Why Does the Tool Bot Exit on Error Despite Successful Structured Output Parser Retries?

Based on the information provided, it appears that the first parse error is causing the node to emit an error even though later retries succeed. This behavior can occur if the node registers an error on the initial parse and then follows the error branch—even if subsequent retries produce valid output.

Some points to consider:

• When error output is enabled, the node is set to immediately direct workflow execution down the error branch when an error occurs. In your case, the initial failure (“Model output doesn’t fit required format”) triggers that branch before the later retry attempts can override it.

• The parser’s behavior with sub-nodes may also contribute. (For example, sub-nodes resolve expressions against a single, often the first, input item.) If an error is raised on the first item, it can affect the node’s overall error handling, even if retries for that particular piece of output eventually succeed.

• This behavior might be considered a bug or at least an unintended edge case in how error output and retries are treated. The retries are occurring (and returning valid output) internally, but the node still “remembers” the initial failure—causing the entire tool bot to exit via the Error branch.

As a workaround, you might consider the following:

1. Disable error output in the Structured Output Parser node. This will allow the retry logic to work over the multiple attempts without directing the workflow immediately down the error branch.

2. Insert additional error handling downstream (for example, a separate error node or a code node that checks for specific error attributes) to decide whether to continue processing if a retry was successful.

3. Reach out on the n8n community or GitHub repository with details of your configuration. This may help determine if a fix or an update is planned for this behavior.

In summary, it seems you are not missing any configuration on your end—the behavior likely indicates an issue with how the Structured Output Parser node handles initial parse failures with error output enabled.