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Executions environment variables#

File-based configuration

You can add _FILE to individual variables to provide their configuration in a separate file. Refer to Keeping sensitive data in separate files for more details.

This page lists environment variables to configure workflow execution settings.

Variable Type Default Description
EXECUTIONS_MODE Enum string: regular, queue regular Whether executions should run directly or using queue.

Refer to Queue mode for more details.
EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT Number -1 Sets a default timeout (in seconds) to all workflows after which n8n stops their execution. Users can override this for individual workflows up to the duration set in EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT_MAX. Set EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT to -1 to disable.
EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT_MAX Number 3600 The maximum execution time (in seconds) that users can set for an individual workflow.
N8N_AI_TIMEOUT_MAX Number 3600000 Sets the HTTP request timeout in milliseconds for AI and LLM nodes (such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and Ollama). This controls how long n8n waits for responses from AI services before timing out. Useful for slower local AI services or complex prompts that require longer processing time.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR Enum string: all, none all Whether n8n saves execution data on error.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS Enum string: all, none all Whether n8n saves execution data on success.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_PROGRESS Boolean false Whether to save progress for each node executed (true) or not (false).
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS Boolean true Whether to save data of executions when started manually.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE Boolean true Whether to delete data of past executions on a rolling basis.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE Number 336 The execution age (in hours) before it's deleted.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_MAX_COUNT Number 10000 Maximum number of executions to keep in the database. 0 = no limit
EXECUTIONS_DATA_HARD_DELETE_BUFFER Number 1 How old (hours) the finished execution data has to be to get hard-deleted. By default, this buffer excludes recent executions as the user may need them while building a workflow.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_HARD_DELETE_INTERVAL Number 15 How often (minutes) execution data should be hard-deleted.
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_SOFT_DELETE_INTERVAL Number 60 How often (minutes) execution data should be soft-deleted.
N8N_CONCURRENCY_PRODUCTION_LIMIT Number -1 Max production executions allowed to run concurrently, in both regular and scaling modes. -1 to disable in regular mode.
N8N_WORKFLOW_AUTODEACTIVATION_ENABLED Boolean false Whether workflows are automatically unpublished after repeated crashed executions.
N8N_WORKFLOW_AUTODEACTIVATION_MAX_LAST_EXECUTIONS Number 3 Number of crashed executions before unpublishing a workflow.
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