# rpc error: code = ResourceExhausted desc = grpc: received message larger than max (5242881 vs. 4194304)

- **ID:** `go/grpc-resource-exhausted-msg-size`
- **Domain:** go
- **Category:** resource_error
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 80%

## Root Cause

A message exceeded the default 4MB gRPC receive limit. The server sends a payload larger than the client's MaxCallRecvMsgSize (or vice versa).

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| grpc-go 1.55+ | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **** (90% success)
   ```
   Raise both send and receive limits on client and server:
// client
conn, err := grpc.NewClient(addr,
    grpc.WithDefaultCallOptions(
        grpc.MaxCallRecvMsgSize(16*1024*1024),
        grpc.MaxCallSendMsgSize(16*1024*1024),
    ),
)
// server
srv := grpc.NewServer(grpc.MaxRecvMsgSize(16*1024*1024), grpc.MaxSendMsgSize(16*1024*1024))
   ```
2. **** (85% success)
   ```
   Switch large payloads to gRPC streaming so messages are chunked:
stream, err := client.Upload(ctx)
for _, chunk := range chunks {
    if err := stream.Send(&pb.Chunk{Data: chunk}); err != nil { return err }
}
return stream.CloseAndRecv()
   ```

## Dead Ends

- **** — The message size is deterministic; retrying sends the same oversized payload and fails identically every time. (95% fail)
- **** — The send side also enforces MaxCallSendMsgSize; if the server sends a large response, only the receive limit matters, but large requests fail on the server's recv limit. (70% fail)