# Python component killed - Script killed; output length exceeded

**URL:** <https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/python-component-killed-script-killed-output-length-exceeded/3389>\
**Category:** Matillion ETL\
**Created:** [August 21, 2025, 4:50am UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/python-component-killed-script-killed-output-length-exceeded/3389 "2025-08-21T04:50:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SB699925](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/matillioncommunity.discourse.group/sb699925/32/1180_2.png) [@SB699925](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/SB699925)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:50am UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/python-component-killed-script-killed-output-length-exceeded/3389/1 "2025-08-21T04:50:22Z")

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Hi there,

Trying to pull info from an API via python component.  
The output from the API request (according to postman) is about 406KB - in notepad it is nearly 18 million characters.

I’m getting the following error when I run this in Matillion:

Script killed; output length exceeded

Is this a restriction in Matillion? Is there a configuration setting we can adjust to handle large responses like this?

I did find the following article which seems somewhat related although it mentions a different error message:

**Error: Exception: Script variable length exceeds the maximum of 5000000**

> **[Matillion ETL Support](https://support.matillion.com/s/article/Error-Exception-Script-variable-length-exceeds-the-maximum-of-5000000)**

Any assistance would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SB699925](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/matillioncommunity.discourse.group/sb699925/32/1180_2.png) [@SB699925](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/SB699925)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/python-component-killed-script-killed-output-length-exceeded/3389/2 "2025-08-22T01:41:52Z")

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Haha - so I figured out I was trying to “print” the response prior to dataframing it. That was the cause of the failure. 😃

Lesson is - print just a sample of the response if anything at all on really large response text.

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**Author:** ![ClaireSeniorCommunityManager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@ClaireSeniorCommunityManager](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/ClaireSeniorCommunityManager)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2025, 8:09am UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/python-component-killed-script-killed-output-length-exceeded/3389/3 "2025-08-22T08:09:48Z")

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Hi @SB699925

Thanks so much for coming back and sharing the solution! If you do have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Many thanks, Claire