Resources · n8n integration

n8n Limit nodeConfigure Limit in n8n.

The n8n Limit node cuts an incoming batch down to a fixed number of items. It sits mid workflow, right after a step that returned more rows than the rest of the run needs. Two parameters drive it: Max Items sets the ceiling, Keep decides which end survives.

Try the Limit node on n8nSee the 2 parameters

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Why automate

What does the n8n Limit node actually do?

The Limit node has one job: restrict the number of items moving through a workflow. Feed it forty rows with Max Items set to 5, and five come out the other side. It ships with n8n, so there is nothing to install and nothing extra to pay, on n8n Cloud as on a self-hosted instance. Version 1 is the current shape of the node: two parameters, no credential.

Three situations bring builders to this node. The first is testing. A workflow that reads a full sheet and then drafts messages is painful to debug on hundreds of rows, so Limit sits right after the Google Sheets step and caps the run at three items until the logic behaves.

The second is the polite cap. A digest that reports the newest entries should not dump everything it found. Limit with Keep set to Last Items hands the tail of the list to the next step, and a Gmail node sends one short summary instead of forty separate messages.

The third is protecting a rate sensitive call. When every item fires an outbound request through HTTP Request, a ceiling keeps a bad upstream day from turning into 2000 calls. Adding the node costs nothing and the decision is reversible: change one number, run again.

Know what it does not do. Limit counts, it does not choose. No condition, no field comparison, no ordering of its own: whatever order the items arrive in is the order it cuts. When the selection depends on a value rather than a position, that decision belongs to a node like If, and Limit only trims what is left. Same reasoning after a Merge: combine the branches first, cap second, or each branch gets its own ceiling and the total surprises you.

One last thing to have in mind. Limit never opens a workflow. A trigger runs first, a Schedule Trigger, a Webhook or the trigger of a tool, and only then do items reach the node. Version 1 exposes the two parameters below and nothing else, so an older workflow showing fewer options is simply running an older version of the node, which never changes on its own.

Parameters

Which parameters does the Limit node expose?

The Limit node has 2 parameters. For each one: the node as you configure it in n8n, what the parameter changes, and our field notes.

01

Max Items

maxItems

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

Max Items sets the ceiling. Enter the maximum number of items that n8n should keep; if the input data holds more than that value, n8n removes the extras and the rest travels on.

Key parameters

  • Max Items: a number field, and the only value the node really needs. It accepts an expression of the form {{ $json.maxItems }} when the ceiling itself comes from an earlier step rather than being typed in.
Use cases
cap a sheet read at 3 rows while a branch is still being built, then raise the number once the run is clean.
02

Keep

keep

What you see in n8n

Notes & use cases

Keep answers the second question: when the node has to remove items, which end of the input data stays.

Key parameters

  • First Items: keeps the Max Items number of items from the beginning of the input data.
  • Last Items: keeps the Max Items number of items from the end of the input data.
Use cases
if the step before returned the oldest entries first, Last Items hands the most recent ones to the next node; First Items does the opposite on the same list, without touching anything upstream.
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FAQ

Questions people ask about the Limit node

01Is the n8n Limit node included, or does it cost extra?
Included. Limit is a core node, shipped with n8n, so there is nothing to install and no add on to buy. It behaves the same way on n8n Cloud, the hosted offer run by n8n, and on a self-hosted instance set up through Docker or npm, where the Community Edition runs under the Sustainable Use license. A workflow built on one side is the same workflow on the other. The only costs around the node are whatever the nodes next to it call; Limit itself never adds one. Drop it into an existing workflow and it works on the very next run.
02What do you need to set up before using it?
Nothing on the account side. Limit has no credential and no Authentication selector, so there is no key to create, no scope to grant, no connection to test. Open the node, type a number into Max Items, pick First Items or Last Items under Keep, and the setup is done. What the node does need is data. It runs in the middle of a workflow, which means something upstream has to produce items first: a Schedule Trigger, a Webhook, or the trigger of a tool you already use. Given nothing, it has nothing to trim and the run carries on.
03What are the limits of the node?
Version 1 carries two parameters, Max Items and Keep, and that is the whole surface. There is no condition, no field comparison and no reordering, so the node cannot pick the largest invoice or the newest contact for you, only the first or last slice of the order it received. The cut is also final for that branch: removed items do not reappear later in the run, so split the flow before the node when you still need the full set. A workflow built earlier can display an older version with fewer options, and a node never changes version on its own.
04When do you pick Limit over another node?
Pick it when the rule is a count. How many items continue, taken from one end or the other, with no interest in what is inside them. The moment the rule mentions a value, a status, a date or an amount, the decision belongs to a node that reads fields, such as If, and Limit becomes the tidy up afterwards. The two work well stacked: filter on a condition, then cap the survivors so a batch stays predictable. And if a branch only exists to keep the canvas readable, No Operation, do nothing is the node for that, not this one.
05n8n or Make for this kind of workflow?
It depends on four things. Hosting: Make is a hosted platform with no self-hosting option, while n8n runs on Cloud or on your own server through Docker or npm. Data control: a self-hosted instance keeps the items inside your infrastructure, which matters when the batch you are capping holds customer records. Cost model: Make bills per operation, so the number you type into Max Items has a direct price attached. Visual logic: both draw the workflow on a canvas, and the way branches and item lists behave differs enough that porting a flow is a rebuild, not a copy.
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