is small structured JSON objects with fields like {id, name, url, date, time, venue_name, etc.}
What’s bizarre is that the loop processing works perfectly for all batches, but fails precisely at the completion step. The timing suggests it’s not a timeout issue, and the individual batch processing shows the data size per item is manageable.
What is the error message (if any)?
Error in 1m 8.774s | ID#744
Connection Lost
Please share your workflow
{
"nodes": [
{
"parameters": {},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.manualTrigger",
"typeVersion": 1,
"position": [
-112,
464
],
"id": "c7ee8eab-335a-4e67-8ec7-3b36132beb55",
"name": "When clicking ‘Execute workflow’"
},
{
"parameters": {
"url": "https://www.uppereastsite.com/?feed=event_feed&search_keywords&search_location=92nd+Street+Y&search_datetimes&search_categories&search_event_types&search_ticket_prices",
"options": {}
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.rssFeedRead",
"typeVersion": 1.2,
"position": [
96,
464
],
"id": "beda864a-b11d-4c69-bd94-0b32882f1cd5",
"name": "RSS Read1"
},
{
"parameters": {
"mode": "runOnceForEachItem",
"jsCode": "/**\n * INPUT (from RSS Read):\n * $json: { title, link, guid, isoDate, ... }\n *\n * OUTPUT (skinny):\n * { name, url, venue_name, venue_id, status, category, source, fetched_at, rss_published_at, rss_guid }\n */\n\n// Function Item node\n\nfunction getHostname(u) {\n if (!u) return null;\n const match = u.match(/^https?:\\/\\/([^/]+)/i);\n if (match && match[1]) {\n return match[1].replace(/^www\\./, \"\");\n }\n return null;\n}\n\nconst d = $json;\nconst url = d.link || d.guid || \"\";\n\nreturn {\n json: {\n name: d.title || \"Untitled Event\",\n url,\n venue_name: \"92nd Street Y\",\n venue_id: \"92-street-y\",\n status: \"live\",\n category: \"Arts & Theatre\",\n source: getHostname(url) || \"unknown\",\n fetched_at: new Date().toISOString(),\n rss_published_at: d.isoDate || null,\n rss_guid: d.guid || null\n }\n};\n\n"
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.code",
"typeVersion": 2,
"position": [
688,
480
],
"id": "96b96abe-dd43-4359-8d90-dbf18969328a",
"name": "Code2"
},
{
"parameters": {
"amount": 3
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.wait",
"typeVersion": 1.1,
"position": [
832,
192
],
"id": "65c7d739-59aa-48f9-99b5-e4fd1092d6b6",
"name": "Wait1",
"webhookId": "c93edd91-e30a-4bfa-ab95-1d250d61f9c3"
},
{
"parameters": {
"url": "={{ $json.link }}",
"sendHeaders": true,
"headerParameters": {
"parameters": [
{
"name": "User-Agent",
"value": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36"
},
{
"name": "Accept",
"value": "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8"
}
]
},
"options": {
"response": {
"response": {
"responseFormat": "text"
}
},
"timeout": 30000
}
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
"typeVersion": 4.2,
"position": [
1024,
192
],
"id": "12f60269-b0d2-44e1-b522-cf9fd901dd69",
"name": "HTTP Request2",
"onError": "continueRegularOutput"
},
{
"parameters": {
"mode": "runOnceForEachItem",
"jsCode": "/**\n * INPUT (from HTTP Request with Response Format = String):\n * $json: { body?: string, data?: string, statusCode?: number, headers?: object }\n *\n * OUTPUT (tiny):\n * { date, time, datetime, ticket_url }\n *\n * Notes:\n * - We try multiple strategies: JSON-LD, <time datetime>, ISO-like strings, and a few common patterns.\n * - We intentionally DO NOT return the HTML; only the tiny fields.