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Best answer

Understanding SQL execution limits in automations

  • May 28, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 52 views
L

Hello,

Whenever I’m using the Execute SQL automation I have the following error, I note that I don’t have the error when setting a LIMIT to the result of the query.

What is the exact rule/limitation ? e.g. no more than x bites or y fields 

Thanks! 

 

Failed to create a row in Snowflake

<html> <head><title>504 Gateway Time-out</title></head> <body> <center><h1>504 Gateway Time-out</h1></center> <hr><center>nginx</center> </body> </html> <!-- a padding to disable MSIE and Chrome friendly error page --> <!-- a padding to disable MSIE and Chrome friendly error page --> <!-- a padding to disable MSIE and Chrome friendly error page --> <!-- a padding to disable MSIE and Chrome friendly error page --> <!-- a padding to disable MSIE and Chrome friendly error page --> <!-- a padding to disable MSIE and Chrome friendly error page -->

 

Best answer by SamB

Hi and welcome to the community, ​@LéoC! 🎉

There isn’t a specific limit for the number of fields or bytes as far as I can tell. It’s likely the 30-second limit for queries to run that’s causing the “504 Gateway Time-out” error here, if it’s taking too long for the query to complete. 

That said, I saw that you also reached out to our Support team and seem to have found the answer through your own testing. Sharing your findings here in case they help others with the same question:

“I did some tests and found out that for the exact same query with 17 columns,

  • LIMIT 400 rows works instantly 
  • but LIMIT 500 I'm receiving an error message 

It looks like the limit must be between 6800 &  8500 cells”


Also worth noting that if you reduce the number of columns and increase the number of rows, it might still be possible to keep the query within the 30-second time limit and avoid the error. However, the query may still occasionally time out if Snowflake’s servers are experiencing high loads when the Zap runs. In those cases, you can try replaying any errored Zap runs a bit later and they should go through successfully once the server load has decreased.

Hope this helps—please mark it as the best answer if it did, and let us know if we can help with anything else. Until then, happy Zapping! 😁⚡

This post has been closed for comments. Please create a new post if you need help or have a question about this topic.

4 replies

Troy Tessalone
Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
Forum|alt.badge.img+14
  • Troy TessaloneZapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
  • Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
  • 34072 replies
  • May 28, 2025

Hi ​@LéoC 

Help links for using Snowflake in Zapier: https://zapier.com/apps/snowflake/integrations#help

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Platinum Authorized Zapier Solution Partner | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
SamB
Community Manager
Forum|alt.badge.img+11
  • SamBCommunity Manager
  • Community Manager
  • 9738 replies
  • Answer
  • May 29, 2025

Hi and welcome to the community, ​@LéoC! 🎉

There isn’t a specific limit for the number of fields or bytes as far as I can tell. It’s likely the 30-second limit for queries to run that’s causing the “504 Gateway Time-out” error here, if it’s taking too long for the query to complete. 

That said, I saw that you also reached out to our Support team and seem to have found the answer through your own testing. Sharing your findings here in case they help others with the same question:

“I did some tests and found out that for the exact same query with 17 columns,

  • LIMIT 400 rows works instantly 
  • but LIMIT 500 I'm receiving an error message 

It looks like the limit must be between 6800 &  8500 cells”


Also worth noting that if you reduce the number of columns and increase the number of rows, it might still be possible to keep the query within the 30-second time limit and avoid the error. However, the query may still occasionally time out if Snowflake’s servers are experiencing high loads when the Zap runs. In those cases, you can try replaying any errored Zap runs a bit later and they should go through successfully once the server load has decreased.

Hope this helps—please mark it as the best answer if it did, and let us know if we can help with anything else. Until then, happy Zapping! 😁⚡

L
  • LéoCBeginner
  • Author
  • Beginner
  • 1 reply
  • June 2, 2025

Thank you very much,

Indeed I did some additional tests later on and found out in my case, with the exact same SQL query in Zapier, which has 17 columns,

  • LIMIT 400 rows works instantly 
  • but LIMIT 500 I'm receiving a “504 Gateway Time-out” error message 
  • It looks like the limit must be between 6800 &  8500 cells
SamB
Community Manager
Forum|alt.badge.img+11
  • SamBCommunity Manager
  • Community Manager
  • 9738 replies
  • June 3, 2025

You’re very welcome, ​@LéoC! Thank you so much for confirming that. 🤗

Seems like you’re all set for now but do reach back out if we can help with anything else. Hope you have a great week! ✨

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