Server Action Body Size Limit does not apply in production environment

[renato-viasoft]

I have a server action that uploads a file to an OCI Object Storage.
The file can be up to 256Mb
I added the configuration to next.config.mjs as stated in the documentantion

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  experimental: {
    optimizePackageImports: ['@chakra-ui/react'],
    serverActions: {
      bodySizeLimit: 100 * 1024 * 1024,
    }
  },
  reactStrictMode: true,
};

export default nextConfig;

But i still have the following log in my application

[Error: Body exceeded 1 MB limit.
                To configure the body size limit for Server Actions, see: https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/next-config-js/serverActions#bodysizelimit] {
  statusCode: 413
}
 ⨯ uncaughtException:  [Error: Body exceeded 1 MB limit.
                To configure the body size limit for Server Actions, see: https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/next-config-js/serverActions#bodysizelimit] {
  statusCode: 413
}

I am at a loss of what to do.

For instance, this is my Dockerfile

FROM <base-image> AS build

WORKDIR /app/dev

COPY package.json package-lock.json ./ 

RUN npm install

COPY . .

RUN rm  -f src/environment/environment.ts
RUN mv src/environment/environment.prod.ts src/environment/environment.ts
RUN npm run build

FROM node:22-alpine AS production

ARG VERSION_NUMBER=0

WORKDIR /app

COPY --from=build /app/dev/.next ./.next
COPY --from=build /app/dev/public ./public
COPY --from=build /app/dev/prisma ./prisma
COPY --from=build /app/dev/package.json ./package.json
COPY --from=build /app/dev/package-lock.json ./package-lock.json
COPY --from=build /app/prod/node_modules ./node_modules

ENV VERSION=${VERSION_NUMBER}
ENV NODE_ENV=production

RUN npx prisma generate

CMD ["npm", "start"]

EXPOSE 3000

And this is my package.json

{
  "name": "vschat",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "private": true,
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev --turbopack --port 3001",
    "dev-debug": "next dev --port 3001",
    "prebuild": "prisma generate",
    "build": "next build",
    "start": "next start",
    "lint": "next lint",
    "check": "tsc --noEmit"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@chakra-ui/react": "^3.13.0",
    "@emotion/react": "^11.14.0",
    "@emotion/styled": "^11.13.0",
    "@hookform/resolvers": "^3.9.0",
    "@mui/icons-material": "^6.1.1",
    "@mui/lab": "^6.0.0-beta.16",
    "@mui/material": "^6.4.4",
    "@mui/system": "^6.4.7",
    "@prisma/client": "^6.4.1",
    "@stomp/stompjs": "^7.0.0",
    "@tanstack/react-query": "^5.67.3",
    "@tanstack/react-table": "^8.21.2",
    "@zag-js/file-upload": "^1.2.1",
    "@zag-js/file-utils": "^1.2.1",
    "axios": "^1.7.9",
    "dayjs": "^1.11.13",
    "firebase": "^10.13.2",
    "firebase-admin": "^13.2.0",
    "fuse.js": "^7.0.0",
    "js-cookie": "^3.0.5",
    "lucide-react": "^0.475.0",
    "next": "^15.2.2",
    "next-themes": "^0.4.4",
    "react": "^19.0.0",
    "react-dom": "^19.0.0",
    "react-hook-form": "^7.53.0",
    "react-icons": "^5.5.0",
    "react-markdown": "^9.0.1",
    "react-syntax-highlighter": "^15.6.1",
    "react-use": "^17.6.0",
    "remark-gfm": "^4.0.0",
    "wavesurfer.js": "^7.9.0",
    "zod": "^3.23.8"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@chakra-ui/cli": "^3.13.0",
    "@types/js-cookie": "^3.0.6",
    "@types/node": "^20",
    "@types/react": "19.0.10",
    "@types/react-dom": "19.0.4",
    "@types/react-syntax-highlighter": "^15.5.13",
    "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^7.18.0",
    "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^7.18.0",
    "eslint": "^8.57.1",
    "eslint-config-airbnb": "^19.0.4",
    "eslint-config-airbnb-typescript": "^18.0.0",
    "eslint-config-next": "15.1.7",
    "eslint-plugin-import": "^2.25.3",
    "eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y": "^6.5.1",
    "eslint-plugin-react": "^7.28.0",
    "eslint-plugin-react-hooks": "^4.3.0",
    "husky": "^9.1.7",
    "prisma": "^6.4.1",
    "typescript": "^5"
  },
  "overrides": {
    "@types/react": "19.0.10",
    "@types/react-dom": "19.0.4"
  }
}