\n */\n\nconst html = ($json && ( $json.data || $json.body )) || \"\";\nconst pageUrl = $json && $json.url ? $json.url : null; // sometimes n8n attaches this; it's okay if null\n\n// ---------- helpers ----------\nfunction safeJSONParse(s) {\n try { return JSON.parse(s); } catch { return null; }\n}\n\nfunction first(arr) {\n return Array.isArray(arr) && arr.length ? arr[0] : null;\n}\n\nfunction joinUrl(base, href) {\n if (!href) return null;\n if (/^https?:\\/\\//i.test(href)) return href;\n if (!base) return href;\n if (href.startsWith(\"/\")) {\n const host = base.match(/^(https?:\\/\\/[^/]+)/i);\n return host ? host[1] + href : href;\n }\n return base.replace(/\\/+$/, \"\") + \"/\" + href.replace(/^\\/+/, \"\");\n}\nfunction toISO(dtLike) {\n if (!dtLike) return null;\n const d = new Date(dtLike);\n return isNaN(d.getTime()) ? null : d.toISOString();\n}\n\nfunction splitDateTime(isoStr) {\n if (!isoStr) return { date: null, time: null, datetime: null };\n const d = new Date(isoStr);\n if (isNaN(d.getTime())) return { date: null, time: null, datetime: null };\n const pad = n => String(n).padStart(2, \"0\");\n const yyyy = d.getUTCFullYear();\n const mm = pad(d.getUTCMonth() + 1);\n const dd = pad(d.getUTCDate());\n const hh = pad(d.getUTCHours());\n const mi = pad(d.getUTCMinutes());\n const ss = pad(d.getUTCSeconds());\n return {\n date: `${yyyy}-${mm}-${dd}`,\n time: `${hh}:${mi}:${ss}Z`,\n datetime: d.toISOString()\n };\n}\n\nfunction htmlDecode(s) {\n if (!s) return s;\n return s\n .replace(/&/g, \"&\")\n .replace(/</g, \"<\")\n .replace(/>/g, \">\")\n .replace(/"/g, \"\\\"\")\n .replace(/'/g, \"'\");\n}\n\n// Extract <a ...> href by rel or text heuristics\nfunction findTicketUrl(html) {\n // Common keywords\n const kw = [\n \"buy tickets\",\n \"buy ticket\",\n \"tickets\",\n \"ticket\",\n \"register\",\n \"rsvp\",\n \"book now\",\n ];\n\n // 1) <a ...> with data-event|btn classes or common keywords in text\n const anchorRegex = /<a\\s+[^>]*href\\s*=\\s*[\"']([^\"']+)[\"'][^>]*>(.*?)<\\/a>/gis;\n let m;\n while ((m = anchorRegex.exec(html)) !== null) {\n const href = m[1];\n const text = htmlDecode(m[2] || \"\").toLowerCase();\n const clsMatch = (m[0].match(/\\bclass\\s*=\\s*[\"']([^\"']+)[\"']/i) || [])[1] || \"\";\n const cls = clsMatch.toLowerCase();\n\n if (kw.some(k => text.includes(k)) || /ticket|register|rsvp|book/.test(cls)) {\n // resolve relative URLs if we know pageUrl\n try {\n const u = pageUrl ? joinUrl(pageUrl, href).toString() : href;\n return u;\n } catch {\n return href;\n }\n }\n }\n\n // 2) Look for known platforms\n const known = /(eventbrite\\.com\\/e\\/[^\\s\"'<>]+|ticketmaster\\.com\\/[^\\s\"'<>]+|meetup\\.com\\/[^\\s\"'<>]+|dice\\.fm\\/[^\\s\"'<>]+)/i;\n const k2 = html.match(known);\n if (k2) return pageUrl ? joinUrl(pageUrl, k2[0]) : k2[0];\n\n return null;\n}\n\n// Try JSON-LD (Event schema, or other that carries startDate)\nfunction findDateTimeJSONLD(html) {\n const scriptRe = /<script[^>]+type=[\"']application\\/ld\\+json[\"'][^>]*>([\\s\\S]*?)<\\/script>/gi;\n let m;\n while ((m = scriptRe.exec(html)) !== null) {\n const blk = m[1].trim();\n // Some sites place multiple JSON objects or arrays\n const parsed = safeJSONParse(blk);\n if (!parsed) continue;\n\n const candidates = Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed : [parsed];\n\n for (const node of candidates) {\n // Event object or nested\n // Look for startDate in current node\n if (node && typeof node === \"object\") {\n const maybe = node.startDate || node.start_time || node.start || node.start_date;\n const iso = toISO(maybe);\n if (iso) return iso;\n\n // @graph array\n if (Array.isArray(node[\"@graph\"])) {\n for (const g of node[\"@graph\"]) {\n const gMaybe = g && (g.startDate || g.start_time || g.start);\n const gIso = toISO(gMaybe);\n if (gIso) return gIso;\n }\n }\n\n // nested offers/performances\n const perf = node.performances || node.subEvent || node.event || node.events;\n const arr = Array.isArray(perf) ? perf : (perf ? [perf] : []);\n for (const p of arr) {\n const pIso = toISO(p && (p.startDate || p.start_time || p.start));\n if (pIso) return pIso;\n }\n }\n }\n }\n return null;\n}\n\n// Try <time datetime=\"...