How to Fix Java IllegalArgumentException: Request Header Too Large in Spring Boot
When a Java application throws IllegalArgumentException: Request header is too large, the issue stems from oversized HTTP headers, and you can resolve it by increasing the server's max‑http‑header‑size setting in Spring Boot or by moving large data from headers to the request body.
Today I saw a colleague in the group ask how to solve this exception:
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Request header is too largeException cause
Based on the exception message "Request header is too large", the error is caused by an HTTP request header that exceeds the allowed size.
How to resolve
The solution has two main approaches:
Approach 1: Configure the application server to allow a larger header size
If you are using Spring Boot, you can set the following property in the configuration file: server.max-http-header-size= Approach 2: Avoid sending overly large headers
Although increasing the limit can solve the immediate problem, indiscriminately using large header data is uncontrolled. It is better to keep header data small and place large payloads in the request body.
Therefore, it is recommended not to put too much data in headers; instead, move such data to the body. What is your preferred way to handle this? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Programmer DD
A tinkering programmer and author of "Spring Cloud Microservices in Action"
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