I'd love to receive some help in this matter.

[krystianmolas]

Does that action pass? We have a similar issue, but from the opposite side. We have set a limit, yet despite this limit, the server action goes through, and this error serves more as a log.

[renato-viasoft]

It does'nt

[Shlok-Zanwar]

Hi @renato-viasoft, Did you get it working ?
I am facing similar issue, Where i have set the

  experimental: {
    serverActions: {
      bodySizeLimit: '50mb',
    },
  },

But still have same error message on production
Its working fine locally

[renato-viasoft]

Hello, unfortunately, i could not get it to work. What i've done as a workaround is to use API Routes intead.

[Shlok-Zanwar]

Hey @renato-viasoft , Can you please convert this to an issue ?
I see it is running fine when we build locally npm run build and then npm start
But not working well in docker
Thanks

[rwieruch]

We ran into the same issue for our deployed Docker container. But when we used output: "standalone" in Next's configuration, which is the recommended way to build for Docker, and adjusted the Dockerfile accordingly, it worked for us.

[tedsecretsource]

Where, exactly, are you adding output: "standalone"? Asking because we are in the same position but I'm not a Next admin and not sure where such things should be added.

I'm guessing:

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  output: "standalone",
};

And then in the Dockerfile, in the build phase:

COPY --from=build /app/.next/standalone ./

Is that right?

[willianbrac]

Hi,

I’m facing the same issue even after applying the recommended configuration from the official Next.js documentation. The 1 MB body size limit still persists in the production environment, despite setting the bodySizeLimit parameter to 30 MB in the next.config.js file.

Has anyone been able to identify the cause of this behavior or found a workaround?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[mdigruber]

Did anyone find an answer for that issue? Facing the same at the moment. Set the Limit to 10 MB but when I build the docker container for production I get the error of 1 MB

[euntak]

When building a docker image, copy the next.config.(js|ts) file and include it in the docker image.

[yei-cap3]

@euntak where in the docker image did you include the next config to fix this? I am kind of deperate for a fix and you sound like you got this working

[mauro-serrano-f]

Set bodySizeLimit: "70MB" and COPY next.config.(js|ts) fix for me

[BBocho8]

this worked for me, thanks!

[sosojustdo]

@mauro-serrano-f amazing!! bodySizeLimit setting 10MB is worked, setting 10mb not be working, but offical document example is 'mb'
https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/config/next-config-js/serverActions#bodysizelimit

[yei-cap3]

Does anybody have any updates on this?
I still can not reprocuce any working example in a docker deployment.

[renato-viasoft]

Hello, I was able to resolve the issue by updating my Dockerfile. Since I am self-hosting (not using Vercel) and using the standalone output, I cannot use the next start command.

Here is my complete working Dockerfile:

FROM node:22-alpine AS deps
WORKDIR /app

RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat

COPY package.json package-lock.json ./

RUN npm ci

FROM node:22-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app

COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY . .

RUN npm run build

FROM node:22-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app

ENV PORT=3000
ENV HOSTNAME="0.0.0.0"

RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat openssl

RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs

COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public

COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.env ./.env

USER nextjs

EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

The most important detail is the CMD instruction on the last line. As you can see, I am bypassing the Next.js CLI and running the standalone server.js directly with Node."