PostgreSQL error: value too long for type character varying

SQLSTATE 22001 (string_data_right_truncation) · Updated July 9, 2026

ERROR:  value too long for type character varying(50)

A string exceeded the declared length limit of its column, and PostgreSQL rejected the write rather than silently truncating it. Annoyingly, the message names the type but not the column — finding which column is step one.

What this error means

Two PostgreSQL-specific facts frame the fix:

• There is no performance benefit to varchar(n) over text in PostgreSQL — they are stored identically. The limit is purely a constraint, so it should exist only where the business actually has one.
• Widening a varchar does not rewrite the table — increasing the limit is a quick catalog-only change.

Common causes

• Real data outgrew an arbitrary limit — the cargo-cult varchar(255) meeting a long URL, user agent or address.
• Concatenation or denormalized fields growing past the original estimate.
• Imports with wrong column mapping putting long values into short fields.

How to diagnose it

-- Quali colonne varchar(50) ha la tabella sospetta:
SELECT column_name, character_maximum_length
FROM information_schema.columns
WHERE table_name = 'users' AND character_maximum_length IS NOT NULL;

Then compare against the payload that failed. If the statement is logged, the values are right there.

How to fix it

• Widen it (fast, catalog-only):

  ALTER TABLE users ALTER COLUMN name TYPE varchar(200);

• Or drop the arbitrary limit entirely — text, with a CHECK constraint if some bound genuinely matters:

  ALTER TABLE users ALTER COLUMN name TYPE text;
  ALTER TABLE users ADD CONSTRAINT name_reasonable CHECK (length(name) <= 1000);

  A CHECK is easier to adjust later than a type.
• Truncate client-side only if truncation is genuinely acceptable (left(value, 50)) — that is a product decision, not a database default, which is exactly why PostgreSQL refuses to make it for you.