n8n · error message

n8n: Bad request - please check your parameters

ConfigurationHTTP 400Errors from external services

Last verified

The exact message
Bad request - please check your parameters

What it means

n8n shows this when the service returned HTTP 400: it received the request but rejected it as invalid. The n8n docs list it as a common HTTP Request node issue. Other nodes may show the related generic message "Your request is invalid or could not be processed by the service" for the same class of problem.

The generic text hides the useful part. Open the error details: the service's own response body usually names the field or parameter it rejected. Community cases include a 422 with "Invalid URL" and missing required parameters.

What is not wrong: your credentials (that would be 401 or 403) and the endpoint's existence (that would be 404).

What it looks like

Bad request - please check your parameters
errorDetails: { "httpCode": "400", "rawErrorMessage": ["400 - {\"error\":\"...\"}"] }

Why it happens

  • A query parameter name or value is invalid for the API.
  • Arrays are sent in a format the API does not accept.
  • The JSON body is missing required fields or has the wrong types.
  • An expression resolved to an empty or unexpected value for this item.

How to fix it

  1. Open the node's error details and read the service's raw response.
  2. Compare parameter names and values with the service's API documentation.
  3. If you send arrays in query parameters, try the Array Format in Query Parameters option.
  4. Check that expressions resolve to the expected values for the failing item.
  5. Test the same request with curl or the API's own console to isolate n8n from the API.

How to stop it recurring

Build requests from the API's documented examples, validate items before the API node, and log the service's response body in error workflows. Pin the API version in the URL so a provider-side change does not silently alter which parameters are accepted.

Official documentation: docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.httprequest/common-issues. See all n8n error messages or the n8n limits and quotas.

Related errors

Definitions

Quick answers

What does "Bad request - please check your parameters" mean in n8n?

n8n shows this when the service returned HTTP 400: it received the request but rejected it as invalid. The n8n docs list it as a common HTTP Request node issue. Other nodes may show the related generic message "Your request is invalid or could not be processed by the service" for the same class of problem. The generic text hides the useful part.

How do I fix "Bad request - please check your parameters"?

1. Open the node's error details and read the service's raw response. 2. Compare parameter names and values with the service's API documentation. 3. If you send arrays in query parameters, try the Array Format in Query Parameters option. 4. Check that expressions resolve to the expected values for the failing item. 5. Test the same request with curl or the API's own console to isolate n8n from the API.

Error handling you can see in the workflow

Autonoly workflows have per-node retries, timeouts, continue-on-fail and error-handler branches, so a failing step can be retried or routed instead of stopping the whole run. Saved workflows have no loop node; lists are worked through by the AI agent or one run per trigger item.

Also see Visual workflow builder.