\">\nfunction findTimeTag(html) {\n const re = /<time[^>]*datetime=[\"']([^\"']+)[\"'][^>]*>/i;\n const m = html.match(re);\n if (!m) return null;\n return toISO(m[1]);\n}\n\n// Try generic ISO-like patterns\nfunction findISOish(html) {\n // ISO 8601 e.g. 2025-08-12T19:30, 2025-08-12 19:30:00-04:00, etc.\n const re = /\\b(20\\d{2}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}[T\\s]\\d{2}:\\d{2}(?::\\d{2})?(?:\\.\\d+)?(?:Z|[+\\-]\\d{2}:?\\d{2})?)\\b/;\n const m = html.match(re);\n return m ? toISO(m[1]) : null;\n}\n\n// Try some human patterns like \"August 12, 2025 7:30 PM\"\nfunction findHumanDate(html) {\n const months = \"(January|February|March|April|May|June|July|August|September|October|November|December)\";\n const re = new RegExp(`${months}\\\\s+\\\\d{1,2},\\\\s+20\\\\d{2}\\\\s+\\\\d{1,2}:\\\\d{2}\\\\s*(AM|PM)`, \"i\");\n const m = html.match(re);\n if (!m) return null;\n return toISO(m[0]);\n}\n\n// ---------- extraction pipeline ----------\nlet iso = null;\n\niso = iso || findDateTimeJSONLD(html);\niso = iso || findTimeTag(html);\niso = iso || findISOish(html);\niso = iso || findHumanDate(html);\n\nconst ticket_url = findTicketUrl(html);\nconst { date, time, datetime } = splitDateTime(iso);\n\n// Return only the tiny fields (NO html/body)\nreturn {\n json: {\n date,\n time,\n datetime,\n ticket_url\n }\n};\n"
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.code",
"typeVersion": 2,
"position": [
1184,
240
],
"id": "c28d448b-82d5-4b32-b12b-a76dd57bd862",
"name": "Code3"
},
{
"parameters": {
"mode": "combine",
"combineBy": "combineByPosition",
"options": {}
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.merge",
"typeVersion": 3.2,
"position": [
1472,
464
],
"id": "a176faf1-ed78-4bd9-aea5-b6f79f97c0fd",
"name": "Merge1"
},
{
"parameters": {
"mode": "runOnceForEachItem",
"jsCode": "// n8n Code Node - Generate Hash ID for Events\n// Set to \"Run Once for Each Item\"\n\nconst inputData = $input.item.json;\n\n// Helper function to generate deterministic ID based on name and datetime\nfunction generateId(name, datetime) {\n if (!name) return generateRandomId();\n \n // Create a string to hash from name and datetime\n const hashInput = `${name.toLowerCase().trim()}${datetime || ''}`;\n \n // Simple hash function (similar to Java's hashCode)\n let hash = 0;\n for (let i = 0; i < hashInput.length; i++) {\n const char = hashInput.charCodeAt(i);\n hash = ((hash << 5) - hash) + char;\n hash = hash & hash; // Convert to 32-bit integer\n }\n \n // Convert to positive number and then to base36 (0-9, a-z)\n const positiveHash = Math.abs(hash);\n let base36 = positiveHash.toString(36);\n \n // Pad or truncate to 15 characters\n if (base36.length < 15) {\n // Pad with additional hash iterations if too short\n let extraHash = hash;\n while (base36.length < 15) {\n extraHash = ((extraHash << 5) - extraHash) + 1;\n extraHash = extraHash & extraHash;\n base36 += Math.abs(extraHash).toString(36);\n }\n }\n \n return base36.substring(0, 15);\n}\n\n// Fallback random ID generator\nfunction generateRandomId() {\n const chars = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789';\n let result = '';\n \n for (let i = 0; i < 15; i++) {\n result += chars.charAt(Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length));\n }\n \n return result;\n}\n\n// Generate the ID using name and datetime\nconst eventId = generateId(inputData.name, inputData.datetime);\n\n// Return the complete event data with the generated ID\nreturn {\n json: {\n ...inputData,\n id: eventId\n }\n};"
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.code",
"typeVersion": 2,
"position": [
1632,
480
],
"id": "1f397772-1991-4896-a17b-168948844dc6",
"name": "Code"
},
{
"parameters": {
"batchSize": 20,
"options": {}
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.splitInBatches",
