Received message larger than max 🔌 API

gRPC Error: 8 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED: Received message larger than max (x vs. 4194304)

A gRPC message exceeded the receiver’s maximum size (4 MB default).

Seen on: REST API

Meaning

Large payloads (files, big lists) hit the default limit. Raise max_receive_message_length on the side that receives, or better stream/paginate data.

Common causes

  • Response/request larger than 4 MB
  • Unpaginated list endpoints
  • Sending files over unary calls

⚡ Quick fix

  1. Raise max message size on the receiver (and sender if needed)
  2. Use server streaming or pagination
  3. Upload files to object storage and pass references

Detailed fix by platform

Python

  1. channel = grpc.insecure_channel("localhost:50051", options=[("grpc.max_receive_message_length", 32 * 1024 * 1024)])

How to diagnose

  1. Size — Message size in error
  2. Side — Client or server receiving?

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