Budibase/budibase · error · HTTPError

Project package contains too many files.

Error message

Project package contains too many files.

What it means

To protect the server, imports enforce a file-count budget (MAX_PACKAGE_FILES) and total uncompressed size (MAX_EXTRACTED_SIZE_BYTES). readDirectoryRecursively increments totals per file and throws this 400 HTTPError as soon as the file count exceeds the cap (the next check throws for total size).

Source

Thrown at packages/server/src/sdk/workspace/projects/backups/imports.ts:207

    if (relPath.split(/[\\/]/).length > MAX_PATH_SEGMENTS) {
      throw new HTTPError(
        "Project package contains paths that are too deep.",
        400
      )
    }
    if (entry.isSymbolicLink()) {
      throw new HTTPError("Project package contains unsupported links.", 400)
    }
    if (entry.isDirectory()) {
      files.push(
        ...(await readDirectoryRecursively(fullPath, rootPath, totals))
      )
    } else {
      const stats = await fsp.stat(fullPath)
      totals.files += 1
      totals.bytes += stats.size
      if (totals.files > MAX_PACKAGE_FILES) {
        throw new HTTPError("Project package contains too many files.", 400)
      }
      if (totals.bytes > MAX_EXTRACTED_SIZE_BYTES) {
        throw new HTTPError("Project package is too large.", 400)
      }
      files.push(fullPath)
    }
  }

  return files
}

const validateProjectPackageBeforeExtraction = async (file: {
  path: string
}) => {
  const archiveHeader = new Uint8Array(2)
  const archiveFile = await fsp.open(file.path, "r")
  try {
    await archiveFile.read(archiveHeader, 0, archiveHeader.length, 0)

View on GitHub (pinned to a81a902e9a)

Solutions

1. Remove unnecessary content (node_modules, build output, large assets) from the package and re-import
2. Split very large apps into smaller imports where possible
3. Check the package file count (tar -tf | wc -l) against the server's limit before importing
4. If the limit is genuinely too small for your use case, raise MAX_PACKAGE_FILES in a self-hosted fork

Example fix

// before
tar -czf app.tar.gz app/        # includes app/node_modules (100k+ files)
// after
tar -czf app.tar.gz --exclude='node_modules' app/

const { stdout } = await exec("tar -tzf pkg.tar.gz | wc -l")
if (Number(stdout) > MAX_PACKAGE_FILES) throw new Error(`Package has ${stdout} files; exceeds import limit`)

null

try {
  await importProject(packagePath)
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof HTTPError && e.message.includes("too many files")) {
    // exclude bulky directories, repackage, retry
  } else throw e
}

When it happens

Trigger: Importing a project package containing more files than MAX_PACKAGE_FILES — e.g. archives that include node_modules, build artifacts, datasets, or other bulk content alongside the actual project resources.

Common situations: Accidentally zipping dependency folders; exporting huge apps with many attachments/assets; denial-of-service style archives; automated pipelines bundling extra artifacts into the package.

Related errors

• Project package contains invalid JSON in '${basename(filePat
• Project package contains paths that are too deep.
• Invalid import url
• Only HTTP(S) URLs are allowed for query import
• Import url must not contain credentials

AI-assisted analysis of Budibase/budibase@a81a902e9a (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d1a520ee20f55de. Report an issue: GitHub.