First question, lmk what I can do better next time.
My workflow checks multiple google sheets dynamically. It generates the file name (according to convention) from a name slug in a different file. In this case it is outputting 3 files reliably.
The next node receives the 3 different IDs and still runs 3 times, but only ever references the id of the first entry. The preview of the “document by ID” box even shows all 3 unique IDs. I have tried referencing the doc ID with what is show in the box and just with {{ $json.id }} but it keeps only running the first node and accessing the same doc 3 times.
I’m fairly new and still plentifully confused by looping, merging, and splitting, but this node is literally just linear and from what I understand supposed to reference each input item individually.
In Get today’s content items, the Document → By ID field uses:
{{ $('Find Quarterly Calendar for Client').item.json.id }}
That .item call defaults to item 0 (the first result), so even though the node runs 3 times, it keeps using the first ID. The screenshots in your post show exactly this setup. n8n Community
Two clean ways to fix it
Option A (simplest): Use the current item ($json)
Each input item to Get today’s content items already has the id from the previous node. So just bind the field to:
{{ $json.id }}
Run the node—now it will use each item’s own id (3 inputs → 3 different IDs). Your upstream node indeed outputs 3 different ids. n8n Community+1
Option B (if you really need to reference that other node)
Tell n8n to use the current item index:
{{ $('Find Quarterly Calendar for Client').item($itemIndex).json.id }}
Using $itemIndex aligns the item from the referenced node with the item currently being processed, so iteration works as expected. n8n Community
Quick checklist
Document → By ID: set to an Expression (fx icon on). n8n Community
Prefer {{ $json.id }} whenever the value already exists on the incoming item. n8n Community
Make sure Execute Once (node → Settings) is off so the node processes every item. (General n8n gotcha, not visible in your screenshot.)
I started with {{ $json.id }} and it was doing the same thing, so I switched to trying to access the previous node by name.
Using {{ $(‘Find Quarterly Calendar for Client’).item($itemIndex).json.id }} just gives the error “Can not get sheet ‘By ID’ with a value of ‘undefined’”
Just now I switched it back to {{ $json.id }} and it does the same thing - it still runs once for each client but it uses the same ID each time. I even checked the JSON coming in and they are all unique.
