query_memory_limit_exceeded

{  "meta": {    "requestId": "req_4dgzrNP3Je5mU1tD"  },  "error": {    "detail": "Query result exceeds the maximum response size.",    "status": 422,    "title": "Unprocessable Entity",    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/user/unprocessable_entity/query_memory_limit_exceeded"  }}

What happened?#

Your query exceeded its workspace memory quota or produced an encoded response larger than 4 MiB. Unkey limits both values to prevent one analytics query from exhausting shared resources.

The response limit applies to the encoded JSON size, not only the number of rows. A query can exceed it with one large aggregate value, many projected columns, or many rows.

How to fix it#

1. Return fewer columns and values#

Select only the columns you need. Avoid aggregates such as groupArray that can place an unbounded amount of data into one result value.

2. Use aggregations instead of raw data#

Instead of fetching all rows, aggregate the data:

SELECT *FROM key_verifications_v1WHERE time >= now() - INTERVAL 7 DAY

3. Add more filters#

Reduce the amount of data the query needs to process:

SELECT key_space_id, key_id, outcome, timeFROM key_verifications_v1WHERE time >= now() - INTERVAL 30 DAY

4. Limit result size#

Add a LIMIT to cap the number of returned rows. If the response still exceeds 4 MiB, lower the limit or select fewer columns.

SELECT key_space_id, key_id, outcome, timeFROM key_verifications_v1WHERE time >= now() - INTERVAL 7 DAYORDER BY time DESCLIMIT 10000

5. Avoid large GROUP BY cardinality#

GROUP BY on high-cardinality columns (like key_id) uses a lot of memory. Instead, group by lower-cardinality columns:

SELECT key_id, COUNT(*) as totalFROM key_verifications_v1WHERE time >= now() - INTERVAL 30 DAYGROUP BY key_id

Need a higher memory quota?#