# Limits and quotas

Every limit in Clayo, in one place. Most exist to keep docs sites fast and the AI answer quality high; you are unlikely to hit them in normal use.

## Content

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Article length | 50,000 characters (roughly 10,000 words) |
| Long-article advisory | Warning above 12,000 characters, suggesting a split |
| Article title | 200 characters |
| URL slug | 250 characters |
| Meta description | 300 characters (around 150 works best) |
| Collection nesting | One level (collections can hold subcollections, no deeper) |
| Articles per `list_articles` call | 50 (use filters or search to narrow) |

The long-article advisory is worth heeding: shorter, focused articles rank better in search and give [AI answers](/articles/how-ai-answers-work) cleaner sources to cite.

## Images

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Formats | PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP (no SVG) |
| File size | 10 MB |
| Upload URL lifetime | 5 minutes |

## Project settings

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Project name | 255 characters |
| Subdomain | 2 to 63 characters, lowercase letters, digits, hyphens; no leading, trailing, or double hyphens; reserved names like www, api, and app are blocked |
| Logo upload | PNG, JPEG, or SVG, 2 MB |
| Widget starter questions | Up to 3, each up to 120 characters |
| Widget allowed domains | Up to 20 hostnames |
| Docs base URL | Exactly one path segment, https |

## Visitors on your docs site

These apply per visitor (by IP), not to you:

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Search requests | 30 per minute |
| Ask AI requests | 20 per minute |
| Ask AI session length | 15 visitor messages, then a new conversation starts |
| Search query | 2 characters minimum, 256 maximum |

Normal reading and searching never gets near these; they exist to keep abusive traffic from degrading your site.

## AI answers

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Free included answers | 1,000 per account owner, lifetime |
| With your own OpenAI key | No Clayo limit; usage bills to your key |

The free allowance is a zero-setup trial of the full AI experience. Adding [your own OpenAI key](/articles/bring-your-own-openai-key) removes the cap entirely. Search is never limited by quota: even at zero remaining answers, keyword and semantic search keep working.

## Team

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Invitation validity | 30 days |
| Sign-in code | 6 digits, valid 15 minutes, 3 attempts |

## Time-based windows

Retention periods (how long conversations, activity, and analytics are kept) are covered separately in [Data retention and privacy](/articles/data-retention).

:::callout{type="info"}
Hitting a limit that gets in your way? Tell us. Most values here are guardrails, not business rules, and real-world feedback is what tunes them.
:::