Pagination doesn't stop after stopping execution

Questions
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1

Hello :wave:,

While implementing pagination in the HTTP Request node, I made a mistake in the query field configuration and started the workflow. This caused an endless loop that quickly consumed the entire request limit of the external service.

Attempts to stop or delete the workflow were unsuccessful. The execution only stopped when the service returned an error stating “no available limit.”

Could you please look into this issue on your cloud platform?

Best regards

2

I ran into something similar a few months ago — especially with a loop triggered by pagination inside the HTTP Request node. On n8n cloud, once the workflow is triggered and the loop logic is incorrect (e.g. wrong next page detection or missing stop condition), the execution can spin indefinitely.

What I learned:

  • Stopping or deleting a running execution via the UI won’t always interrupt it immediately if it’s making rapid external calls.
  • On n8n cloud, you don’t have access to forcibly kill executions manually — this is something the cloud support team has to handle.

To avoid it in the future, here’s what I do:

  1. Add a max request count check (e.g. via IF or Set + counter) to avoid runaway loops.
  2. Use a manual limit in the HTTP pagination config (limit=50, etc.), just in case something goes wrong.
  3. Add a temporary delay (Wait node or setTimeout in a Code node) to throttle the flow during testing.

I’d also recommend reaching out directly to the n8n support team if you’re using the hosted version — they can terminate stuck executions from the backend.

Let me know if you want help setting up a safe pagination pattern.