Export limits

Override the instance-wide query row and CSV/Excel cell limits on a per-organization basis from your admin settings.

The Export limits panel lets organization admins raise or lower the two values that bound how much data a query can return and how large a CSV or Excel export can be. Without an override, every organization inherits the instance defaults set by LIGHTDASH_QUERY_MAX_LIMIT and LIGHTDASH_CSV_CELLS_LIMIT.

Use this panel when a specific team needs to run wider or longer queries than the rest of the instance — for example, a single org on shared Cloud infrastructure that needs to export an 8M-cell CSV while keeping other orgs at the default.

The panel is gated behind the pro-limits feature flag. Enforcement of any stored override is always active — only writing the limits requires the flag. Contact Lightdash to enable it for your organization, or self-hosters can set LIGHTDASH_ENABLE_FEATURE_FLAGS=pro-limits.

What you can configure

Setting	What it controls	Inherits from
Maximum query rows	The largest row limit a user can request from the explorer, SQL runner, or API.	LIGHTDASH_QUERY_MAX_LIMIT
Maximum CSV/Excel cells	The largest CSV or Excel export (rows × columns) before results are truncated.	LIGHTDASH_CSV_CELLS_LIMIT

Both fields accept a positive integer. Leave a field empty to inherit the instance default.

The CSV/Excel cells value is capped server-side at the higher of LIGHTDASH_CSV_MAX_LIMIT (default 5,000,000) and the current LIGHTDASH_CSV_CELLS_LIMIT. The query rows value cannot exceed LIGHTDASH_QUERY_MAX_LIMIT. The panel shows the active ceiling next to each input.

The two limits are independent — raising the query-row limit does not change CSV export size, and vice versa.

Set per-organization limits

1. Go to Settings → Organization → Export limits.
2. Enter a value for Maximum query rows, Maximum CSV/Excel cells, or both.
3. Click Save.

To revert to the instance default, clear the field and save.

Changes take effect immediately for new queries and exports. Existing scheduled deliveries pick up the new limit on their next run.

How limits are enforced

Surface	Behavior
Explorer and SQL runner row-limit selector	Maximum value is clamped to the org’s effective query row limit.
CSV and Excel downloads from charts, dashboards, and underlying data	Truncated to the org’s effective cell limit, with a banner shown when truncation happens.
Scheduled deliveries (CSV, Google Sheets, Excel)	Use the org’s effective cell limit at run time.
API responses for /api/v1/org/settings	Return the resolved effective values, falling back to the instance defaults when no override is set.

Related

• Environment variables — the instance defaults that act as fallbacks.
• Scheduled deliveries — affected by the CSV/Excel cell limit.