"typeVersion": 3,
"position": [
304,
464
],
"id": "02262be6-4981-428b-8690-78c9763dd9d5",
"name": "Loop Over Items",
"onError": "continueErrorOutput"
},
{
"parameters": {
"assignments": {
"assignments": [
{
"id": "4bfac685-eff9-4fac-84cf-13da276621e4",
"name": "date",
"value": "={{ $json.date }}",
"type": "string"
},
{
"id": "597c02ad-bf34-4ba4-96f6-66de5b3d4476",
"name": "time",
"value": "={{ $json.time }}",
"type": "string"
},
{
"id": "ae724a7e-425f-4da0-bfc8-b800aaeba39b",
"name": "datetime",
"value": "={{ $json.datetime }}",
"type": "string"
},
{
"id": "58383b06-af76-492a-a330-bf44580e4c3d",
"name": "ticket_url",
"value": "={{ $json.ticket_url }}",
"type": "string"
}
]
},
"options": {}
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.set",
"typeVersion": 3.4,
"position": [
1440,
272
],
"id": "56d4661f-4faf-4af9-9126-dedc7872d5a0",
"name": "Edit Fields"
},
{
"parameters": {
"operation": "removeItemsSeenInPreviousExecutions",
"dedupeValue": "={{ $json.id }}",
"options": {}
},
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.removeDuplicates",
"typeVersion": 2,
"position": [
1872,
432
],
"id": "a1362fd1-a3b3-4cee-baba-5d0b9c7af226",
"name": "Remove Duplicates",
"disabled": true
}
],
"connections": {
"When clicking ‘Execute workflow’": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "RSS Read1",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"RSS Read1": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Loop Over Items",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Code2": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Merge1",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Wait1": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "HTTP Request2",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"HTTP Request2": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Code3",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Code3": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Edit Fields",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Merge1": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Code",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Code": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Remove Duplicates",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Loop Over Items": {
"main": [
[],
[
{
"node": "Code2",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
},
{
"node": "Wait1",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Edit Fields": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Merge1",
"type": "main",
"index": 1
}
]
]
},
"Remove Duplicates": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Loop Over Items",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
}
}
Sample Output
[
{
"name": "Trymaine Lee in Conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones: A Thousand Ways to Die",
"url": "https://www.uppereastsite.com/event/trymaine-lee-in-conversation-with-nikole-hannah-jones-a-thousand-ways-to-die/",
"venue_name": "92nd Street Y",
"venue_id": "92-street-y",
"status": "live",
"category": "Arts & Theatre",
"source": "uppereastsite.com",
"fetched_at": "2025-08-14T14:50:32.246Z",
"rss_published_at": "2025-08-14T06:05:28.000Z",
"rss_guid": "https://www.uppereastsite.com/event/trymaine-lee-in-conversation-with-nikole-hannah-jones-a-thousand-ways-to-die/",
"date": "2025-09-10",
"time": "19:30:00Z",
"datetime": "2025-09-10T19:30:00.000Z",
"ticket_url": "https://seats.92ny.org/single/207870",
"id": "t6uws9ihuhcq54c"
},
Information on your n8n setup
-
n8n version:1.105.4
-
Database (default: SQLite):PostgreSQL (n8n Cloud managed)
-
n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main): Default (n8n Cloud managed)
-
Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): n8n Cloud
-
Operating system: n8n Cloud (managed infrastructure)