HTTP Request Node Timing Out with DeepSeek R1 on Extended Requests

Below is a summary of how you might approach troubleshooting this issue:

1. Verify the API’s Response Format

The error "Invalid JSON in response body" indicates that n8n expected a proper JSON response but received something else. Confirm that DeepSeek R1 is actually returning valid JSON. You can do this by sending a test request (for example, via cURL or Postman) to the same endpoint and inspecting the raw response payload.

2. Check Query Parameters and Request Structure

Even though DeepSeek R1 worked before, a change on the service side (or in how your request is interpreted) could now be causing issues. Double-check that all required query parameters and headers meet DeepSeek R1’s API documentation. Even small changes or deprecated parameters could lead to an unexpected response.

3. Adjust HTTP Request Node Settings

Since you mentioned that reducing the length of your request provided temporary relief, verify that the complete payload isn’t triggering a service-side error that might return an HTML error page or incomplete JSON. If possible, try these adjustments within your HTTP Request node settings:

• Timeout Settings: Increase the timeout if DeepSeek R1 now takes longer to process larger requests.
• Retry on Fail: Enable the node’s retry functionality (with a sensible delay) so that intermittent issues don’t fail the workflow immediately.

Here’s an example of enabling “Retry on Fail” within the node settings:

JSONCopied
{
  "settings": {
    "retryOnFail": true,
    "maxTries": 3,
    "waitBetweenTries": 1000
  }
}

4. Handle Non-JSON Responses

If DeepSeek R1 is occasionally returning a non-JSON response (for instance, an error message in plain text or HTML), you might want to handle this gracefully using error handling or transformation nodes downstream. For instance, you could:

• Use a Function node to inspect the raw response.
• Add a check to see if the response is valid JSON before processing it further.

5. Contact DeepSeek Support

Since you’ve identified that switching to DeepSeek V3 resolves the issue, it suggests that the problem is isolated to DeepSeek R1. If you must use R1, reaching out to DeepSeek support may provide additional information on whether they’ve made recent changes to the API or if this is a known issue on their end.

Summary

• Confirm that DeepSeek R1 returns properly formatted JSON by testing the API independently.
• Revisit and verify that your HTTP Request node’s parameters align with the latest DeepSeek R1 documentation.
• Adjust node settings (timeouts, retry options) to handle any delays or intermittent non-JSON responses.
• Consider implementing error handling to catch and manage unexpected response formats.
• If the issue persists, contacting DeepSeek’s support could provide clarity or a fix specific to their R1 model.

These steps should help narrow down whether the problem lies with the node configuration, the API response content, or changes in the DeepSeek R1 service itself.