---
title: "Limits and error handling"
description: "Design short, deterministic automated recipes and respond to bounded failures."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.serialize.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Limits and error handling

Automated WebMCP execution is intentionally bounded. Recipes may contain up to eight operations, and the runtime limits input, arguments, intermediate output, final output, and execution time.

## Why the bounds exist

Bounds keep an assistant-triggered transformation responsive, reviewable, and resistant to accidental expansion. They also make error messages actionable: reduce data, simplify the chain, or move exploratory work to the interactive workspace.

## Error strategy

- **Unknown operation:** search, then use the exact canonical name.
- **Invalid argument:** describe the operation and rebuild positional arguments.
- **Unsupported type:** add an explicit representation conversion.
- **Output too large:** reduce the sample or split the workflow.
- **Timeout:** remove expensive branches and test each layer separately.
- **Binary output:** request or preserve Base64 rather than forcing UTF-8.

Source: https://help.serialize.dev/reference/limits-and-errors/index.mdx